March 31, 2004

Dear Faculty and Staff:

We are pleased to announce that after many months of deliberations, an agreement has been reached with SAP Public Services Inc. to purchase ERP software to replace outdated financial and administrative business systems
throughout Johns Hopkins. This is a major milestone and represents a culmination of many months of long hours, hard work and thoughtful dialog among Johns Hopkins team members, sponsors and executives, as well as tremendous support, flexibility and cooperation from the SAP team. We
continue to work on a contract with Bearing Point, the preferred consultant we have selected to implement the new system.

What is ERP? It refers to enterprise resource planning, a process that includes replacing existing systems within finance, human resources/payroll, supply chain and sponsored projects with modern, integrated technology. In addition, it will require Johns Hopkins to document, analyze, challenge, and ultimately change how we do business as we search to identify "best practices." Named HopkinsOne, this major initiative is a joint undertaking of the health system and the university.

It provides all of Johns Hopkins with an extraordinary opportunity to improve efficiency by working together to achieve our common goals.

Questions or comments about this project can be forwarded to the HopkinsOne Hotline at 410-735-7411. There is more information about HopkinsOne at the project Web site: http://www.jhu.edu/hopkinsone/

Sincerely,

Steve Golding
Executive Director
HopkinsOne