ERP Needs Assessment Report - Sumner County, …finance.sumnertn.org/getdoc/011ecdba-f91e...needs_assessment_report...ERP Needs Assessment Report SUMNER COUNTY, TN ... With these goals

ERP Needs Assessment Report

SUMNER COUNTY, TN | DECEMBER 14, 2012

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Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary ................................................................................. 2

2 Assessment by Functional Area ............................................................. 9

3 Technology Readiness Assessment .................................................... 37

4 ERP Market Analysis .............................................................................. 47

5 Recommended Next Steps .................................................................... 55

Appendix A: Project Charter .......................................................................... 65

Appendix B: Application Inventory ................................................................ 79

Appendix C: Sample Approach for Selection/Implementation .................... 83

Appendix D: ERP Cost Estimate Assumptions ............................................ 85

Appendix E: Sample System Selection Roles & Responsibilities .............. 86

Appendix F: As-Is Process Maps ................................................................... 88

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1 Executive Summary Sumner County (the “County”) and Sumner County Schools (the “County”) have approximately 5,000

employees (both County and Schools combined) and an annual operating budget (both County and

Schools combined) of about $290 million. In 2012, the State of Tennessee enacted the “Financial

Management Modernization System of the County of Sumner, TN of 2012”, or otherwise known as the

2012 Finance Act. As a result of this Act, the County and the Schools are to streamline many business

operations and modernize associated accounting systems on or before June 17th of 2016. This deadline,

coupled with a desire to streamline County business processes are the primary drivers for the ERP Needs

Assessment project.

The County currently operates Zortec financial management software from Local Government Data

Processing Corporation for its Enterprise-Wide Resource Planning system (ERP) that includes financial,

procurement, and payroll functionality for both the County and Schools. In addition, staff use several

shadow systems for a variety of other functions including human resources, inventory management and

asset management activities. Shadow systems are defined as duplicate systems used to check against

the primary system or to enhance the functionality of the primary system. Shadow systems include

Microsoft Office Suite products such as Excel as well as other commercial off the shelf (COTS) software

such as DataQuest for Human Resources activities that is used by the County to support other

administrative processes.

The County implemented Zortec approximately 15 years ago. The County recognized that its current

Zortec environment is aging, making it increasingly difficult to provide end users with the level of

functionality they desire. The County would like a newer system that is robust, easy to support, and has

more recent ERP functionality (e.g., self-service capabilities and workflow functionality). As a result of the

lack of functionality in the current systems, coupled with a need to modernize financial management

systems as per the 2012 Finance Act, the County determined a need for a comprehensive assessment of

current back office systems and business processes to determine the feasibility of replacing Zortec with a

newer ERP solution. Specific goals cited by the County for performing an ERP Needs Assessment

include:

Incorporate fully integrated "best business practices"

Develop a system that is user-friendly and empowers departments to improve their business

processes

Add and improve functionality in back-office functional areas

Improve quality and accessibility of information for decision support

Eliminate paper-based workflow processes and forms

Reduce redundant “shadow systems”, data entry, storage, and paper processing

Improve operational effectiveness and productivity

Enable e-Government initiatives, including enhanced customer service and web self-service

Reduce the number of systems we own and support and their related costs by retiring existing

legacy and back office "systems" and tools

With these goals in mind, the County requested that Plante Moran perform the following activities:

Examine the major strengths and weaknesses of the current ERP and shadow systems in

addition to their associated internal practices and processes.

Map as-is business processes and provide recommendations for business process improvement

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Identify key decision points related to the replacement of the current ERP system

Create a Request for Proposal (RFP) in order to identify a future ERP provider and solution. The

RFP, including software specifications that document required functionality for each business

area, will be developed following the delivery of this Needs Assessment Report.

1.1 PROJECT SCOPE

The intent of this project was to perform an assessment of the County’s current financial and personnel

environment and identify key strategic options and recommendations. In addition to these core ERP

functions, the project included an assessment of all major best-of-breed and third-party systems used by

the County. Specifically, the project scope included conducting project management tasks, reviewing

documentation, conducting interviews and assessing the County’s technical environment to develop this

ERP Needs Assessment for the following functional areas:

Processes Included in Needs Assessment Phase

Accounts Payable General and Technical

Requirements Payroll

Bank Reconciliation General Ledger/Financial

Reporting

Performance

Management

Budgeting Human Resources Projects & Grant

Accounting

Cash Management Inventory Management Purchasing

Cash Receipting Investment Management Time & Attendance

Dashboard Misc. Billing and Accounts

Receivable

Document

Management

Debt Management Fixed Assets

The project scope excluded recommendations for the following specific systems and processes:

CRM System

Law Enforcement Systems

Health Care Patient Systems

Student Information Systems

Jail Management Systems

However, interfaces to many of these systems were included as part of the study due to the importance of

their function in supporting the related business processes covered within the scope of the project.

