TechOne rollout will save CQUniversity $900K

Queensland’s CQUniversity expects to save up to $900,000 on software maintenance over the next two years after deploying a new student management system, says the university’s deputy vice chancellor, international and services, Alastair Dawson.

Last week, the university said it had finished deploying Australian developed TechnologyOne software. It was rolled out in nine months – claimed to be half the industry average – and replaced an Oracle People ISAS platform.

The project began last September following a merger with CQ TAFE, making CQUniversity Queensland’s first dual sector university.

Dawson told CIO Australia the Oracle PeopleSoft platform, which had been running at the university for around 8 years, was a high-end product that required a lot of resources to keep it running.

“In our business, it had been modified significantly over a period of time,” he said.

Dawson said the university didn’t have the confidence that the more complex PeopleSoft system could be rolled out within the budget or timeframe that was available.

“A PeopleSoft upgrade would have been quite expensive,” he said.

Dawson said the university will save between $800,000 and $900,000 on staff just to keep the Oracle PeopleSoft system running, and a large part of its workforce was dedicated to this task.

These staff can now divert less energy to system maintenance and more on creating new, innovative online products for students and staff, he said.

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