The Division of Finance and Administration kicked off the Alpha Financials project in 2018 with the formation of the Advisory Board and the Project Management Office. Design work began in spring 2019. Alpha Financials uses a Hybrid/Agile approach to planning, executing, and monitoring and controlling the project tasks.
Agile is an empirical method that embraces change in the business environment and technology landscape, with a focus on delivering value quickly and providing discipline and transparency to achieve the desired project results. A Hybrid/Agile approach means that both Agile and non-Agile techniques are being used. For UC Merced, this means one discovery phase, one go-live for campus, but multiple Agile sprints to configure the Oracle solution.
The new financial system is scheduled to be production-ready in December 2020, then "go live" and be placed into use by UC Merced in January 2021, after the campus community returns from the holiday break.