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1.2 PROJECT APPROACH

The following chart illustrates the approach that was taken in performing the ERP Needs Assessment:

The overall goal of this needs assessment was to define a future course of action for the County’s ERP

and shadow systems. The project was conducted using a participative and inclusive approach with

significant input from County management and staff to ensure accuracy, completeness, and ownership of

the resulting recommendations. Participation was obtained through the following activities:

Establishing a Project Sponsor to maintain the project vision, act as a project champion, provide a

strategic perspective, and to remove project roadblocks when necessary.

Defining a Project Manager and co-Project Administrators to ensure prompt and clear

communication between the County and Schools in order to manage project activities, ensure

project deliverables were reviewed by the appropriate staff, and to provide progress updates to

the County management and other interested stakeholders.

Developing a Project Steering Committee to assist in creation of the project charter, work with the

County staff to identify needs, make decisions about the project, and review and provide

feedback on project deliverables.

Facilitating multiple project management status meetings to manage project activities and provide

status updates.

Conducting interviews with the County departmental end users to evaluate current systems and

business processes. Departmental management was encouraged to participate and invite team

members.

Collection and review of numerous documents provided by the County, as well as completed

questionnaires by the departments.

1. Initiation

•Define Project Organizational Structure

•Develop Project Charter

•Develop Project Plan

•Establish Project Collaboration Center

2. Needs Assessment

•Review County Documentation

•Conduct Departmental Interviews

•Assess Technology Environment

•Map 'As-Is' Processes

3. Draft Report

•Compile Findings

•Identify ERP Options

•Conduct Visioning

•Prepare Draft Report

•Develop Action Plan

•Present Draft Findings

4. Finalize Report

•Review Draft ERP Needs Assessment

•Update Draft Report

•Finalize Report

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Soliciting input from the participating Departments that included the evaluation of the following

items:

o Identification of current systems

o Duplicate entry / re-keying of information

o Issues with / shortcoming of current systems

o Strengths of existing systems

o Unused features / functionality of current systems

o Opportunities to interface systems

o Unique County business rules

o Vendor interaction

o Current technology project initiatives / Future technology projects

The overall goal for implementing new technology not only focuses on the technology itself, but also aims

to enhance existing business processes performed by individual departments across the County.

Technology is intended to enhance departmental business processes by:

Making them more efficient

Making them more effective

Improving decision-making

Providing enhanced customer service to both internal and external customers

Improving access to information

Streamlining processes to reduce costs.

1.3 SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS

The approach Plante Moran followed in developing the Needs Assessment report focused on identifying

how the current technology applications supports the County’s business goals and denoting opportunities

for improving the effectiveness of business processes performed at the County in the future.

The key findings and opportunities are further described in the Current State / Gap Assessment section of

this report. We have also summarized the findings and opportunities in this Executive Summary section

as presented below.

1.3.1 Key Findings

Aging Financial System

Lacks Functionality Found in

Many Modern ERP Systems

Recent advances in ERP systems, which the County’s system does not

currently provide (either because they are not available or were never

implemented); include electronic workflow and self-service functionality.

These functions significantly enhance efficiencies, as they enable end-

users to complete and route transactions to the appropriate decision

makers leveraging the use of notifications and queues which allows for

greater organization and less redundancy.

Limited Access to

Information

The County’s use of separate software systems for core

financial/human resources and purchasing functions causes significant

delays, manual processes, and reconciliations, as staff do not have

access to necessary, detailed information in real-time.

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Lack of a Central Time Entry

System and Lack of

Integration Between

Departmental Time Entry

Systems and The Zortec

System Inhibits Time

Tracking Activities

The manual nature of the County’s current time entry process makes it

difficult to accurately manage employee time worked. In addition, the

County departments use several systems for time entry and related

activities, which are not interfaced to the County’s payroll system. This

creates excessive manual reconciliation as part of the payroll process.

