FC 102/27 |
|
FC 102/27 |
Hundred-and-Second Session |
Rome, 5 – 9 May 2003 |
Progress Report on the Oracle Project |
Progress between July 2002 and January 2003
Plans for period February 2003 – July 2003
Progress between July 2002 and December 2002
Issues and comments
Progress between July 2002-January 2003
Plans for February-July 2003
Issues and Comments
Background and scope
Progress between July 2002 and January 2003
Plans for February-July 2003
Issues and Comments
1. This report provides information to the Finance Committee on progress made with the Oracle Project between July 2002 and January 2003, and plans for the period February – July 2003.
2. As planned, during the period from July 2002 to January 2003 the main focus of Oracle Phase I related work was on the Oracle 11i upgrade project. This work involved migrating from Oracle version 10.7 to version 11i and the upgrade of the Data Warehouse. As reported verbally to the Finance Committee at its 101st Session, both aspects of the project were completed satisfactorily and during the period since the upgrade, work has concentrated on monitoring and stabilising workflows and completing the first year-end closure cycle in the new upgraded environment.
3. Also during this period, the technical upgrade of the new Budget Maintenance Module (eBMM) was completed and the new web-based version was released to users on 10 February 2003. This new version provides improved budget management functionality and will also result in improvements for Regional Offices that have suffered performance problems with the previous version of BMM.
4. In line with new Human Resource contract processing requirements, system changes in the Oracle Financial modules were implemented to reflect the introduction of the new Personal Services Agreement (PSA) contract. A later phase of this project will involve developing the automatic generation of new consultant contracts from the Oracle applications.
5. A new data set was created in Data Warehouse of information sourced from the Accounts Receivable financial sub-ledger. This will enable the development of management reports and financial analysis of Member Nation contributions. The user testing and implementation phase of this project will be completed during the period February 2003 to July 2003.
6. Several key areas of work aimed at further strengthening the financial applications have been identified for attention during the period to 31 December 2005. These include:
7. The work plan for the period February 2003 - July 2003 will focus on the following:
a) Budget Maintenance Module (BMM)Within the context of the PIRES project (see Section 4 below) AFF, together with PBE, TC and other interested parties, will design and implement corporate budget (management) accounting requirements and specify other enhancements and additional functionality. This work has commenced and will continue throughout 2003.
b) Further development of interface monitoring reportsA number of monitoring reports have been developed during the implementation of Oracle to ensure the completeness of data being passed between Oracle Financials Systems and also between non-Oracle and Oracle systems. In line with the recommendation of the External Auditor, work will continue in this area. Improvements will include the use of 11i workflow functionality in the interface monitoring process. This work has commenced and will continue throughout 2003.
c) Develop Corporate Accounting Manual and Procedural DocumentationAs recommended by the External Auditor, this work will include the review and revision as required of existing materials and the preparation of further documentation necessary to constitute a comprehensive corporate accounting manual. Procedures and related documentation will be prepared for all business units and the new FAO Intranet will be used to communicate authoritative policy and procedure documentation to user groups. This work has commenced and will continue throughout the current and following biennia.
d) Developments in Accounts Payable (Payments) ApplicationThe 11i upgrade project was almost exclusively technical in nature and only partially addressed the restructuring and streamlining of accounts payable processes. With regard to the Accounts Payable application, activities will now be focussed on exploring the scope for electronic workflows in support of accounts payable operations and processes and further improvements in vendor and banking information masterfiles. Electronic file formats for transmitting AP payments to BancaIntesa will also be developed and integrated with existing Oracle Financials systems. This work has commenced and will continue throughout 2003.
e) Further develop the Data WarehouseData Warehouse developments, in particular the implementation of specialised reporting functions (‘data marts’) require information to be gathered in the Data Warehouse from the financial sub-ledgers (Accounts Payable AP, Accounts Receivable AR, Procurement PO, Human Resources) and other sub-systems. The user testing and implementation phase of the new data set gathered from the Accounts Receivable sub-ledger project will be completed during the period February 2003 to July 2003.
f) Plan Oracle Financials upgrade strategyIn view of the ongoing process of applications upgrade followed by the Oracle Corporation and other package software providers and also considering the requirements of other FAO projects, in particular the HRMS project, alternative approaches to product upgrade will be considered together with related resource requirements in order to select the most suitable approach for FAO.
8. Final user acceptance tests were carried out as planned between July and August 2002. The new system went live on Monday 19 August 2002, one day ahead of the original schedule. Presentation style training was provided to Headquarters and Regional Office users to become familiar with the new user interface. Procedures were updated and online access to system documentation provided.
