INDIAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
PROMOTING HIGHER EDUCATION WITH
QUICK FACTS
Industry
Higher education and research
Revenue
Rs 1 billion (US$23 million)
Employees
140
Location
Hyderabad, India
Web Site
www.isb.edu
SAP® Solution and Services
SAP for Higher Education & Research
solution portfolio
Implementation Partners
Caritor India Pvt. Ltd., SAP® Consulting
organization
Indian School of Business (ISB),
located in Hyderabad, India, is one
of the largest business schools in
the world and was ranked in the top
20 of global business schools by
Financial Times. ISB faced two
challenges: an increase in the
number of students and stand-alone
legacy applications that resulted in
information silos. To have data flow
from one department to another
with a single click and enhance deci-
sion making for senior management,
ISB chose the SAP for Higher
Education & Research solution
portfolio.
SAP Business Transformation Study
Higher Education and Research
INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS
Key Challenges
• Eliminate delay in information sharing
due to stand-alone systems used by
each department
• Improve access to real-time accurate
information and reporting functionality
• Replace people-driven processes and
practices with process-driven operations
• Reduce senior management’s involvement
in resolving day-to-day operational issues
Implementation Best Practices
• Senior management support to ensure
adoption of and compliance with best
practices for business processes
• Strong project governance with daily and
weekly team meetings to monitor project
progress
• Monthly steering committee meetings
chaired by the institution director to
ensure timely project completion and
effective change management
• Committed implementation team with
experts from Indian School of Business,
Caritor, and SAP
Financial and Strategic Benefits
• Reduced cycle time to complete tasks due
to data integration across departments
• Created a “wow” experience for all users
of the enterprise portal
• Helped senior management make better-
informed strategic business and opera-
tional decisions with enhanced corporate
planning tools
• Improved decision making due to any-
where, anytime access to information with
access controls
Why SAP Was Selected
• Ability to meet key requirements of
educational institutions
• Focus on the higher-education market
and ecosystem of SAP customers
• Strong position in the Indian market and
large installed base of customers in India
• Strong technology expertise, product road
map, and commitment to customer
Low Total Cost of Ownership
• Completed implementation in a record
time of 4 months
• Reduced the need for training and support
due to user-friendly interface
• Used the SAP® ERP application to drive
best practices and standardize business
processes
• Reduced customization effort and costs
with software support for industry-specific
requirements
Operational Benefits
Key Performance Indicator Impact
Savings from automating Rs 0.9 million
back-office functions such (US$20,000)
as HR and finance (one-time
savings in the 1st year)
Savings from eliminating Rs 1 million
high-maintenance legacy ($25,000)
systems (one-time savings)
 “ISB wanted to partner with the best company for enterprise applications – one www.sap.com /contactsap
that is well known, with excellent customer support, and with a high market
share worldwide. The obvious choice was SAP.”
Dr. K. Mohan, Senior Director, IT and Learning Resource Centre, Indian School of Business

Disparate Processes and Systems With secure access controls and priva-
HE&R) solution portfolio, along with SAP®
cy tools, the enterprise portal gives
software for finance, HR, and procure-
Indian School of Business (ISB), ranked anywhere, anytime information access
ment, to support its operations.
in the top 20 of global business schools to ISB’s current and potential students,
by Financial Times, focuses on providing The implementation project, named faculty, management, board members,
a world-class MBA program and con- “SAPling,” was carried out with strong corporate visitors, and others. The
ducting cutting-edge research in tech- executive management support. A project back-end software in finance, HR, and
nology management, marketing, analyti- governance model helped the team procurement increases administration
cal finance, and other areas. As student complete the implementation in just four efficiency and reduces operating costs
intake and program offerings grew, ISB months. Another key to success was the while improving service delivery to all
encountered growing pains with its lega- effective teamwork between ISB steering stakeholders. ISB has been able to
cy applications. Different departments committee members and consultants from project considerable cost savings over
using stand-alone applications resulted Caritor India Pvt. Ltd. and the SAP Con- a period of three years through auto-
in information silos and nonintegrated sulting organization. Adoption of business mating back-office functions and
processes. Manual information flow processes driven by best practices and eliminating high-maintenance legacy
from one department to another led enabled by effective resolution of change systems. According to Dr. Mohan,
to delays in turnaround time and data management issues ensured widespread senior director, IT and Learning
inaccuracies. For example, the MBA user acceptance. Resource Centre at Indian School of
department had to wait for prospective Business, “We have calculated savings
student information from the admissions Organizational Transformation of some Rs 0.9 million [US$20,000]
department to carry out its admission from efficiencies and improvements in
process. SAP for HE&R enabled end-to-end value just our back-office systems and sav-
chain integration, providing complete ings of some Rs 1 million [US$25,000]
The lack of integrated systems and visibility of all organizational processes from eliminating high-maintenance lega-
reporting meant that senior manage- and interactions. Employees now manage cy systems. In addition, we project sav-
ment had to spend more time resolving their operations in a disciplined, systemat- ings of over Rs 4.5 million [US$45,000]
day-to-day operational issues, while the ic, and collaborative manner while the within three years resulting from our
lack of real-time accurate information information they need is kept for future implementation of SAP for HE&R.”
reduced management’s ability to make reference. With real-time data access,
timely decisions. ISB eliminated data inaccuracy and dupli- From “SAPling” to Trees
cate data entry, increasing employees’
Planting the “SAPling” efficiency and job satisfaction. SAP for With SAP HE&R, ISB has become a
HE&R is acting as a catalyst in developing trendsetter in the industry across the
After an extensive search and rigorous new corporate strategies and helping country. ISB plans to replicate its suc-
6-month evaluation of solutions from senior management make decisions cessful implementation in its proposed
SAP, Oracle, and niche vendors that faster through the use of corporate Mohali, Punjab, campus, which is
catered to business school–specific strategy planning tools. expected to be operational by 2011.
requirements, ISB chose the SAP for
Higher Education & Research (SAP for

50 092 490 (08/11)

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