eResearch, the university's platform for research administration, must be replaced by October 2031 due to the vendor discontinuing support for its software products. The systems impacted by this change include eResearch Regulatory Management (eRRM), eResearch Proposal Management (eRPM), eRAM, and M-Inform.
In preparation for this transition, a two-year planning project to develop a recommendation for migration has commenced. A cross-disciplinary team is developing a strategy to move the university's research administration services to new solutions with minimal disruption, while ensuring continuous support. Working group members from the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR), Information and Technology Services (ITS), governance committees, and campus research administration are collaborating to identify business requirements, explore market alternatives, and evaluate replacement solutions.
The project team will make a recommendation and secure funding before starting the next phase of the project, which will include purchasing, implementation, training, and change management.
This project is currently in a discovery phase, where the university is gathering information about potential solutions and market conditions. We will use strategies like a Request for Information (RFI), product demos, business requirements gathering, and fit gap analysis (process for identifying the difference between known requirements and proposed solutions) to make a recommendation and outline a proposed schedule, budget, and resources to migrate all four product lines by the 2031 deadline.
Once the recommendation is approved and funded, we will enter the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase to select partners and begin contract negotiations. Throughout these phases, the university community will have opportunities to provide critical input.