European particle physics research laboratory CERN has launched parallel HCM and ERP transformation projects to modernize the administrative systems that support its day-to-day work, with the programs expected to affect up to 35,000 people across the organization.
The HCM project is expected to be completed by the end of 2028, while the ERP project is expected to be completed by the end of 2029, according to a June 4 announcement. The two initiatives are designed to make CERN’s administrative systems more efficient, integrated, and easier to use.
The projects target a long-standing systems landscape that has become increasingly complex after years of customization. CERN said the goal is not only to replace aging tools but also to simplify processes and move closer to market-standard solutions that can reduce maintenance effort and support ongoing innovation.
Legacy Systems Create the Case for Change
CERN currently relies on several HR systems running in parallel, including Oracle E-Business Suite, SmartRecruiters, PeopleFluent LMS, and Sopra HR Access for payroll. On the finance and procurement side, CERN mainly uses XRP Ultimate, commonly known as Qualiac, which has been in place since the early 1990s.
Many people across CERN also interact with EDH, the electronic document system used for processes such as absence requests and purchase initiations. Some functions currently handled through EDH will move into the new HCM and ERP systems over time.
The issue is not a single failed system but the accumulation of complexity across a highly adapted administrative landscape. CERN said the existing systems have been extensively customized over time, making them difficult and costly to maintain. The HR landscape has also fallen behind what modern platforms now offer.
Analysis
What this means: Embedded workflow tools create hidden change-management risk. CERN’s EDH system supports familiar daily processes across HR and finance, which means the move to new HCM and ERP platforms will affect how work gets initiated, approved, and completed. For system integrators and ERP program leaders, the practical takeaway is modernization programs must account for the workflow layer that sits between users and core enterprise systems.
Cloud Shift Forces a Broader ERP Decision
The ERP project is partly shaped by a platform transition outside CERN’s immediate control. CERN said it was informed in 2025 that XRP Ultimate would need to move to a cloud-based version. Because of the level of customization in CERN’s current environment, that move would effectively require a full reimplementation.
Rather than use the cloud transition as a like-for-like replacement exercise, CERN is using the moment to rethink and simplify its finance, procurement, and supply chain processes. That makes the ERP project a process rationalization program as much as a technology modernization effort.
The HCM project will introduce a single platform covering the full personnel life cycle, including recruitment, onboarding, career development, performance management, learning, time and absence management, and payroll. The ERP project will modernize financial, procurement, and supply chain processes.
Both programs share a core objective: embedding processes into integrated platforms instead of maintaining fragmented tools and workflows around separate systems.
Analysis
What this means: Cloud transitions can force deeper ERP simplification decisions. CERN’s XRP Ultimate move shows how a cloud-version requirement can expose the limits of highly customized legacy environments and turn a platform transition into a full reimplementation. For ERP vendors and product teams, the signal is cloud migration programs increasingly need a process simplification case, not just a technical migration plan.
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Governance and Adoption Will Shape Delivery
CERN said the transformation should give most people fewer fragmented tools and processes, more intuitive systems, and increased self-service capabilities. Some familiar ways of working will change, including the gradual shift away from certain EDH-based processes.
That adoption challenge is central to the program. CERN said communication, training, and phased adoption will be integral to supporting the community through the transition.
Both projects are led by the Business Computing Group in CERN’s FAP Department, in collaboration with stakeholders across HR, IPT, SCE, OSI, and EP. Project leads report to the Joint HCM/ERP Steering Committee, which is responsible for alignment and coordinated decision-making across the two initiatives.
Analysis
What this means: Fragmented administrative landscapes raise the stakes for integrated platform design. CERN’s HCM scope spans recruitment, onboarding, learning, performance, time, absence, and payroll, while the ERP project targets finance, procurement, and supply chain processes. For enterprise architects and transformation program owners, the case reinforces the need to design cross-functional operating models before replacing individual systems.
