UCLA designs and implements current mainframe financial system.
The Ascend project officially launched with a $120 million budget and a projected completion date of July 2020.
The project was paused in December 2019 and entered a replanning phase, expecting to restart implementation in October 2021.
As of December 2020, the estimated completion date for Bruin Finance had been pushed back to January 2024, according to a written statement to the UC Board of Regents.
Under the leadership of the Business Transformation Office, the Ascend team released a new charter outlining the project’s revised scope, governance structure and timeline.
The BTO was reorganized under IT Services, yielding ownership of the project to ITS leadership.
Following multiple replanning phases and a rebranding, the project relaunched as Ascend 2.0 in October 2022.
BruinBuy Plus, UCLA’s new procure-to-pay system, was released Jan. 2. The Ascend project team aimed for an early 2025 launch of Bruin Finance.
Issues with BruinBuy Plus caused a backlog of over 50,000 unpaid invoices within the system’s first four months of use, leading to monthslong delays in payments to vendors.
Ascend 2.0 executive sponsors announced a 12-week pause to reevaluate the project’s future in a Bruin Post sent to faculty and staff June 26.
The 12-week project pause began Aug. 2, expecting to end in late October 2024.
The Ascend 2.0 project remains paused more than 40 weeks later.