INTRODUCTION OF SAP ERP SYSTEM INTO A HETEROGENEOUS ACADEMIC COMMUNITY

Introduction of a complex ERP system like SAP into a heterogeneous academic environment like the University of Zagreb is far from being a trivial task. The University comprises more than 30 constituents, called faculties or academies, geographically dispersed, with long and specific traditions. Financing according to the lump sum principle, enforced in Croatia as a side effect of the in Europe obligatory and omnipresent Bologna process, requires a unified view on the educational institutions in order to provide a more just and appropriate financing scheme than the current one. After the experience with own development to support educational tasks and student administration, for standard financial and administration tasks SAP has been chosen as the most appropriate platform. The developer was selected after public bidding and the authors’ institution was chosen for the pilot project. The authors were playing principal roles in the process of successful deployment and still expect to offer their expertise for implementation in the rest of the University. However, serious risks stemming from lack of motivation by some constituents are present.