There was also an in-house developed records management system.

"The challenge was maintaining the integrity of the information during the move," van Haeften said.

"The main cost during the move was maintaining two in-house developers who were focused on the project for three months. In total I think it cost us less than A$80,000 (US$62,700)."

Migrating PIMS to a server based platform has enabled the ANU to retain all of the system's functionality and value, according to van Haeften.

"Software AG completed a seamless migration for PIMS within five weeks, with no loss of functionality during the migration period," he said.