Implementation of SAP s Public Budget Formulation (PBF) Module

Transcription

1 Santa Clara County Implementation of SAP s Public Budget Formulation (PBF) Module Project Charter

2 Introduction The following project charter is designed to establish a foundation for the County of Santa Clara project to implement the SAP s Public Budget Formulation (PBF) application. By defining the project dimensions and completion criteria, the implementation team and the County will be able to work more efficiently toward the goal of implementing this application. The project charter is essential to manage the expectations of all parties and includes the mission statement, business drivers, high-level scope, critical success factors, project success measurements, project plan, and team member roles and responsibilities. The charter is a dynamic document that may change throughout the duration of the project. 2

3 Table of Contents Mission Statement... 4 Background...5 Business Drivers... 7 High Level Scope... 7 Functionality... 8 Processes... 9 Systems... 9 Critical Success Factors Project Success Criteria Functional Success Criteria Technical Success Criteria Benefits for the County Project Team Technology Tools Requirements 14 Implementation Approach Deliverables..15 Project Plan Project Organization Project Team Roles & Responsibilities

4 Mission Statement Successfully implement a county-wide budgeting solution (SAP s Public Budget Formulation (PBF) application) and innovative business practices that will significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the County s budgeting processes by integrating financial information, increasing resource efficiencies by eliminating labor intensive manual processes and stand-alone shadow applications, supporting performance measurement and strategic planning, and providing greater organizational accountability. 4

5 Background Santa Clara County selected SAP as its enterprise resource planning system (ERP) in 2001 for County-wide accounting and procurement functions. The SAP accounting - procurement application was successfully implemented in 2003 as Phase 1 of the ERP solution and is known as ASAP (Accounting System and Procurement). This core enterprise system is stable and has been enhanced over the years to provide additional accounting and procurement features. The County s ERP system is supported by a full-time staff of developers, system administrators, and business analysts (the ASAP Team). The County s plan is to incorporate financial systems into a single enterprise application thereby providing one-stop shopping for all financial system users and management reporting. Although the budget preparation functionality was considered during phase I, it was determined that the current application (BRASS) was best of breed and that the ERP systems under consideration at that time would not need the County s needs. Therefore, the budget preparation functionality was not included that that phase. The County currently uses a separate application as its enterprise budget system. This system has been in use since 1991 and operates on a separate computer platform supported primarily by OBA staff. The County s budget system, know as BRASS, is not integrated with the County s financial system (ASAP) except for periodic interfaces. The BRASS budget system is not integrated with the County s HR-Payroll system except for a once a year import of HR-Payroll data. There is a growing need for advanced reporting and analytics to support financial analysis and decision making. There is a growing demand for additional functionality to be integrated with the County s core financial system as the next phase of the County s ERP implementation. Business owners in OBA and the Controller-Treasurer s Office require new functionality in SAP in order to replace the aging enterprise budget system, to improve efficiencies in vital business processes such as cash/treasury management and to comply with regulatory and auditing standards. 5

6 The application currently used by the County as an enterprise budget system (BRASS) has been in place for 18 years and is no longer properly supported by the vendor. The vendor has one staff member to provide Help Desk support for existing application functionality (the vendor no longer develops new functionality). The vendor does not provide platform support so the current application is not compatible with Windows 7 without the loss of certain current functionality and compatibility with newer Microsoft Office products is uncertain. The vendor has lost a large number of critical design, development and support staff to SAP. The vendor, CGI, offers a new budget application however the market viability of the public sector budget product as well as the loss of ongoing vendor support and development is a significant risk. The CGI product is a stand-alone application that is not integrated with the County s core financial system except for occasional data imports. OBA desires to replace the aging budget system with a public sectorspecific application from a vendor that offers long-term viability, ease of maintenance, advanced analytics and reporting and integrates directly with the County s core financial system (ASAP) to allow real-time reporting and analysis. The integration of the budget preparation applications into a single SAP platform allows a single access point for users and data from all of the various products can be integrated in real time for analysis, reporting and decision making thereby reducing the patchwork of existing system interfaces and manual (spreadsheet) processes to integrate data from the existing disparate systems. The selection of SAP s budget preparation application meets the stated business needs of the various business owners. Similar products from other vendors will be significantly more expensive and do not provide the combination of features and integration with the existing SAP enterprise system. Non-SAP applications would require separate hardware, interfaces, technical/user support while the SAP products allow users to access one system for all of their financial/budgetary needs. 6

