Cornell University encompasses many campuses across many locations, each with their own unique culture. Alignment within the shared goals that span campuses is a priority to create efficiency and community, and to drive strategic initiatives.

We started off CEMI in discussions with current vendors Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, and Workday, where they shared their visions of what a unified enterprise resources planning solution could entail at Cornell. In the summer of 2024 we engaged Huron Consulting group to help us with an assessment of our readiness. This includes comparing current and potential technology solutions by focusing on the people who utilize these tools. This project is our chance to reimagine our business processes for the future. 

Project Timeline

May – December 2024

Planning, Project Initiation, and Discovery

Planning, Discovery and establishing program governance is critical for the success of CEMI.

Milestones include:

• Structure governance of project and formation of the program team
• Completed assessment of current state of systems, pain points and opportunities through cross campus technical discovery, functional analysis sessions
• Road mapping and cost estimates
• Initial roadmap development

January – March 2025

Readiness Initiatives Launch

Pre-implementation initiatives launch and will focus on ensuring that new technology is selected and built for our new ways of working.

Milestones include:

• Define initial initiative scope
• Engage leadership
• Identify stakeholders
• Form workgroups
• Assign / allocate resources
• Change Management & Communication Strategies
• Determine Cost / Value
• Scenario planning
• Present decision to Board of Trustees

April – December, 2025

Readiness Initiatives

Transformational Readiness initiatives form, and work focuses on creating alignment of processes and functions across our campuses.

List of 2025+ Readiness Activities:

• Scenario Planning
• Cost / Value
• ERP / AAD / System Integrator Selection
• Data & Analytics / Governance
• Business Process/Policy Alignments
• Chart of Accounts
• Budget
• Job Architecture
• Procurement / T&E / Financial Controls
• Identity / Access / On/Off Boarding
• Organizational Charts
• Locations / Space
• CRM Strategy
• Alumni Affairs & Development
• Student Experience
• Application Rationalization
• Enterprise Tools
• Research Administration
• Administrative Gap Apps
• Legacy HR & SIS Optimization
• Workforce alignment planning
• Change Management & Communication Strategies

2026 and Beyond

Readiness Activities Continue, Select System Implementation Planning, Cross Campus Process Alignment 

• Planning for selected systems that will be implemented
• Focus on aligning processes across campuses
• Readiness initiatives continue