Pitt State helps campus prepare for GUS Cloud transition

  Wednesday, September 28, 2016 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

If you’ve ever installed a new piece of software on your computer, you understand the challenge that come with learning a new program. The graphics look slightly different, buttons may be in different locations and, often, familiar functions have new names.

It can be a bit disorienting, unless you have outstanding customer service. That level of service is exactly what Pittsburg State University will be offering its employees as the institution makes the transition to a new computer system. Known as GUS Cloud, the new system is being installed in phases. The first phase, known as the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, focuses on finance. It will go live on Saturday, October 1.

“We’ve been preparing for the move to a new system for more than a year,” said Angela Neria, chief information officer. “Customer service has been a major part of that preparation. We’ve spent hundreds of hours training for and creating resources to help our campus through the transition. We care about our colleagues’ experience and want to make certain they know a friendly voice is just a phone call away.”

Customer support resources include instructional videos, FAQ sheets, website, phone hotline, Yammer discussion group, and special team of nearly 80 trained users known as the Primary User Group.

“This team is made up of power users throughout campus,” said Neria. “They’re our superstars. They’ve gone through the training with a great attitude and a desire to learn. They’ll actually be the ones who live the changes. I can’t thank them enough for their dedication.”

The new GUS Cloud system is replacing a system that dates back to the Jimmy Carter administration.

“Until this summer we were still using programming code from 1979 for some of our financial operations,” said Neria. “It had done a great job but it was time to upgrade. The new system will be more flexible, more resilient and meet today’s auditing requirements.”

While the system will be new, that doesn’t mean the transition is guaranteed to be smooth. In fact, Neria is counting on at least a few unexpected issues.

“We’re replacing a system that is nearly 40 years old with no documentation,” Neria said. “We’ve tried to do everything we can think of to avoid any problems but, we know, there will likely be some unanticipated issues. We’re asking everyone to let us know if they come across these ‘hiccups’ so that we can fix them as quickly as possible.”