7 Business Drivers The project is driven by the need to: Replace current budget formulation application (BRASS) that is aging, is no longer being developed by the vendor (CGI) and is supported by only one person in OBA. Continue to integrate mission critical applications on to the County s ERP platform (SAP) taking advantage of existing county technical, functional and support staff expertise. Standardize application hardware and operating systems enabling the County to leverage existing hardware and support staff and increase purchasing power for future acquisitions. Be responsive to the demands of customers for improved services Provide management information in a timely manner and in useful formats Meet the public s increasing demands for accountability. Have a technology platform that meets industry standard functionality and that is readily supported by internal and external resources. High Level Scope The project scope defines the boundaries of the work to be performed and is used to manage the project team's work effort, as well as the expectations of the County management. The scope of the project is defined from several perspectives: functionality, processes, systems, and organization. It is described below and will be further refined during the Business Blueprint phase. Historical BRASS data will not be converted to the SAP PBF system, but will be accessible through various means. On a goforward basis, history will be retained in the SAP system. The scope of the project from an organizational point of view includes all of the County s agencies and departments. However, not all functionality will be utilized by for all users. SAP PBF will be configured to accommodate not only the current BRASS users but 7

8 additional users resulting from having the budget formulation process accomplished in the County s SAP ERP system. Functionality The following SAP PBF functionality is included in the scope of the project: Personnel Expenditure Planning In general, this functionality includes interfacing personnel data from PeopleSoft, position reconciliation tools, salary and benefit cost forecasting tools including benefit calculation and various labor collective bargaining unit negotiation calculations. The salary and benefit forecasts for the budget year will be the basis for budgeting these costs in the central operating budget process. Central Operating Budget Process In general, this functionality includes the development of the base budget based on the prior year s approved budget, development of the Current Modified Budget (CMB), development of the Current Level Budget (CLB), development of Requested and Recommended budget proposals including intra-county agreements and final Board of Supervisor s Approved budget. Reporting In general, the reporting functionality will be based on SAP Business Warehouse (BW) infocubes with Crystal reporting and web intelligence universes enabling data analysis and What If scenarios. Publication of Budget Documents In general, this functionality will enable the production and publication utilizing Pattern Stream of budget documents such as Recommended and Approved budgets, capital budget and Information Technology Budget formulation. The PBF module will integrate with the following existing SAP functionality: Financial Accounting (FI/FM) General Ledger Account and Commitment Item structure 8

9 Cost Center, Fund Center structure Funded Program Asset Management Actual cost and encumbrance accounting Business Warehouse BusinessObjects reporting tools Project Systems (PS) Project Accounting including Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Statistical Internal Order (SIO) for One Time activities Grant Accounting Processes The following high-level processes are included in the scope of the project: Position download for PeopleSoft Position reconciliation Position and associated benefit forecasting Development of Base line budget Development of Current Modified Budget Development of Current Level Budget Development of Agency/Department requested and County Executive Recommended Budget Development of Capital Budget Development of Technology Budget Development of Final Board of Supervisor Approved Budget Development of State Schedules Development of and Publication of various Budget documents Development of various reporting tools Systems The SAP PBF implementation will replace the existing BRASS application. 9

10 The PBF application will interface to or from the County s Human Resource application PeopleSoft and be integrated with the above mentions existing SAP modules. Critical Success Factors All SAP implementations include some element of risk because of the changes to critical business processes, the complexity of areas involved, and the overall scope of the effort. In the case of the County, all of these elements apply. Therefore, the following factors are imperative to ensuring the success of the project: Commitment from senior management Strong project management leadership Quick decision-making structure Adherence to scope and schedule Dedicated project staffing with the right people Understanding and managing the organizational learning curve Communication throughout the project with top management, key stakeholders and business owners. Implementation of a vanilla system when the risk to enhance functionality outweighs the benefit of the enhancement changing business processes rather than changing functionality Adequate hardware infrastructure Pre and Post Implementation Training Addressing Change Management Issues Project Success Criteria The success criteria fall into two categories: Functional success criteria focus on the impact of the project on business processes. Technical success criteria focus on the technology environment. 10

