Vision

Transforming systems to create a cohesive, mission-support digital ecosystem that provides reliable information, streamlined processes, and innovative tools to meet the complex needs of today and the future in alignment with The University of Alabama’s standard of excellence. 

Outcomes

1. Continuous Improvement: A culture of ongoing enhancement and modernization using AI, agility, and responsiveness. 
2. Efficiency and Mission Focus: Efficient processes and clear, logical practices that maximize time spent on mission-critical activities and help everyone understand the reasons behind our actions. 
3. Simplified Operations: Standardized tools and business processes that follow leading practices, decreased reliance on customizations and third-party solutions, and agility to adapt to new advancements.  
4. Exceptional Service: Standard practices that create capacity and capabilities that provide a user-friendly, responsive, timely and reliable stakeholder experience.  
5. Data Insights: Consolidated and accurate datasets that remove information silos and provide strategic insights, through readily available dashboarding and reporting for informed decision-making. 

Guiding Principles

1. Be Legendary: Align how we operate to the Alabama brand, creating a legendary experience for our faculty, staff and students. 
2. Explore the Possible: Do not be limited by what has been and instead design toward what can be. 
3. Simplify Aggressively: Prioritize solutions that meet the common need to reduce our technology footprint, streamline the user experience, enhance service, improve security, and support quality information.  
4. Break Silos: Prioritize collaboration among people, technology, and operations across UA.  
5. Encourage Involvement: Nurture a supportive and respectful environment where individuals contribute varying perspectives and are motivated to contribute to UA’s success.
6. Drive Transformation: Embrace change and keep the UA community engaged, informed, and heard to foster ownership and commitment through the transition. 
7. Right-size Decisions: Push decision-making down to informed, empowered, and supported team members who understand and benefit from the impact of their contributions and recommendations.   
8. Reward Innovation: Foster an innovative culture by rewarding creative thinking and the pursuit of new ideas, regardless of the source. 

High-Level Project Timeline 

• 2021: UA initiated the modernization process and developed a roadmap for planning and readiness projects needed to support UA in its objectives, and initiating program management and governance. 
• 2022: UA continued with program management and governance efforts, established a proof-of-concept data warehouse, initiated IT governance, identity and access management (IAM), enterprise standard tools, and application rationalization. 
• 2023: UA built and deployed enhanced business analytics dashboards. 
• March – August 2025: UA undertook a comprehensive redesign of its chart of accounts; developed program vision, outcomes, and guiding principles; conducted an in-depth analysis of core business processes; performed a cross-domain analysis of student information systems; rigorously evaluated vendors; and prepared detailed materials to secure BOT approval for implementation. 
• September 2025: UA selected Workday as its HR and FIN cloud ERP and Huron Consulting Group as system integrator partner. 
• November 2025: University of Alabama System Board of Trustees formally approved the implementation project. 
• December 2025: Implementation begins. 
• February 2028: UA goes “live” on Workday for HR and Finance.