Weir hasn't completely abandoned enterprise applications. His team is just now putting the finishing touches on the PeopleSoft HR system it began working on back in 1998; those 11,000 part-time workers are finally being added to the HR system. In February 2002, NU also finished a PeopleSoft contributor relations module that it started in 2001.

Weir's approach has been to use the PeopleSoft software where applicable and to add other elements to the system as needed, integrating everything via the middleware layer. Some may call it "lipstick on a pig," but Weir and his staff are in the process of freeing themselves from the slog of ERP implementations and upgrades. And the key advantage of this approach is that IS matches software to the department's needs—and doesn't try to force departmental processes onto the software, which can result in costly customizations.

In this environment, Northeastern will have the flexibility to unplug one app from the mainframe, plug in another application and not worry about integrating the two applications in the same tightly coupled way you need to with standard ERP integration. Right now, integration is "like a pile of spaghetti. If you take one meatball out, you got to hook back up all those noodles," Weir says.

In the future, he believes that Web services will allow easier removal of the various applications. "You can pull [applications] out and hold the rest of them steady," he says. Weir also plans on buying enterprisewide software from vendors that offer open architectural standards and interfaces. Some ERP vendors, including Oracle, are making noise about doing just that.

"I'll never rely 100 percent on any one vendor," Weir says. "They don't have everything you need."