11 Functional Success Factors Automation of Functions. Many routine tasks that used to be performed manually, or with inadequate computer support, are enhanced through greater automation. Speed of Business Processes. The elapsed time from the beginning to the conclusion of a business process is decreased. Labor Intensity of Business Processes. Less of people's time is spent on both routine work and problem solving. The new business processes require fewer person-hours per volume of work completed. Internal Controls. Business processes have sufficient internal controls. These controls may consist of system validations, electronic approvals (workflow), and post-audit control procedures. Exception Processing. Non-routine circumstances and situations (such as change orders, corrections, retroactive decisions, etc.) can be handled reliably and straightforwardly. Visibility of Transactions. Users can monitor the day-to-day status of a process through its "pipeline." The history of a transaction flow, as well as its projected future steps, is visible through queries and reports. Important information is never disconnected from its logical flow, and never mysteriously disappears from view. Elimination of Shadow Systems. It is no longer necessary to manually enter data into Access or Excel that is redundant with information in SAP. However, Excel or Access can be used as a reporting tool where relevant data is automatically extracted from the SAP database, then supplemented with the user's own additional data if desired. Accuracy of Information. Information that flows to end-users is error-free and closely reflects actual business events (not just a series of entries that are difficult to map to business processes). Timeliness of Information. Information is available to end users immediately after successful data entry. Capability for Information Reporting. Sophisticated users can get refined, focused, analytic information from the SAP database to meet recurring and ad-hoc needs. Statistical and financial information can be correlated to meet these needs. The path from 11

12 the raw data to the refined calculations is visible and can be traced and validated. Decentralized Responsibility and Accountability. Responsibility for managing appropriate budgeting activities is pushed out to managers closer to where the activity and decisions are actually being performed. The system provides the controls and data needed by these managers to be accountable for their budget development performance. They can analyze budget activities drill down to transaction details. Technical Success Criteria Consistency of Information. SAP serves as the centerpiece and central repository for various supplementary systems and data repositories, including paper records, relevant to budget transactions. All this data remains consistent and well coordinated. Reliability of Operations. The system operates reliably and consistently enabling users access to the system and data on a continuous basis with minimal pre-schedule downtime for maintenance and backup process. Documentation. Online manuals provide users and system support personnel with comprehensive, user-friendly guidance on how the system works technically and how business processes work functionally. Documentation can be used without further personal communication to fill in gaps. Availability of User Support. Users can readily obtain expert help in using the system. This helps users understand how to use the system to deal with both routine and unusual business situations. Transfer of Knowledge. County employees maintain the knowledge needed for efficient internal support of the system. Maintainability. The system easily accommodates future upgrades. 12

13 Benefits for the County Substantial benefits are expected as the result of this project, although initial inefficiencies and frustrations can be expected with the implementation of the new application (as with the implementation of any new application). The project will mitigate the risk and duration of these problems by providing training to system users both before and after implementation and by normalizing the procedures and processes used by the various departments. Training will emphasize understanding business processes as well as the skills required to execute associated business transactions. System users will share the learning experience and gain confidence as they apply their new skills and knowledge. Development of function-specific user groups that meet on a regular basis will further ensure on-going support and success of the project and system. Once the initial learning curve issues are resolved, the following benefits can be expected: Fully integrated -- SAP is structured around business processes, many of which are interrelated. Data is only entered once - at its source - and is linked to all other process areas that use that data. This capability eliminates double entry, promotes cleaner and consistent data, speeds cycle times and forces integration of process and work groups. This also allows for shared information across groups and eliminates the need for multiple and redundant shadow systems. Better Process Performance -- SAP is built around "best practice processes" used by other private and public sector entities. While SAP offers some flexibility in the configuration of the system, the County will modify its existing business processes to more updated, streamlined processes. This may require a large degree of change, both in terms of work methods and in various roles and responsibilities throughout the organization. However, these best business practices will allow the County to achieve improved process performance - including faster processing and increased quality of data. Increased resource efficiencies -- SAP will allow for increased use of valuable resources. Modification of our processes will require an assessment of staff resources within Departments. 13

