Mosaic timeline released

mosaic 1

The Mosaic steering committee released a timeline for launching the PeopleSoft based ERP system that will replace large portions of the University's administrative and business systems today. The new timeline makes some notable changes compared to the original, allowing the project to complete the finance and budgeting portion this year while reducing the impact on the University.


McMaster’s ability to manage its loonies and toonies will improve this December when the University launches the first portion of its new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

Today, Mosaic released its revised timeline for launching the PeopleSoft-based ERP system that will replace large portions of the University’s administrative and business systems. The new timeline makes some notable changes compared to the original, allowing the project to complete the finance and budgeting portion this year while reducing the impact on the University.

“As we expected, the results of the fit-gap stage combined with the feedback we received showed us where we needed to adjust our schedule. The new schedule is better aligned to the unique circumstance of McMaster,” said Fred Hall chair of the Mosaic steering committee.

Launch Schedule for Mosaic

December 2013 Finance (including budgeting and post-award research finance)
May 2014 Research Administration (pre-award)
May 2014 Human Resources 1 (including payroll and benefits)
September 2014 Human Resources 2 (including recruitment and succession planning)
October 2014 Student Administration 1 (including admissions and supporting modules)
December 2014 Student Administration 2 (including course catalogue and scheduling)
January 2015 Human Resources 3 (enhances the self-service tools introduced in HR phase 1)
March 2015 Student Administration 3 (including registration, academic advisement,  student records, financial aid and student financials)

The revised schedule will see the new financial system go live in December 2013 with subsequent parts rolling out throughout 2014. The last part is set to launch in March 2015. (See sidebar for a complete schedule).

Compared to the original schedule, two changes stand out. First, the core finance and budgeting portions have been consolidated into one piece with a go live date in December (half way between the two original dates).

The change to a new finance system, which includes components such as a new chart of accounts, a new general ledger, and accounts receivable and payable sub-systems, would be a large undertaking at any time of year. The Mosaic steering committee is currently working with stakeholders to find ways to minimize the impact.

The first part of the student administration system is now scheduled to go live in October of 2014 to accept students for the fall of 2015.

“Student administration runs on a yearly cycle. Once we realized that we would need several more months, we had to shift to match the academic cycle,” said Hall.

Those interested in student administration processes are encouraged to attend the upcoming Mosaic Student Administration Open House. Two half-day sessions on April 4 will provide an overview of the project’s status, review student administration’s Fit-Gap findings and look at the new schedule.

About Mosaic

Mosaic is McMaster’s project to modernize its business and administrative processes and replace its current business systems with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Mosaic will replace the current systems used for student administration, finance, research administration, human resources, and business intelligence. Replacing all of these systems at once provides a rare opportunity to modernize the University’s business processes. The new system will be launched in stages over the next few years.

For additional information about the project refer to the Mosaic website: www.mcmaster.ca/mosaic

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