Integrated functionality for these processes is available in modern ERP

systems.

Lack of an Integrated Method

of Tracking and Calculating

Information Has Led to the

Implementation of Manually

Intensive Stand-alone

“Shadow Systems” and

Processes

Many of the shadow systems consist of individual Microsoft Excel

spreadsheets and Access databases that require excessive time to use

and maintain. Incorporating the information and calculations from these

shadow systems into an integrated ERP system can reduce the effort

required to maintain the information, make information more accessible

to others, eliminate redundancy and manual reconciliation and reduce

the risk of human error.

1.3.2 Opportunities

There were a number of consistent themes noted throughout each of the functional areas. The unmet

needs, which County management and staff expressed as opportunities for improvement, are

summarized as follows.

1. Full integration between all modules, allowing for the elimination of shadow systems.

2. Real-time, immediate update and access to additional financial and human resources

information.

3. Single entry of data and reduction in manual processes and shadow systems.

4. A consolidated modern system with user-friendly features (e.g., easy navigation, drop down

boxes, drill down functionality, validation of data upon entry, etc.) that offers on-line help

functions and customized system documentation.

5. User-friendly, user-driven and flexible reporting tools that support the information needs of

staff and the County Commission including tracking and reporting of performance metrics.

6. Elimination of paper-based processes and replacement with automated, online workflows and

approvals.

7. Streamlined business processes incorporating established best business practices.

8. Self-service capabilities and other “e-government” opportunities such as employee self-

service, remote time entry and mobile workforce capability.

9. Improved reporting capabilities.

Overall, the majority of the unmet needs that are listed above could be met by a public sector based ERP

system with a common database.

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1.4 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

1.4.1 Recommended Strategic Direction

The County should direct its analysis efforts towards evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of

changing the current environment through implementation of a new suite of integrated ERP modules from

an ERP provider.

While cost implications of current inefficiencies were difficult for the County staff to quantify, there is a

common belief amongst staff that information tracking tools and processes are inefficient and there is a

universal acknowledgement that current information silos are a root cause of the problem. The County

would be best served to move toward a newer ERP via a competitive bid process. Overall, this strategy

would provide the County will the following benefits:

1. Opportunity to Leverage Technology for Business Process Improvement: Many of the

benefits of an integrated ERP solution are derived from the system-wide features built into each

of the system modules. Examples of such features include the following:

Common Database

Robust Development Tools

Versatile Ad-Hoc Reporting

Flexible Chart of Accounts and Budgetary Structures

Audit Trails/Drill Down Capability

Workflow for Automation of Business Processes

“Cross module” integration

Content Management

Built-In “Best Practices”

The strategy of moving toward leading ERP packages will lead to the standardization of business

processes across the organization. Because customization increases both current and future

software costs, the County can adopt the “vanilla” processes and best practices embedded in the

software. An added benefit of this is greater discipline across departments.

2. Comprehensive Functionality: The strategy of moving to an integrated ERP solution is to

provide the majority of functional and technological needs of an organization in a comprehensive

suite of integrated applications. As a best practice, a future ERP solution for the County should

include a time entry module allowing all departments to monitor and track employee time entry

and leave balance detail.

3. Reduce Software Fragmentation: Compared to the current Zortec environment and the

standalone systems, a newer ERP would be the backbone of a comprehensive systems

modernization strategy. In addition, the selection of an ERP system will guide future IT

investment decisions as those investments would need to interface with the ERP software.

Assuming that the results of the Needs Assessment are considered and the recommendations for system

selection and implementation presented below in the report are followed, we recommend that the County

replace current systems with an Integrated ERP.

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1.4.2 Recommended Approach

To implement the recommended option of replacing the current systems with an integrated ERP

environment, the following approach is recommended:

1. Review and Obtain an Understanding of the Needs Assessment Report: The Needs

Assessment Report and components should be reviewed in its entirety to gain an

understanding of what is being presented and to prompt discussion and feedback on

elements of the assessment.

2. Garner Support for the Plan: Within the Needs Assessment, there are numerous

recommendations that will direct the use of staff time and other resources at the County.

Support for the plan will be essential in its success. This support must come from County

leadership including the County Administrator, Schools Superintendent, Department

Directors, and the County Commission.

