SUBJECT:

ESR Financial Information System Go-Live Confirmed

We began our journey to replace our legacy financial systems nearly three years ago. Since then, the UC San Diego Campus, Health System and Foundation have invested a huge amount of intellectual capital to redesign our business processes and configure our new integrated systems: Oracle Financials Cloud (OFC), a world-class financial system; and Concur, our new travel and expense system. The Campus, Health System and Foundation are full partners: together, we designed a new common chart of accounts to streamline, integrate and significantly improve the budgeting, accounting and financial management of our limited resources supporting our vision to be a student-centered, research-focused and service-oriented institution.

For the most part, we have done all of this work in-house with an amazing group of dedicated program management, IT and functional staff from across the entire institution. As project sponsors, we want to express our deep gratitude to everyone who has played a part in moving us forward.

In light of these accomplishments, we are pleased to affirm the July 1, 2020 go live of OFC and Concur, a major milestone and component of our Enterprise Systems Renewal (ESR) program.

This transition itself is complex. We want to help you navigate through the changes you will see over the next several months. Please continue reading for key system transition dates, training, support information and access procedures.

FISCAL YEAR 19/20 CLOSING AND KEY TRANSITION DATES

Before we move to our new system, we must finalize all financial activity in our legacy systems. Our key fiscal year closing dates and other resources can be found on Blink:
https://blink.ucsd.edu/finance/accounting/closing/index.html.

BUSINESS PROCESS AND SYSTEMS TRANSITION KEY DATES

To stay aligned with our transitioning business processes and their supporting systems as we move to the new environment, visit https://blink.ucsd.edu/finance/fis-project/cutover-schedule.html. Please note that major system freezes start on June 19.

TRAINING AND SUPPORT

We are striving for a smooth experience for our users. Please review the training resources available at https://blink.ucsd.edu/finance/fis-project/fin-training.html and share them within your department. Training includes eCourses on the UC Learning Center and live, virtual, instructor-led training. Multiple office hours sessions are also available.

General help inquiries will be submitted via the Service & Support portal at https://support.ucsd.edu/finance. Additionally, live, Zoom-based, one-on-one support will be available beginning July 1.

SYSTEMS ACCESS

Access to both Oracle Financials Cloud and Concur will be requested via the Service & Support portal: https://go.ucsd.edu/3cCXcly. Provisioning and access in these role-based systems aligns user privileges and workflows, respecting internal controls and segregation of duties.

In summary, this go-live decision fulfills a major milestone for UC San Diego. It represents the culmination of several years of work by hundreds of dedicated members of our community. We extend our personal and heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has been a part of the journey. Whether you participated in conference room pilots, process mapping, system testing, or other facets of the projects, we truly appreciate your involvement. We particularly appreciate the extra challenges of preparing for the final stages of these projects during the COVID-19 pandemic and the UCPath go-live. We extend our thanks to the core OFC and Concur project teams that have guided us thus far, and will continue to improve the systems and support all users well beyond July 1.

Pierre Ouillet Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer, UC San Diego Lori Donaldson Chief Financial Officer, UC San Diego Health Marlene Shaver Assistant Vice Chancellor, Advancement Services and CFO, Foundation