Advisory Group — Members serve as a bridge between the core project team and the broader community. They offer insights into community sentiment, act as a sounding board for emerging ideas and recommendations, share subject matter expertise and identify subject matter experts to participate in working groups, and surface important topics for meaningful engagement and feedback across key stakeholders.
Business Process Pilots (BPP) — Early project activities to explore how key business processes will work in the new system. They help the team understand current workflows and test ideas for the future design.
Change Management (CM) — A process to help people and teams transition and adjust to new ways of working. It focuses on communication, training, and support to make sure changes are understood, adopted, and sustained.
Chart of Accounts (COA) — A structured list of all financial accounts used at MIT. It organizes transactions and reporting so staff and administrators can track and analyze how funds are used.
Core Team — A group of staff members with functional, technical, and change management expertise that focus on day-to-day execution and coordination of the project. They translate strategic direction into action plans, track progress, and address operational challenges. This group keeps things running smoothly and on schedule.
Discovery Phase — The first stage of the project where the team confirms the project’s scope, learns about current systems, and lays the groundwork for the implementation phase.
End-to-End Business Process — A full view of a process from start to finish (for example, hiring an employee or purchasing equipment). Reviewing a process end-to-end helps identify ways to simplify or improve each step.
End User — A person who uses the new system to complete work, such as managing budgets, processing human resources transactions, or submitting expense reports.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) — Software that brings together key business processes in one platform. At MIT, the ERP system (Oracle Cloud) will connect finance, human resources, payroll, and post-award activities.
Executive Sponsors — Senior leaders who champion the project within the organization. They secure resources and keep the project visible at the executive level. Their active support is crucial for building credibility and momentum.
Implementation Phase — The main stage of the project, which includes design, configuration, testing, and training before the new system goes live.
Steering Committee — A group of senior leaders who provide overall direction and oversight for a change initiative. They help set priorities, make key decisions, and ensure alignment with MIT’s organizational and strategic goals.
Subject Matter Expert (SME) — Someone with deep knowledge of a specific area who helps guide how that part of the system is designed and implemented.
Workstream — A focused area of work within the overall project. Each workstream (e.g., human resources, finance, or payroll) tackles a specific set of tasks that contribute to the project’s success.