University Orders Investigation into Oracle’s Financial Disaster • The Register

The University of Edinburgh has launched an investigation into the disastrous go-live of an Oracle financial system after admitting suppliers ran away over payment delays.

information shared with The registry also shows that university members were forced to fetch and charge for their consumables themselves due to a lack of stocks and services.

Earlier this month, it emerged that due to the difficult implementation of a new financial and HR system based on Oracle Fusion technology, employees were being paid late and some were facing financial hardship. Called internally “People and Money,” the system went live in June after the institution worked with implementation partner Inoapps.

Seen in an email by The registryAssociate Professor Peter Mathieson told staff and students that the leadership team is “very aware that our university is facing major disruption caused by the implementation of our new financial services supported by the People and Money system”.

“We have listened to how this is affecting our employees, students, suppliers and partners and we are truly sorry that this has put people in an unacceptable position,” he said.

An employee tells The registry Employees were forced to buy their own stationery and pay their own taxis…

“We continue to do everything in our power to ensure that these issues do not recur in the future. We are committed to conducting an external review to show what lessons we can learn and to inform further improvements.”

The principal also promised to direct late payments to staff and students. He said the university took additional measures to ensure that scholarships were awarded “accurately and on time” for students in November, December and beyond. He also said the university would make a one-off payment of £300 ($358) to anyone affected by a late bursary payment in September or October 2022.

Meanwhile, suppliers have stopped delivering goods and services to the university, an employee said The registry. Employees were forced to buy their own stationery and pay for their own taxis because the companies with formal agreements had stopped supplying the facility due to late or failed payments.

Responding to criticism from the university’s Senate, a body of students and academics, the institution said it will extend support from implementation partner Inoapps and “will keep this under review, with a focus on addressing remaining deficiencies in the financial system.”

It said it has received expanded support from finance teams and technology teams, including “program team, change team and business analysis support.” Oracle’s “Accelerated Customer Support” has also been expanded, it said.

The university has been asked to comment.

In an earlier response, a spokesman said the university has apologized to any students, staff or vendors experiencing delays in payment.

Oracle and Inoapps have so far declined the opportunity to comment.

Edinburgh University has been using Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) 12.1.3 for HR, payroll and self-service since December 2014, according to a freedom of information request. The last upgrade of this system took place in November 2013. ®