Finance and Business

SIMBA team recognized for excellence

SIMBA is the name of Penn State's new financial system to replace IBIS. Launched in 2020, SIMBA provides a modern, intuitive solution to effectively plan, budget, manage and steward the University's assets and resources. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

The SIMBA project team, responsible for launching SAP S/4HANA at Penn State, recently won an Excellence Award from the SAP Enterprise Support Advisory Council (ESAC). The recognition is specifically awarded for outstanding collaboration between the University and SAP.

“I would like to send a big thank you to all the team on the SIMBA reporting project at the Pennsylvania State University who engaged with us in the SAP Enterprise Support Advisory Council this year,” said Michael Moloney, ESAC team member. “We appreciate the time (they) invested.”

Penn State is in the process of converting to SAP S/4HANA, a leading Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software that will replace the University’s legacy financial and other integrated systems, including the Integrated Business Information System (IBIS). SAP S/4HANA will increase Penn State’s business agility through improved processes, reporting, budget forecasting, and integrated functions, and introduce a contemporary user interface.   

The multi-year initiative has brought together dozens of subject matter experts across the University to form a cross-functional team charged with providing an intuitive solution to effectively plan, budget, manage and steward Penn State’s assets and resources.

“It is particularly gratifying and apropos that the SIMBA team receive an award emphasizing excellence – our team’s motto is ‘be excellent,’” said Mike Andre, SIMBA program manager. “We are leveraging our strong collaborative relationship with SAP to implement a solution that will not only stand the test of time but will be a model example for our peers upgrading to this platform in the near future.”

SIMBA is a part of the University’s business transformation plan that is replacing older, key business systems with more efficient and modern ones that fully leverage current technologies. The first two new enterprise systems implemented were LionPATH and WorkLion. The third and final system, SIMBA, will launch in July.

For more information on SIMBA, visit: https://www.simba.psu.edu/.

Last Updated February 17, 2020