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University of Otago

End-of-year processes are streamlined with the most recent and relevant information readily available

Case study highlights

  • Search time reduced from minutes to seconds
  • Increased performance of systems
  • Archived more than 24 million transactions

Challenge

The University of Otago was dealing with a high volume of financial and transactional data relating to creditors, debtors, employees and students, and had found accessing such a large amount of information difficult. The University was also starting to see degradation in its incumbent archiving system, as the volume of data was overwhelming its processing capabilities.

This meant staff were spending considerable time and effort searching through the incumbent system to find specific pieces of information.

Solution

The University was already using TechnologyOne Financials and decided to implement the software provider’s Archiving module to make data retrieval a faster and more efficient process. Archiving allowed the University to address its high volume of data by efficiently filing and storing transactional information in a separate storage location.

Outcome

The University is now able to manage the information in its database far more efficiently, providing optimum performance to its users and increasing productivity across the board. Using Archiving, the University has largely improved performance on perpetual ledger enquiries, whilst still providing online access to all data.

The Archiving module has also allowed the University’s staff to significantly save time; increasing efficiency by reducing the time spent finding information from minutes down to seconds. With this time-saving benefit and increased functionality of the system, staff have become much more satisfied with work processes.

Financial Systems Analyst
University of Otago

We have archived more than 24 million transactions and we try to keep our live transactions between 15 to 18 million, which was something we couldn’t do prior to implementing Archiving.

Client's perspective

The University of Otago was maintaining financial and transactional data at very high volumes. Over time, the volumes grew to the point where relevant information was hard to find and access, causing frustration among employees.

The University was already using TechnologyOne Financials to deliver enterprise-wide control and integration of financial information essential to the University’s strategic decision-making. With the successful implementation of this technology, the University turned to the software provider a second time to implement its Archiving module to solve the data problem.

The Archiving module helps maintain optimum performance of data enquiries, reports and system upgrades. It promotes the efficient use of software infrastructure by archiving transactional information in a separate storage location. By doing this, the University’s software is able to run significantly faster as the system is not clogged with millions of financial transactions.

University Financial Systems Analyst Gordon Hudson said before the implementation of Archiving, the University’s high volume of transactions was starting to create performance issues, with staff losing valuable time searching for data.

“As an organisation, we have archived more than 24 million transactions and we try to keep our live transactions between 15 to 18 million, which was something we couldn’t do prior to implementing Archiving,” Mr Hudson said.

“That meant when a staff member needed to find certain information, they had to search through a tremendous amount of data, which was wasting valuable time and effort. Archiving has solved this problem, ensuring we reach our archived transactions target. In fact, we are currently sitting at 16 million live transactions, which is ideal.”

Spotlight

With the implementation of Archiving, accessing information is far more efficient, as the module displays the most current data available, meaning staff are able to find what they need in a matter of seconds.

The centralised finance team has also increased productivity, as staff are now able to take control of information and access data with far less difficulty.

“The finance team previously dealt with queries from employees about how to access information on a daily basis; whereas now staff are able to access the system and find information themselves, saving valuable time,” Mr Hudson said.

Using the Archiving module, the University archives all transactions that are more than 13 months old, ensuring previous years’ data can be compared with current data. This means end-of-year processes are far more streamlined, as the most relevant information is readily available in the main database.

The TechnologyOne module will also help the University meet future goals, as it can maintain transaction processes while accommodating any growth in data.

“Obviously in the future the transactional data will only increase, but using Archiving means we will not see the same erosion of performance that we had prior to implementing Archiving,” he said.

Financials

About University of Otago

Founded in 1869, the University of Otago was New Zealand’s first university, providing a high quality, research-led learning environment for its students. The University is based in Dunedin, with campuses in Wellington, Christchurch and Invercargill, and has more than 21,000 students and 6,000 staff.

University of Otago website

Publish date

30 Aug 2017

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