KFUPM ‘Pioneers’ the Adoption of Latest Technologies for Saudi Higher Education

DHAHRAN, 30 January 2007 — King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) inaugurated the first phase of “Project Raed (Pioneer),” commencing use of e-business systems on Jan. 6. The project launch ceremony was inaugurated by KFUPM Rector Dr. Khaled S. Al-Sultan. In his inaugural speech, Dr. Al-Sultan emphasized that the go live for the new e-business systems marks a new information culture setting in at the university that will in turn support its learning, innovation and research activities.

According to Dr. Muhammad Al-Khaldi, chair, Project Raed Management Team and Supervisor, Financial & Administrative Affairs, KFUPM, Project Raed is a strategic initiative aimed at improvement of effectiveness and efficiency of academic and administrative functions and processes at KFUPM by harnessing information technology. On the administrative front, Oracle eBusiness suite has been implemented in various administrative departments of the university including Finance, Faculty & Personnel Affairs, Applied and Scientific Research, Purchasing & Inventory, Book Stores, Projects, Maintenance, Housing & Office Services, Administrative Affairs, Food Services, Safety & Security and Public Relations.

In taking Project Raed live, Zamil Tata (International) Information Services (ZTIS), in partnership with India’s Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the largest Indian technology services company, participated in the implementation of 67 online services and over 160 major business processes at KFUPM (www.kfupm.edu.sa).

On the academic front, the Banner system is currently under implementation by its supplier SunGard Higher Education in the KFUPM Deanships of Admission & Registration, Student Affairs and Graduate Studies. The system, once operational, will automate and integrate various processes in functional areas such as Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions, Registration, Student Housing, Cooperative and Summer Training Programs, Counseling & Advising, Student Activities and Services, Student Fund and Alumni Management. The implementation schedule for the Banner system has been aligned with the academic calendar of the university and is expected to be fully operational from the Fall Term of 2007.

In order to provide effective reporting and analysis capabilities to the university community, a Business Intelligence Competency Center is expected to be operational from the second quarter of 2007. Efforts are under way to establish a data warehouse that will enable effective query, reporting, performance management and advanced analytics. A portal has been implemented to integrate all applications and services and provide access through single-sign-on facility. A massive awareness and training program about Project Raed has been launched through various channels.

According to Dr. Sadiq M. Sait, deputy chair, Project Raed Management Team and Director of the Information Technology Center at KFUPM, the Raed system has been deployed with state-of-the-art hardware and software including the use of the latest Intel-based clusters and blade systems, new EMC SAN storage, the latest load-balancing switches from Citrix, an Enterprise 64-bit Linux operating system, Oracle’s 10G database RAC cluster (64-bit), Oracle’s E-Business 11i Suite and SunGuard’s Luminis portal.

“From the hardware point of view, you can see that our so called ‘machine room’ has evolved into a high-tech center of multiple clusters. Through controlled redundancies we can now have better server management, higher performance and improved reliability. Another accomplishment has been the transformation of our Help-Desk into a fully-equipped ERP Call Center,” said Dr. Sait.

He added that from the information services and systems point of view, Project Raed has introduced a new information culture to KFUPM which is based on accurate business needs. Information security has also been enhanced.

“A layered security scheme now ensures that only proper owners of data will have access to vital information that is private and confidential,” Dr. Sait commented.

Further, because of the system’s unification around best-of-breed technologies, the Project Raed team believes the university will experience improved IT governance. KFUPM’s focus has now shifted to adoption and deployment of best practices rather than the in-house development of applications.

Considerable effort is already under way in regards to the upcoming deployment of the remaining Raed systems which include the academic student system, the data warehouse and the business intelligence system. Dr. Sait remarked that the IT requirements of the two systems have been identified and in major part already deployed with the remaining requirements proactively factored into this year’s university IT plan.

“There have been several other positive outcomes of this project,” observed Dr. Sait. “Experience has been gained from being involved in, and in the management of a major high-risk project. Deployment of the Raed system is also a perfect example of business-IT collaboration, which is critical in ensuring maximum return on the investments we make.”

While Project Raed will rapidly bring benefits to KFUPM, Dr. Sait believes that this IT implementation is only the start of a transformation to reflect the Digital Age in the resources available at KFUPM. He acknowledged that there have been concerns from some in regards to the changes Project Raed will bring to the university but he feels that the challenge is to move forward successfully with new technologies and systems rather than to hold back out of fear of the “what if” factor.

“With all the anxieties that we have for the challenges ahead, such as (staff) attrition, business continuity, security and concerns due to identify theft, to name a few,” said Dr. Sait, “We are ready to shoulder the responsibilities that come with the new environment and move with constructive impatience in ensuring full utilization of the systems deployed.”