JumpStart charts course to faster data consolidation at U of Florida: sprawling campuses and massive data overwhelmed system and users.

As one of the state's largest and oldest research universities, the University of Florida had amassed an overwhelming amount of data. With 16 colleges and more than 100 campus centers, financial and human resources data was spread across several legacy systems. This fragmentation made it difficult for users to easily generate reports for budgeting and other planning activities.

The university took its first step toward consolidation by selecting PeopleSoft Enterprise Financials Warehouse and HRMS Warehouse. But the robust capabilities of these solutions presented a new challenge. To consolidate and focus the data, nearly 50,000 tables had to be mapped. "Our goal was to have one place where users could tun reports and analyze costs for all staffing and financial data," says Warren Curry, associate director IS for the University of Florida. "We wanted to create a single access point for all the data."

With a staff of only three, Curry knew he needed help to complete the job. "When we looked at what we needed to do to implement the warehouses, purchasing the PeopleSoft JumpStart service was a no-brainer." For Curry, it was important that JumpStart focus on the mappings rather than generating reports. "We wanted PeopleSoft to map the tables so we could run reports against them."

By using Financials Warehouse JumpStart and HRMS Warehouse JumpStart, Curry could get between 80 and 90 percent of the data he wanted mapped in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost of a traditional implementation. "I don't know how long a job like this usually takes, but I had heard stories of 18 month implementations," says Curry. The JumpStart team completed both mappings--Financial Management and Human Capital Management--in three months.

The JumpStart team consolidated 16,000 human resource and 32,000 financial tables into a few hundred and brought the warehouse online the very same day. From day one, hundreds of users were able to access the data. And the university is prepared to handle the demands of the additional 75,000 users that will come online later this year.

The proof is in the numbers. In May 2004, nearly 100 budget planners accessed the PeopleSoft system to plan for the upcoming year's budget. According to Curry, the process was greatly streamlined because of the warehouse consolidation, mapping and neatly packaged reports. "With very little training the planners were able to pull the data they needed to create salary and expense budgets for the coming academic year. Without JumpStart, we would have had to run many PS queries and SQRs to get the information and we would have to view it on the transactional database."

JumpStart also provided the university's IT team with a knowledge transfer of a methodology and pattern for completing future mappings. "We worked with experienced users with proven tools, so we learned quickly," says Curry.

The university staff is still using the JumpStart-supplied methodology to map additional tables, bringing the enterprise warehouse closer to 100 percent of the target. In fact, the team is now so effective at completing mappings that even Curry is surprised. "We're pumping data into the warehouse so quickly, I have to ask if we're missing something," he laughs.

Overall, the JumpStart program gave the university a blazing start on their implementation. "Their process and tools made this project go very well," says Curry. "I'd use PeopleSoft JumpStart team again in a heartbeat."