9. The project was successful – it completed within the agreed timeframe, and within budget, although with a more restricted scope than originally envisaged.
10. PRINCE2 was adopted as the methodological framework for the project, a full Project Charter was developed, regular project team meetings were held and documented, user views were fully represented by the use of four working groups, and a final Post Implementation Report produced. Some of the user recommendations for improvements were straightforward and were implemented prior to the 11i upgrade, some related to the satellite systems1 rather than Oracle, and these were incorporated in plans for changes to these systems, and some were more complex and related directly to the Oracle system.
11. The original scope of the project was ambitious – to upgrade the Oracle applications effecting a series of functional changes to the original system configuration aimed at improving system functionality and procedures in place. As a result of the limited functional resources which could be allocated to the project, the project was re-scoped to limit it to a technical upgrade, although the opportunity was taken to resolve some of the problems experienced with the original implementation. A full User Acceptance Test was required even if the scope of functional changes had been reduced considerably. Success was very much due to the professionalism and commitment of technical and functional staff allocated to the project.
12. Following completion of the project, a Post-Implementation report was produced, enabling the Organization to benefit and learn from the problems and successes of the project. The following is a summary of the key messages of the Post-Implementation report.
13. The decision to reduce the scope of the project to match the available resource levels was correct. It allowed FAO to reach the minimum target of keeping the Organisation on a supported version of its financial system.
14. Involving internal resources throughout the project provided retention of knowledge of the new system after the consultants had completed their assignment. This enabled FAO staff to be in control of the new system immediately following implementation, and no knowledge or time was lost in the handover of project staff to operational support staff.
15. The availability of a full User Acceptance Test plan was key to the success of the project, and the plan prepared for the Oracle 11i Upgrade should be kept up to date and re-used in the future.
16. The suggestions for change made by the working groups were very valuable, and the groups might be reformed to continue to monitor and provide input to the continuous improvement of the Oracle system.
17. Finally, in order for FAO to retain full control over its systems and exploit the opportunities provided by the continuing evolution of the packages and underlying technology, it is recommended that major software upgrade projects are carefully planned in advance, within the context of an Information Systems section of the FAO Medium Term Plan.
18. [this section is now included in section 1 - Oracle Financials and section 5 – Oracle Human Resources]
19. Development of PIRES support for the PWB 2004-05 has been the major priority during the period. The policy framework was completed and the development and deployment of PIRES functionality for collecting data required for the Summary Programme of Work and Budget (SPWB) was completed. An extensive training and briefing programme was provided to both technical and non-technical divisions. Initial data collection was completed in December 2002 and PIRES-based data analysis tools were used to prepare for the departmental budget meetings completed in January 2003.
20. An evaluation of PIRES and its support for the Medium Term Plan 2004-09 preparation process was conducted and the results were reported to the OPMC at its November meeting. The evaluation was based on a survey distributed to ADGs, Programme Coordinators, Division Directors, programme formulators and personnel entrusted with data entry. Respondents were asked to score different MTP and PIRES features on an homogenous scale. The results of the evaluation were generally very positive. Respondents were also encouraged to provide textual recommendations and many of these were adopted and implemented in both the procedures and systems support of the subsequent PWB process.
21. The analysis and design of an integrated solution for departmental workplanning and corporate forecasting has begun with active participation of AFF, AFH, AFI and PBE. The first step in this analysis (the development of role-based requirements for Regular Programme budget forecasting and monitoring) has been undertaken by the Toolkit Subgroup of the PIRES Inter-departmental Working Group (IDWG) and is nearing completion.
22. Specifications for PIRES support of the annual programme assessment, based on DGB 2001/33, Strengthening the FAO Evaluation System, and subsequent guidelines, have been completed and circulated to the departments for comment.
23. Together with AFI, the PIRES Team has provided assistance to the Working Group on the Participation of the Technical Departments in the Field Programme (WG-FPD) in a pilot project to investigate work measurement approaches based on an enhanced Work Measurement Survey (eWMS) that would provide better data related to technical units' support of operational activities.
24. Collaboration with AFH on integration issues between planning systems and HR systems has continued. For example, functionality to support the collection of data and review of post actions proposals has been developed as part of the PWB module, based on AFH specifications. Similarly, AFH plans, to the extent feasible, to make use of PIRES planning data in the development of its performance management system under Oracle Phase II, thus using the latter to reinforce the effective implementation of the former.
