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Cornell University

Cornell Experience Modernization Initiative

As common as possible, as different as absolutely necessary

CEMI 102: Streamlining Broadly Used Systems

Cornell community members depend on many different technology tools to complete their routine tasks. In fact, the CEMI program’s technical team has identified over 1,000 systems and applications used across the university’s campuses. 

a cartoon image of four people discussing various devices

Broadly used systems  are technical solutions that many researchers, faculty, staff, students, and clinicians rely on to complete their daily tasks in areas like administration, finance, human resources, and engaging with alumni, donors, and patients. These systems also provide data used by Cornell leaders to make strategic decisions.

The data in these systems are disconnected, making it difficult to produce timely reports which are necessary when responding to challenges and opportunities. Streamlining these broadly used systems and making reporting more efficient is one of the goals for CEMI.

Five Types of Broadly Used Systems 

To unify and simplify how work that supports the university’s mission is accomplished, the Cornell Experience Modernization Initiative (CEMI or “See Me”) is exploring five broadly used systems:

  • Data and Analytics for unified campus reporting. This will not only meet an urgent need, but it will help us identify problems that we hope to address in the new solution.
  • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as Kuali/KFS, Jenzabar, PeopleSoft, SAP, SuccessFactors, and Workday. Each of these has a related ecosystem of supporting systems for specialized functions like procurement or financial aid.
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems like Slate and Salesforce. These are being examined as possible tools for filling gaps or improving the experience of a new unified system.
  • “Gap Apps” or smaller ERP or CRM adjacent solutions that have developed over time to fill functions that should be in the core systems but were missing or not optimal at the time these systems were adopted.
  • Identity Management for a unified across our major campuses. For example, Ithaca and Cornell Tech use NetIDs while Weill Cornell Medicine’s campuses use CWIDs, which they share with New York Presbyterian and Columbia. This is a very complex problem with important security and usability implications.

Many other system and tools will be evaluated in the CEMI analysis—such as pre-award research administration, Microsoft 365 email, Amazon Web Services, and cloud storage solutions—but they are not the primary focus of the initial CEMI analysis.

Introducing CEMI

Learn more about CEMI concepts in the first article in this series, CEMI 101: What is the Cornell Digital Experience?