The efforts to transition DePaul's human resources and finance applications from PeopleSoft to Oracle Cloud, known as BlueSky at DePaul, have not slowed despite the upheaval COVID-19 caused in where and how we do our work. The BlueSky team -- including Information Services, Finance and Human Resources -- have continued to make progress and are on target to have the new system in place in January 2021.
Nearly every employee at DePaul is an end-user for at least one self-service function of BlueSky. Some of the first tasks employees will complete include updating personal information, entering hours worked in the new payroll system, and recording current goals for the 2020-21 performance appraisal season. Note: Until BlueSky is implemented, employees should simply record agreed-upon performance goals in a Word document.
Currently, representatives from areas across the university have joined the BlueSky effort to begin user acceptance testing, the final stage of any software development life cycle. Beginning with the BlueSky human capital management functions and then testing the BlueSky Finance functions, these representatives are providing their expertise and knowledge to assist the BlueSky Team. Learnings from these user acceptance testing activities will help inform training and the rollout of BlueSky to the university at large.
Training and virtual labs will be offered for all employees in November and December. Although training materials and opportunities will be available, BlueSky offers a robust on-screen help tool that guides users through the system—so memorizing a list of what clicks are needed to complete different tasks is eliminated.
Information and updates on the BlueSky project will be shared through Newsline. You can also find information at bluesky.depaul.edu.