The National University of Singapore (NUS) has convened the first ever Asia PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Solutions Special Interest Group (Asia CSSIG) at a two-day event held on campus.

University brings more than 25 higher education institutions together to tap growing regional user base for leading higher education student system and alumni development solution

NUS raised the idea of an Asia CSSIG in response to the increasing number of higher education institutions around the region adopting Oracle’s PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Solutions. The university went live on PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Solutions in November 2009, serving some 33,000 students. The Higher Education User Group (HEUG) and Oracle both expressed strong support for the idea.

Mr Tommy Hor, Director of NUS Computer Centre, said: “Asian institutions are at a different stage of PeopleSoft Campus Solutions adoption compared to our counterparts in North America, Europe and Australia/New Zealand. The challenges faced by Asian institutions are also quite different as the education systems are not entirely the same. In a rapid changing business and technological environment, we believe our needs can be better served when we come together to share with Oracle our requirements, challenges and priorities in a single voice.”

NUS intends for the Asia CSSIG – the first of its kind in the region – to facilitate the sharing of ideas, information and experiences among a ‘critical mass’ of institutions that are using PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, and to provide a unified voice to Oracle on all issues involving the solution among these Asian users, so as to better inform the scoping, planning, implementation, and product development expertise surrounding Oracle’s PeopleSoft Campus Solutions for the future. This focus is aligned with those of the broader HEUG organisation, which oversees these objectives for Oracle’s Applications software as a whole.

“PeopleSoft Campus Solutions is seeing good adoption in almost every country in Asia,” said David Redden, General Manager, Asia-Pacific Education Sector, Oracle. “This Asia Campus Solution Special Interest Group is a great and timely initiative from NUS, and it is very encouraging to see this marquee Asian university work so hard to jump-start a forum such as this – bringing together like-minded, skilled practitioners who are managing, collectively, a huge number of students and alumni members in the region, to improve their skills and expertise and to provide their technology partners like Oracle with rich feedback and insight for us to help make the solution even more applicable to institutions in Asia.”

The Asia CSSIG is open to all existing institutions that use PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, or who are considering the use of the solution. Response to the inaugural Asia CSSIG was overwhelming, with the number of attendees significantly exceeding initial expectations. The 140 participants from 25 education institutions in Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Malaysia also represented a good mix of management and project/support team representatives from the various institutions.

The various presentation sessions at the Asia CSSIG were helmed by participating partners who covered key aspects of PeopleSoft Campus Solutions experience – from implementation, upgrades, through to the solution going ‘live’, and thereafter. Participating higher education institutions, including NUS, shared their experiences and key learning points about the solution. Participation from Oracle was noteworthy, with the Oracle Development organisation’s Gary Allen, Senior Strategy Manager from the Oracle Campus Development team, providing insight into PeopleSoft Campus Solution product direction/updates and enhancements. Oracle Consulting Services also shared best practices and critical success factors in implementing PeopleSoft Campus Solutions across several regional universities, including NUS. There was also an update from HEUG on the organisation’s latest developments.

The sharing of best practices and insight are among the key benefits NUS hopes to deliver to its Asia CSSIG peers, in addition to opportunities to network, share ideas, information and experiences with peers from institutions in Asia.

Oracle is a sponsor for the event. Other partners supporting the event include Cyon, HCL, Hexaware Technologies, IBM and Techlogix.

Moving forward, the Asia CSSIG plans to meet annually or bi-annually in one of the Asian countries.