25. Integration of PIRES data into the corporate data warehouse has been deferred until after the end of the PWB 2004-05 preparatory process in mid-2003.
26. The major priority for the period will be completing the SPWB (end February 2003) and the data collection, analysis and document production for the full PWB (April-July 2003).
27. The analysis and design of an integrated solution for departmental workplanning and corporate forecasting should be completed (July 2003).
28. Solutions for annual programme assessment will be put in place based on departmental feedback (April 2003). Since annual assessment is a departmental (rather than corporate) exercise, it is anticipated that PBE's support of the process through the Departmental Toolkit will be based on each department's approach.
29. The eWMS pilot project will be completed and the results reported to the Field Programme Committee (May 2003). Based on the FPC feedback, follow up steps will be formulated.
30. Collaboration with AFH on integration issues between planning systems and HR systems will continue at an increased level as HRMS analysis and design work accelerates.
31. As noted in the previous status report, PIRES support for the PWB 2004-05 was implemented as a bespoke system, building directly on both the data and functionality developed for the MTP 2004-09. Based on the very positive response to the solutions provided and the economy with which they were developed, the OPMC agreed with the proposal to no longer pursue a possible solution involving the use of the Oracle Public Sector Budgeting module.
32. With the completion of the major corporate planning processes (MTP and PWB), PIRES design and development work will increasingly focus on integration points between working-level planning and monitoring processes supported by the PIRES Departmental Toolkit and the related corporate processes supported by systems owned by AFF, AFH and TC. Mechanisms for active and ongoing coordination between the respective project teams will be increasingly important.
33. Funding for the remaining development work in 2003-04 should be available, as foreseen, from the use of arrears.
34. The implementation of the HR and payroll component of Oracle will not only satisfy the need to replace the current Persys/Payroll system but will also respond to the need to develop a modern human resources information management system in the FAO. Such a system is required to underpin the new reforms and accountability mechanisms that are to be gradually implemented. It will play a key role in the better identification of human resources and skills needs. It will also be an indispensable instrument for better linking HR planning as well as the performance of individuals with the Organization's programme plan. It will allow the creation of new applications in the fields of training, staff development, career development, human resources planning, and performance management. Furthermore, it will offer an integrated financial, budgetary and human resources information system, as envisaged by the Director-General when the original Oracle project was launched.
35. As indicated in the oral report presented at the 100th session of the Finance Committee, the Human Resources and Payroll Project started in 2002. The project organizational infrastructure was prepared and a Project Charter was written in compliance with a sound project methodology (Prince2) and approved by the Oracle Project Management Committee (OPMC). The Charter presents the structure and plan and will serve as reference for the progress reports to be issued during the life cycle of the project.
36. The project is built around three phases:
37. Phase 1 is in progress. It consists of a user-driven production of the complete set of the business requirements needed to design the new information system. Phase 2 of the project is scheduled to start in late 2003 with a target date for project completion in the first half of 2006.
38. The production of business requirements for current processes is being accomplished, and draft business requirements for the following workstreams have been produced:
39. The work has been completed by functional staff supported by system analysts for analytical skills. This ensures a good understanding of FAO procedures and the setting up of core competencies for the successive phases of the project.
40. The draft business requirements will undergo a process of validation and improvement in collaboration with the relevant business offices. During the same period draft business requirements for the following additional workstreams will be produced:
41. The technical environment will also be prepared, alongside the procurement for implementation partnership, and consultations will be initiated to determine the most cost-effective approach to design, development and implementation.
42. Initiation of the project suffered from delays due to difficulties experienced in recruiting appropriate staff in a cost-effective manner. A revised policy for staffing of the project has been developed, and it is hoped that this will address the problem and obviate further delays.
43. An allocation of US$1 830 000 for the first phase (business requirements and process improvements) was made in the PWB 2002/3. Based on lessons learned from Oracle Phase 1, it was noted that adequate human and financial resources would need to be made available in order for Phases 2 and 3 to move forward, and the implementation of Phase 2 would remain subject to the availability of additional resources. The cost for Phases 2 and 3 was estimated in the Project Charter at US$20 300 000.
44. It should also be noted that under Conference Resolution 6/2001 adopted on
9 November 2001 (C2001 Report), dealing with the use of Arrears, the Conference agreed to allocate US$25 500 000 for the development of corporate administrative systems, with
US$19 900 000 being earmarked for the Oracle HRMS project.
__________________________
1 Field Accounting System (FAS), Budget Monitoring Module (BMM), Travel system (Atlas) and Data Warehouse (DW).