Information Technology University

Info

System Go Live : 02 Nov 2019
Module:
- eprincipal
Client : Information Technology University

ITU

Abstract

This case study includes the journey of Information Technology University (ITU) with Pearl Solutions for handling their accounting functions by using the ePrincipal (campus management system), the prominent product of Pearl Solutions. This document will give you information about identifying the key challenges, conducting gap analysis, developing the system according to the needs of the client, and then implementing it.

Introduction of ITU

ITU, located in Lahore, came into being in 2012 to advance scholarship and innovation in the areas of science, technology, and engineering. ITU aspires to emulate the success of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through a focus on cross-disciplinary applied research, the cultivation of an entrepreneurial culture in teaching and research, the maintenance of a close collaboration with the Information and Communication Technology industry, and the development of strong ties with government funding agencies. With a structure that combines the best features of both public and private sector universities, ITU aims to serve as a center for excellence in academia, research, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

Why WAPDA was looking for an ERP system?

WAPDA is a well-renowned authority in Pakistan for generation of Hydel and Thermal electricity, its transmission and distribution to industrial, commercial, domestic and other consumers for more than 6 decades. It was using manual systems to keep all the records required for working of the organization. With time, the officials realized the usage of latest technological for their accounting and management control system for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness.WAPDA was looking for a trusted technology partner for quite long, which should be reliable and have an experienced team to transform the manual system of such a huge organization into a well-designed and secure software. They might have contacted many organizations and then short-listed few among them. Being a premier software house in Lahore, we were also among the privileged organizations who were short-listed.Based on our mature off-the-shelf PearlERP and our experience, Pearl Solutions (Pvt) Ltd was selected to take up this challenge of developing a customized solution to help WAPDA in their journey to the digital era. This enabled them to migrate from legacy system to the next generation ERP solution.

Key Challanges

Information Technology University (ITU) is a very productive project of the Government of Pakistan for technological advancement. But some challenges needed to be addressed in past for the effective and efficient working of ITU. Some challenges that led ITU to approach Pearl Solutions are as follow:-Information Technology University (ITU) is a very productive project of the Government of Pakistan for technological advancement. But some challenges needed to be addressed in past for the effective and efficient working of ITU. Some challenges that led ITU to approach Pearl Solutions are as follow:-

Complex Payroll management system due to allowance and deductions of employees.
Two types of staff which include Teaching and Supportive staff governed by different rules by the HEC and Punjab Government collectively.
New to market so required a trusted partner in technological field for long term partnership.

Gap Analysis

To determine the current state of the university system and its process we conducted the Gap analysis and projected the optimal situation of the system after implementing the ePrincipal here. To conduct the Gap Analysis we followed the following procedures:-

Presentation by our experts of our ePrincipal.
Presentation by ITU officials about their system and what they want from us.
Interviews at different levels by officials.
IT staff consultations and their feedback.

System Development

No customization was made in the ePrincipal because our campus management system was already well equipped to meet the need of the client, so we moved toward the implementation phase after getting approval from ITU officials.

Implementation

The payroll management system was implemented that help ITU to perform their functions smoothly. Their implementation phase included managing two types of staff, one was teaching staff that was governed by both HEC and Punjab Government rules. But on the other hand, the supportive staff was handled solely by the Punjab Government. So making this combination in a way that, their separate working do not affect the system and in the end reporting system made consolidated reports for higher-ups was interesting work. ITU was very conscious about their data and service providers because they were new at that time, so Pearl Solutions worked with them in a way that we became their trusted partner and still working together. This is the success story of our product ePrincipal and its effectiveness shows that things can be done easily by using a campus management system.