As announced in Anne White’s October 21 letter, the OSP Service Tracker (OST) is being replaced with a new service request tool, known as RAM, for processing of post-award transactions. Beginning Friday, November 6, 2026 at 6 p.m. through 8 a.m. on Monday, November 9, 2026, OST will be offline to complete the system work to launch RAM.
System Availability During the Transition from OST to RAM
- OST will be offline beginning Friday, November 6 at 6 p.m. and available at 8 a.m. on Monday, November 9, 2026, as read-only for review of prior tickets.
- The Hermes Portal will be unavailable for a short period on Saturday, November 7, 2026, beginning at 9 p.m., as part of this system upgrade. Users will be able to access Hermes for submitting NDA, DUA and MTA requests on Saturday after 10 p.m.
- RAM will be available at 8 a.m. on Monday, November 9, 2026, for the community to enter new service requests.
Migration Planning
- If you have OST authorizations in Roles DB, you will be granted RAM authorizations as part of the system upgrade. We will follow up with Financial Primary Authorizers after the November 9 launch to confirm RAM authorization for individual(s) in their area.
- All Active OST tickets with the status of At DLCI or that are In-Progress with RAS will be migrated.
- OST tickets not meeting the above criteria will remain in OST as read-only for review.
- Tickets migrated to RAM with the status of At DLCI will need additional information completed before routing to RAS.
Education and Support
Prior to the launch, learn more about RAM through RA Support’s RAP session:
- Recording available in Atlas for sessions held October 29 and November 2
- Register for virtual session on Thursday, November 5, 1-2 p.m. (contact training@mit.edu for assistance in registering)
As you start using RAM, you can attend virtual learning sessions for “RAM Overview and Q&A” (no registration required):
- Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 9-10 a.m. – via Zoom
- Thursday, November 12, 2026, 1-2 p.m. – via Zoom
- Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 1-2 p.m. – via Zoom
- Monday, November 23, 2026, 10-11 a.m. – via Zoom
Attend Community drop-ins, held each Monday (except Institute holidays), 1-2 p.m. – via Zoom
Webpages and Resources
Resources on how to use RAM will be available and communicated on Monday, November 9. This includes new and updated webpages for:
- Getting started in RAM and customizing one’s dashboard
- RAM service request types and statuses
- Subawards – Requests for new subawards and subaward amendments will be submitted through RAM after initiating a B2P requisition or change order request.
Please contact the RA Support team at ra-help@mit.edu with any questions or concerns.