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The ghost of PeopleSoft continues to haunt
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Boise State spent $4.4 million in cost overruns on PeopleSoft – money critics say could now be used to reduce student fees.
This expense was a result of implementing the software, used for managing university information, over the last few years.
The total price tag of the PeopleSoft system after implementation totaled $22 million, according to Stacy Pearson, associate vice president of Finance and Administration.
Of the total cost, $4.4 million went to paying for consulting fees that became necessary when BSU experienced a large turnover of information technology employees.
Pearson said the loss of experienced staff was a result of two factors.
Before installation of PeopleSoft as Boise State’s IT backbone, the university relied on computer applications written in COBOl, a legacy programming language originally developed in 1959.
When PeopleSoft was introduced, Pearson said many IT staffers left for COBOL related positions elsewhere as they didn’t want to learn the new system.
Still, other personnel were recruited by local businesses after they acquired their new PeopleSoft skills.
Pearson said Boise Cascade, Idaho Power, and the City of Boise switched to PeopleSoft soon after Boise State did and were able to recruit many BSU employees.
Pearson also said the university suffered as a result of being an early customer of PeopleSoft’s software; the programming was still in its infancy when BSU signed on, and as a result, several unanticipated glitches arose that later proved expensive.
“There isn’t a lot of advantage to being an early adopter. There are so many bugs to work out that could be costly,” Pearson said.
The money used to pay for the cost overruns were compiled from unrestricted reserve accounts, Pearson said.
Andy Benson, The Arbiter