Ignite Overview

In July, President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., announced the development of Ignite, a new cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system designed to support Illuminate, the University’s academic strategic plan. A team of staff members has begun working to implement this new software system, which will provide the financial and human resources technological infrastructure to support the University’s future growth.

As the University reviewed its financial and human resources administration systems, it became clear that improvements were needed to help position Baylor for success in the future. The University’s current systems for these functions operate on technology that is aging quickly and planning for growth while operating increasingly dated business processes presents significant challenges. Ignite will transform, standardize and simplify Baylor’s complex administrative processes and the underlying technology across financial, human resource and research spectrums to better support faculty and staff and aid in strategic decision-making with real-time, accurate data and reporting across the institution.

Though this new system relates most directly to the functions of finance and human resources, all faculty and staff will enjoy its advantages. Ignite will simplify and standardize many disjointed and time-consuming processes that faculty and staff currently perform every day. Some of the many benefits that Baylor employees will appreciate include:

• Dashboards and mobile capabilities offer real-time access to data, which will improve accuracy and availability of information as well as mitigate needs for confusing sub-systems.
• Staff will have new opportunities to contribute to the future success of the University; by allowing access to the most up-to-date information, staff will spend less time searching for data or submitting forms and more time on critical business.
• Ignite will systematically merge data and information across all Ignite systems.
• Cloud systems implemented with Ignite deliver automated system upgrades and releases to reduce the required time and effort from University resources, allowing more employees more rapid access to enhanced functionality.
• This modern technology will bring Baylor up-to-date on an administrative level with its peer institutions and support our goal of becoming a top-tier research institution.

Ignite’s impact on faculty and staff will vary based on how their current role and job duties align with the future processes in Ignite. Additional information on role-specific impacts will be shared throughout the course of the project to ensure that every employee understands and is prepared for how Ignite will affect them.

Ignite’s project team began the planning process in early August. Currently, Ignite is anticipated to launch in 2020.

As the University transitions to operating in the cloud, systems currently in use such as BearWeb, TRAX and KLX will be retired and replaced by Ignite. By making the supporting technological infrastructures for these essential functions less complicated through system consolidation, the University will operate more efficiently across departments and disciplines. More importantly, it will support Baylor’s future growth and provide flexibility for changing needs as guided by Illuminate.

For more information, please visit baylor.edu/ignite or send a message to ignite@baylor.edu. Many thanks to the staff project team for the information they provided for this article.