Education and skilling Case study

IIT Bombay moves research grant administration onto one platform

ESTEM: travel advances and multi-fund approvals on ERPNext, integrated with SAP FI and SSO, on-premise.

Headline result Grant requests to SAP posting on one platformIIT Bombay

Client: IIT Bombay
Industry: Education and skilling
Platform: ERPNext · Frappe Framework
Scope: 6 modules

1ProblemIIT Bombay needed a secure, scalable and institutionally governed platform for research expenditure and administrative workflows that could run inside its own infrastructure and coexist with existing enterprise systems.

2GoalOne governed platform for research spending, inside IIT Bombay's own network.

3What we builtBizmap implemented ESTEM, a web-based workflow and transaction management platform on ERPNext and the Frappe Framework.

4OutcomeGrant requests to SAP posting on one platform

01 · The client IIT Bombay

IIT Bombay

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay: higher education and research, managing research expenditure across departments and funding sources.

Client: IIT Bombay
Industry: Education and skilling
Country: India
Engagement: Custom workflow platform on ERPNext, on-premise
Region: India (Mumbai)

02 · The challenge

What wasn’t working

IIT Bombay needed a secure, scalable and institutionally governed platform for research expenditure and administrative workflows that could run inside its own infrastructure and coexist with existing enterprise systems.

What they needed

One governed platform for research spending, inside IIT Bombay's own network.
Rule-based transaction validation.
Multi-fund expenditure allocation.
Department-specific approval workflows.
Integration with existing SAP finance systems.
Integration with academic systems.
Centralised sign-in through single sign-on.
Deployment within IIT's own infrastructure.
Controlled software release and deployment processes.
Full auditability and traceability.

03 · What we implemented

The solution

Bizmap implemented ESTEM, a web-based workflow and transaction management platform on ERPNext and the Frappe Framework. It manages approvals, reimbursements, fund allocations and rule-driven validations, and works alongside IIT Bombay's existing systems.

On-premise deployment inside IIT Bombay's network; GitLab CI/CD pipelines integrated with the ERPNext and Frappe repositories on GitHub; real-time API integrations with SAP FI, academic and student systems; institutional SSO.

Modules

Employee travel and advance management
Multi-fund workflows
Rule-based processing
Role-based approvals
Single sign-on integration
Real-time enterprise integrations (SAP FI, academic systems)

How work flows now

1Request
2Rule engine
3Approval
4Fund allocation
5SAP integration

What we built beyond the standard

Multi-fund workflows
SAP FI integration
GitLab CI/CD

Outcomes

Critical administrative workflows digitised
Transactions visible and traceable
Complex multi-fund approvals handled in the system
Less dependence on manual processes
Governance and auditability strengthened
Existing enterprise applications still connected

04 · The results

What changed for the business

One platformGrant lifecycle, request to SAP posting

“ESTEM has provided a scalable and integrated platform for managing complex administrative workflows while preserving interoperability with our existing systems. The solution architecture and deployment approach aligned well with our institutional standards and long-term digital transformation objectives.”

Leadership Team, IIT Bombay