14 More resources will be available to analyze data rather than process data. From an enterprise perspective - across business processes the County expects to achieve increased use of resources. Increased organizational accountability -- SAP drives increased organizational accountability by capturing and providing a large amount of information used for evaluation of operations. Capturing data at the source also increases the interdependence - and need for accountability - between operating groups. SAP provides a robust audit trail to support the organization in maintaining security and accountability of a large number of users. Support performance management and strategic business planning -- SAP will capture and provide much more information than is currently available. Using the flexible reporting features of SAP, end users can search and report on a huge amount of information. Users can access and analyze any information that is important for their business planning purposes, at any levels. Users can access, analyze and act on information directly available to them on SAP. Strong foundation for future functionality The County has implemented the "core" modules of SAP, including finance and accounting, purchasing and materials management. This serves as a strong foundation for implementing the budget functionality and process improvement. SAP and its various business partners offer significant additional functionality that the County may implement in the future. Project Team Technology Tools Requirement To manage the SAP Implementation project, the following tools will be used: SAP software and Project Management tool - Solution Manager SAP s Santa Clara County specific Help functionality to document and maintain online user guide with transaction specific instructions within the various PBF transactions ASAP methodology SAP s proven software implementation methodology and tools 14

15 MS Excel to develop, maintain and monitor project plan MS Office PowerPoint to develop presentations and end user training material Implementation Approach The County has selected a 'big bang' approach for the implementation of SAP PBF implementation. A 'big bang' approach brings all selected SAP functionality live to users at the same time. This approach facilitates integration between modules and processes, eliminates potential temporary interfaces, and reduces training efforts. The project will follow the ASAP methodology, SAP's proven roadmap for SAP implementations. The ASAP methodology and tools are designed to effectively and rapidly implement SAP modules. In addition to the ASAP methodology and tools, the County will establish a dedicated implementation team made up members from the ASAP team, subject matter experts from the Office of Budget and Analysis and key departmental stakeholders. The County also intends to utilize consulting services with an SAP certified implementation partner. Deliverables Defining key deliverables is an essential element of any project. These documents represent critical milestones and serve to document various tasks and activities associated with the successful completion of the project. The following are the deliverables to be developed by the project team and approved by the Core Management Team: Project Charter Implementation partner contract with well defined Scope of Work Project Plan As Is Business Process Analysis To Be Business Process Improvement 15

16 Technical Architecture Landscape design Interface specification documentation Communications Plan Training Plan As with many of the sections in this Project Charter, the deliverables may be modified throughout the implementation, go live and post go live phases of this project. Project Plan The project plan is designed to manage the entire project. The following is a high-level timeline that outlines the estimated completion dates for each phase. A more detailed timeline can be found in the project work plan. Completion dates for each phase are as follows. Project Segment Timing Project Preparation June to September 2010 Business Blueprint September to February 2011 Realization February to May 2011 Final Preparation July to August 2011 "Go Live" September 2011 Post Go Live Support October 2011 to September

17 Project Organization In addition to assigning team members roles on the project, each role is assigned responsibilities so that everyone understands who is responsible for specific tasks. The following organization chart sets forth the structure for managing the project. Executive Sponsor Gary Graves Chief Operating Officer Core Management Team Vinod Sharma- Controller/Treasurer Leslie Crowell Budget Director Joyce Wing County Information Officer Jenti Vandertuig Procurement Director Project Management Bruce Medlin Budget Project Leader (County) David Indra - Implementation Project Manager (County), Project Manager (Implementation Partner) Partnering Group FUNCTIONAL TECHNICAL Communicati ons & Implementation Reporting Publishing Technology Development Training Lead Business Analyst (County) Lead Business Analyst (Implementation Partner) Bruce Medlin Lead Reporting Analyst (County) Lead Business Analyst (Implementation Partner) Bruce Medlin Lead Publishing Analyst (County) Lead Publishing Analyst (Implementation Partner) Jennet Chan System Administrator (County) Database Administrator (County) Jennet Chan Technical Project Lead (County) Technical Project Lead (Implementation Partner) Coordinator (County) Coordinator (Implementation Partner ) Business Analyst (County) Business Analyst (County) Publishing Analyst (County) BASIS (County) Technical Analyst (County) Business Analyst (Implementation Partner) Business Analyst (Implementation Partner) Publishing Analyst (Implementation Partner) Technical Analyst (Implementati on Partner) Technical Analyst (Implementation Partner) 17

