SUBJECT:  IFIS Conversion Scheduled for September 1-3, 2001

The UCSD Integrated Financial System (IFIS) will be converted to a modern relational database over the Labor Day holiday weekend (September 1-3). IFIS, FinancialLink, TravelLink, and the financial components of the Data Warehouse will be unavailable during that period. The upgraded systems will be available again on September 4, 2001.

This conversion signifies a major overhaul that will allow us to utilize modern technologies and enhance the system in the future. Specifically, we will be migrating from an old database (IDMS) to the latest version of DB2, which is a state-of-the-art relational database used by many large organizations. The migration should be transparent to all users and the systems will look and operate just like they do now. More information about the project may be found at:
http://www-act.ucsd.edu/cis/ciscnvrt.html

Our staff will be monitoring the system throughout the conversion and will respond to any reported problems. Many hours of testing have gone into the project to build assurances that there will be no problems after the cutover. However, IFIS is a very complex system (over 2.5 million lines of code) and there is always a chance that some unanticipated problems will occur during the first few days of operation. If you experience any problems or anomalies, please report them immediately to the ACT help desk at acthelp@ucsd.edu or at x41853.

                                                Elazar C. Harel
                                                Assistant Vice Chancellor -
                                                Administrative Computing & Telecommunications

                                                Don Larson
                                                Assistant Vice Chancellor and Controller
                                                Business and Financial Services