Research administrators and academics working together on funding applications.

The Real Impact of Legacy Pre-Awards Software on Universities

Across higher education, many universities continue to rely on legacy pre-awards software to manage Grants. While these systems may still appear to work, they often create underlying inefficiencies that slow research offices down, add unnecessary administrative effort, and make it harder for institutions to compete for funding. 

With funding success rates tightening and financial pressures increasing, universities need grants management software that helps teams work more effectively without expanding headcount. The challenge is that many institutions are still working with outdated grants management software that was not designed for today’s integrated, data-driven research environment. 

This article explores the real cost of legacy Pre-Awards systems and why universities are moving towards modern, cloud-based grants management solutions like GrantsNow. 

Why Legacy Pre-Awards Softwares Persist 

Many legacy systems stay in place simply because teams have learned how to work around them over time. While this may keep things running, it hides inefficiencies that become harder to justify as research activity grows. 

  • Cloud-native platforms became standard 
  • Real-time reporting was expected 
  • ERP integration was essential 
  • Ethics management and compliance requirements became more complex

As a result, these systems struggle to support full end-to-end Pre-Awards management, especially when institutions also need strong post-awards software, contracts management, and governance controls. 

The Real Cost of Legacy Grants Management Software 

Licensing and maintenance costs are easy to identify. What is often overlooked is the day-to-day inefficiency these systems introduce across research offices. 

Industry research referenced by ServiceNow shows that legacy platforms can cost organisations close to £40,000 per year when maintenance, workarounds, and operational overhead are taken into account, even before staff time is considered.  

In a university research office, these costs appear as: 

  • Manual re-entry of proposal and costing data 
  • Time spent chasing approvals via email 
  • Delays caused by disconnected systems 
  • Increased reliance on spreadsheets for reporting 

When research development teams spend hours on administrative tasks, it directly reduces the time available to support academics and submit competitive proposals. 

Opportunity Cost in Pre-Awards and Post-Awards 

In many institutions, legacy Pre-Awards systems operate in isolation from post-award, finance, and contracts tools, creating friction once funding is secured.  

Without a modern grants management solution, universities often face: 

  • Rebuilding project data after award confirmation 
  • Inconsistent cost models between Pre-Awards and Post-Awards 
  • Manual ethics management and due diligence checks 
  • Disconnected university contracts management processes 

These gaps increase compliance risk and make audits more difficult, while adding pressure on already stretched teams. 

Why ERP Integration Is a Defining Factor 

One of the most common frustrations with legacy platforms is integration. Many institutions are told that implementing a Pre-Award solution integrated with ERP will take 12 to 18 months, require custom development, and introduce delivery risk. 

Modern platforms take a different approach. 

GrantsNow is built as a true SaaS grants management software, offering prebuilt ERP and HR integrations that reduce implementation timelines and remove the need for extensive custom work. This allows universities to move faster while ensuring data consistency across research, finance, and HR. 

The result is: 

  • No duplicate entry of staff, grades, or costing data 
  • More accurate budgets using live data 
  • A single source of truth across Pre-Awards and Post-Awards 

Costing Complexity and Funding Accuracy 

Accurate costing is essential to securing and delivering funded research. Legacy systems often struggle to support multiple cost models or require manual adjustments. GrantsNow provides a flexible costing engine that supports: 

  • Full Economic Costing 
  • Horizon models 
  • Custom industry and consultancy cost models 

By embedding costing directly into the grants management process, universities can improve accuracy, reduce rework, and increase confidence in submissions. This directly supports institutional goals around how to increase grants funding without increasing risk.

Ethics, Governance, and Contracts Built In 

Governance requirements continue to grow, yet many legacy platforms treat ethics and compliance as external processes. 

Modern grants management requires embedded ethics management, due diligence, and approval controls. GrantsNow integrates these directly into proposal workflows, alongside contracts management, ensuring:

  • Clear audit trails 
  • Consistent approvals 
  • Reduced reliance on manual checks 

This approach supports both compliance and efficiency across research offices. 

Real-Time Visibility Across the Funding Lifecycle 

A less obvious but equally damaging issue with legacy systems is the lack of clear, real-time visibility. Without real-time dashboards, research offices rely on static reports that quickly become outdated. 

Modern grants management software should provide live insight into:

  • Proposal pipelines 
  • Approval bottlenecks 
  • Funding success rates 
  • Workloads across teams 

GrantsNow delivers configurable dashboards that give universities immediate access to the data they need to plan, prioritise, and improve performance. 

The Cost of using an outdated grants software

Over time, the greatest impact of legacy Pre-Awards systems is not financial but strategic. When outdated grants software is in place, research offices often spend more time managing processes than supporting researchers. 

Institutions that adopt modern, integrated grants management solutions benefit from: 

  • Lower operational costs 
  • Stronger governance 
  • Faster funding cycles 
  • Better alignment between Pre-Awards, Post-Awards, and finance teams 

Conclusion 

Familiar tools can feel safe, but in research funding, that comfort often comes at a long-term cost. As funding pressures increase and research administration becomes more complex, universities need modern grants management software that supports the full funding lifecycle. 

GrantsNow provides a future-ready grants management solution designed for higher education, combining Pre-Awards, Post-Awards, ERP integration, ethics management, and reporting in one configurable platform. 

For institutions serious about improving efficiency and understanding how to increase grants funding, moving beyond legacy systems is no longer optional.