18 Project Team Roles and Responsibilities Roles and responsibilities are assigned to everyone on the project. Each role is assigned specific responsibilities. The Project Team will be responsible for the design, development and implementation of the SAP Public Budget Formulation application. In that capacity, the project team will produce all project deliverables. The roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders include: Product Sponsor Promote and champion the project to top county executives Create the vision for the project Clarify vision and direction when asked by the Core Management Team Resolve issues escalated from the Core Management Team Core Management Team Approve project charter and detailed plans (tasks, resources, timelines, milestones and budget) Review status of project on a regular basis Primary source for the County s long-term goals and vision Champion the project throughout the organization Monitor the progress and the organizational impacts of the project The ultimate responsibility of the project success Promote the project throughout the County Negotiate and promote resolution of escalated issues Commit the required resources to the project Generate timely decisions Resolve escalated issues Support the project managers efforts to accomplish the project goals Empower the core project team to make decisions Partnering Group Meet at designated milestones and significant events to assess status of project 18

19 Participate in, or provide designees to participate in focus groups for design review Communicate status and champion project within agency/department Project Management Team Staff the project Provide direction to team leads Manage the administration of the project to ensure Steering Committee/Core Management Team expectations are fulfilled Develop and manage the project plan, budget and schedule Champion the project and remove obstacles to success Serve as point of contact for timely issue resolution and appropriate issue escalation Make final project planning decisions Establish standards for documentation, data, training, software development and technical system support Monitor all aspects of project progress Team Leads Plan, manage, and assign resources to all deliverables Ensure appropriate stakeholders are involved in the development process Guide core team resources in day-to-day activities Ensure adequate Core Management Team involvement in process and policy issues Provide overall business process content, technical design, and training design leadership Report status to the Project Management Oversee the development of Process Profiles, Business Process Profiles (BPPs), Functional Specifications, Unit Test Scenarios, and Integration Test Scenarios, Technical Development Objects, infrastructure and training materials Functional Team Members Develop business process definition through analysis of "As-Is" and "To-Be" business processes 19

20 Develop team deliverables: Including Process Profiles, Business Process Profiles (BPPs), Functional Specifications, Unit Test Scenarios, and Integration Test Scenarios Obtain deliverable approval Ensure appropriate stakeholder input is solicited and reviewed Configure SAP and document configuration decisions as the basis for end-user documentation and training material Develop and conduct unit and integration testing Provide input on security and controls administration Design, test and assist in data conversion Coordinate the cutover and shutdown of legacy systems Interact with Training and Communication Project staff, as required Technical (ABAP) Development Team Members Develop technical project plan, time estimates, and resource requirements Develop technical deliverables, including conversions, interfaces, custom reports, forms and custom enhancements Expedite the development pipeline Facilitate issue discussion and resolution Accountability for performance and risk management Facilitate communication between onsite and offsite development teams Monitor due dates of technical deliverables Technical (Basis) Infrastructure Team Members Develop and refine the SAP server environment and overall system architecture Conducts technical tests such as stress, recovery, restart and availability Define and ensure ongoing operations infrastructure (performing transports and client copies, daily system monitoring and performance tuning) Ensure synchronization of all development and customizing objects within each environment Define and develop role-based system authorizations Training and Communications Team Members 20

21 Support creation of end-user training material and documentation Plan and organize project team training Develop end-user training database and exercises Assess end-user culture and attitudes toward the new processes Work within the business process teams to understand the new processes and suggest changes to accommodate end-user culture Facilitate communication between the process teams and the endusers Work with deployment team to determine the best deployment approach In addition to the Project Team member roles, department and agency representatives will be involved in the overall project implementation through the various focus groups and Project team presentations. Subject Matter Experts and department liaisons will provide an important link between end users and the project team. 21