Some of the UNDP's offices are in technology starved nations or in countries such as Sudan that are in crisis zones. But because the PeopleSoft system is centrally hosted and Web accessible around the clock, the agency's four Sudan offices can collaborate and share data, as well as perform human resources and financial management operations. Before the rollout began, collaboration was impossible because of the large distances between offices and a reliance on paper or fax-based systems.

Among the benefits for the UNDP is the ability to operate on a common set of data. Additionally, all employee information -- including language certifications, visa status and personnel data -- can be accessed from a single human resources repository, instead of 145. The new finance system also assists in complying with international accounting standards and can factor in multiple currencies.

As part of the continuing rollout, the UNDP in September started to go live with PeopleSoft e-Procurement, and the deployment is slated to continue into 2006.