Ellucian

Why we've chosen NTT DATA Business Solutions:

More than a decade of deep BPC upgrade experience
Flexible, collaborative and dedicated team
Single SAP solution source for software, sales, implementation and ongoing managed services
Proven knowledge transfer methodology

From the very beginning, the itelligence* team committed to a collaborative training effort, customizable user experience and a seamless transition. The team members were knowledgeable, responsive and a key factor in meeting our tight deadline and budget.

Amy Forsyth, Director of Financial Planning & Analysis, Ellucian

Ellucian is a software, analytics, insights and services provider that has been helping higher education institutions achieve student success for more than 40 years.
Today, the company serves 2,400 institutions and 18 million students in 40 countries around the world.

Challenges and Benefits

Challenges

Lack of support options for existing BPC solution
Seamless migration without disruptions or change orders
Outdated manual process for importing SAP ECC actuals
Strict budget and 16-week timeline

Benefits

Faster data integration from SAP ECC to BPC
Improved security and ease of reporting for HR
Drastically reduced server shutdowns for optimization processes
Overall improvements in performance and user experience

Solution

SAP BPC v10.1 NetWeaver Standard including installation, data migration, extensive knowledge transfer and user training, service pack updates and system maintenance

Ellucian, Fairfax, Virginia, United States

Collaborative approach guides Ellucian’s speedy, cost-friendly BPC transition

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About the Project

With a number of strategic initiatives targeted for the fiscal year, Ellucian needed to complete the implementation on a strict timeline, with no business disruptions or change orders. The company also wanted its “super-users,” finance planning and accounting employees who create reports on a regular basis, to hit the ground running on the new system.

NTT DATA Business Solutions worked closely with Ellucian’s business and technical project leads to host multiple knowledgetransfer sessions to ensure super-users were trained to immediately start generating reports on the new system.

Together, the NTT DATA Business Solutions and Ellucian teams collaborated to add a two-dimensional configuration in the HR module, providing more streamlined security and easier reporting. After implementation Ellucian also gained the ability to add new employees to BPC at any time, rather than just once per month. BPC 10 also enabled automated ECC to BPC imports. This automation changed the data integration process from a manual, three-times-per-day event to a one-time scheduling event, eliminating human error and providing more timely financial information during the month-end close period.

In total the project clocked in at 16 weeks, including extensive knowledge transfer support, and came in under budget. After the implementation, NTT DATA Business Solutions provided follow-up knowledge transfer sessions for install, post-install and maintenance processes. “NTT DATA Business Solutions not only got the system compliant and operational, the team enabled us to take ownership of the future of BPC operations and become more self-sufficient thanks to a strong knowledge transfer element,” said Forsyth.

Today at Ellucian, 250 users enjoy the benefits of an upgraded BPC system. The company’s BPC solutions are now more in line with core SAP architecture and framework, preparing them for the future while also positioning Ellucian for a successful transition to SAP HANA down the road.