I am fully aware that new systems are the very last thing on your mind now that Erna and the City Council in Bergen are coming up with new restrictions, and we are facing a period of home office and digital teaching yet again. I therefore promise to keep it short and sweet.

The universities of Bergen, Oslo, Tromsø and Trondheim (BOTT) collaborate on joint procurement of new systems for finance, including orders and invoices, and HR / payroll. The systems that have been chosen for all 4 universities are called Unit4 (Unit 4 Business World) and SAP, for financial system and salary, respectively. UiB will have the pleasure of being the first university to try out the systems, and we will start using these new systems on 1st January 2021.

What does all this mean for you? Well, our economists are getting new systems to work in, and have already done an impressive clean-up job to close old projects in our existing systems. Unit4 will also be the new system for ordering and invoicing, which means that more of our technical employees and other people who place orders will receive training in and get acquainted with new ordering systems. For all of us who register holidays, working hours, disbursement reimbursements and more, everything that has previously gone through Pagaweb, we will now use SAP for. Separate websites have been set up at MED and here you will find more information about receiving the new systems: https://www.uib.no/med/137379/bott-%C3%B8konomi-ved-det-medisinske-fakultet

I have to be completely honest with you: I cannot rule out any childhood diseases in the new systems. Therefore, I would encourage you to order some extra consumables before Christmas, in case there should be a squeaks in January. As soon as there is more information about training, I will share it with you.

I reckon we will not see each other that much in the coming weeks, when home office again becomes the new norm. Digital meetings are becoming all the more important, and I hope many take the time to be “seen” on the Department’s day on Tuesday 1 December. Remember also the aids we have available at K2: Mouthpieces for use in public transport for those who can not work from home, and portable UIB-PCs for lending to (mainly) digital teaching for those who do not have a UIB-PC. And not least: Take very good care of yourself and stay safe and healthy. I don’t want any of you to fall ill.

All the best from Julie