Activ8 (Pty) Ltd, the PeopleSoft distributor for Africa, today announced that the University of the Free State will become the first South African university to implement PeopleSoft`s Student Administration application, thereby joining a growing base of more than 600 PeopleSoft higher education customers worldwide. Atos KPMG Consulting will provide consulting and implementation services.
"Worldwide market demand in the higher education sector for PeopleSoft`s Internet solutions has been tremendous," said Paul Mather, managing director of activ8. "Our local strategy includes a major focus on providing tailor-made solutions to this sector and is fully supported by PeopleSoft. The combination of PeopleSoft solutions, the higher education sector expertise and experience of Atos KPMG, and very competitive total cost based on PeopleSoft`s 'Early Adopter` program, make our offering very attractive to tertiary institutions."
Martin Mackay, Vice-President and General Manager, Multi-Country Region EMEA for PeopleSoft, the executive responsible for the Activ8 relationship, added: "We are delighted to have secured the University of Free State as a new customer. PeopleSoft is the acknowledged world-leader in the higher education sector, and see great potential in SA in this market. The combination of our global solution, and activ8`s local knowledge and support capabilities, has again proved itself as meeting the requirements of the most prestigious South African organisations."
University of the Free State has licensed PeopleSoft`s enterprise applications including Financial Management, Human Resources Management and Student Administration, and will replace a range of legacy and other systems. The PeopleSoft solution will be used to seamlessly integrate administrative operations, providing all members of the campus community - applicants, students, administrative and academic staff - with Web-based access to information and services.
"We selected PeopleSoft based on activ8`s ability to demonstrate a fully functional solution already in use by a large international customer base," said Arie van der Bijl, project manager for the University of the Free State. "The site visits to PeopleSoft higher education customers proved to be especially valuable and informative. This solution brings the promise of greatly increased information access, efficiencies and productivity to the university. Given that we are the first South African university to license this solution, the risk-sharing model proposed by Atos KPMG was also an important consideration. We`re pleased to be partnering with Atos KPMG and activ8 on a project that will be a first in SA."
"We are very excited to be the local partner for PeopleSoft higher education solutions," said Jean van der Colff, project manager for Atos KPMG Consulting. "Higher education institutions are faced with many challenges today and partners that understand this industry, its best practice and the issues related to mergers and transformation in education are vital to the success of a project that will transform campus operations. Our experience in this sector and with PeopleSoft applications forms the basis of a great partnership. We will be working closely with the University of the Free State and activ8 throughout the implementation to ensure a highly successful project." she added.
The PeopleSoft project is the largest technology investment in the university`s history and is valued at R20 million over a period of two years and will service a growing student base that already exceeds 19 000.
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