3. Establish Capital Budgets and Obtain Funding: As part of the initial implementation of the

Plan and on an on-going basis, funding will need to be obtained to implement the initiatives in

the Plan. As vendor proposals are received and due diligence activities conducted,

narrowing the County’s selection towards a select list of finalist vendor(s), the County should

refine preliminary projections and develop a more specific Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

over 5 - 10 years factoring in all internal and external costs. This can be accomplished

through a best and final offer (BAFO) process and contract negotiations.

4. Execute a Plan of Action: Once approval for the project has been obtained and initial

capital funding requests initiated, the implementation of the Request for Proposal tactics can

occur. Additional steps in a Plan of Action are as follows:

Plan of Action Summary

1. Develop a Project Structure and Governance Model

2. Develop a Structured ERP Request for Proposal

3. Perform an Open Procurement

4. Balance a Strategic Vendor Decision with a Preliminary Investment

5. Leverage a Prime Vendor Approach Toward Implementation

6. Develop a Phasing Plan

7. Develop a Project Staffing / Backfill Approach

8. Develop Plans for Data Cleansing and Data Conversion

9. Develop a System Interface Plan

10. Plan Approach for Report Development

11. Manage the Changes that will be Required by the Project

12. Plan and Execute Project Communications Based on Stakeholder Requirements

13. Strategically Perform Process Redesign to Implement Best Practices

14. Implement Complimentary Modules Together

15. Plan, Deploy and Sustain Staff Training on the New ERP System

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2 Assessment by Functional Area One of the primary reasons for selecting and implementing a new ERP system is to improve the efficiency

and effectiveness with which business processes are executed at the County. This includes the ability to

more easily access and report on information in order to make informed decisions. A majority of the

Needs Assessment phase of the project focused on the review of existing business operations and the

systems that support these operations. Through a series of interview sessions with County departments,

a large number of issues and opportunities with existing processes and supporting systems were

identified. Each opportunity was identified with a resulting decision as to a future course of action by the

County. All of the decisions will impact one or more of the following:

People

Policy

Process

Technology

Each of the issues and opportunities defined in the following sections has a decision timeframe

associated with it as follows:

Selection: Prior to final vendor selection

Implementation: During implementation of the selected solution

The issues and opportunities identified on the following pages have been organized by module within

their line of business. They should not be viewed as a comprehensive list of ALL issues that were defined

during the needs assessment phase of the project as the current environment has a significant number of

issues related to functionality, integration, and process challenges inherent within the existing system’s

infrastructure. Likewise, the decisions highlighted below should not be viewed as a comprehensive list of

ALL decisions that will need to be made during the course of the project as there will be a large number of

specific process-related decisions within each functional area that will be reviewed and assessed during

the implementation phase of the project. The issues, opportunities, and decisions highlighted below are

those that were noted during the interview sessions as one of a significant nature that will likely require

discussion among the County management team. Additionally, certain decisions will need to be made

prior to the implementation phase of the project such that a proper Statement of Work (SOW) with the

selected vendor can be established.

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1.1. Core Financials

AP/Purchasing/Contract Management/Vendor Maintenance

Organization Issue Opportunity Decision Timing

1. Schools Individual schools issue manual POs to

central office.

Electronic POs would save time and help

eliminate potential errors.

Determine if County Schools want to

move forward with electronic POs to all

schools. If so, identify best approach for

implementing electronic POs to the

individual schools and incorporate into

software system requirements.

Selection

2. County P-card transactions against POs do not

liquidate encumbrances. This has to be

done manually.

The automatic reduction of

encumbrances associated with POs for p-

card transactions will reduce the amount

of manual work that needs to be done.

Determine the importance of this

functionality in the overall system

selection process.

Selection

3. Both Contracts are manually tracked to

determine the timing for re-bidding.

The ability to track contract expiration and

send a notification or flag for renewals will

not only reduce manual effort, but may

increase the County’s responsiveness to

contract expirations.



selection process.

Selection

4. County Prior year POs are tracked in a separate

spreadsheet and is a manual process.

Tracking prior POs within the main

system would remove the duplication of

effort, opportunity for errors and

potentially simplify reporting and tracking

processes.



selection process.

Selection

5. Both The current system does not maintain

any historical information about POs,

including amendments or liquidation.

A system that maintains historical

information on transactions will allow for

more accurate analysis and increased

audit capabilities.



selection process.

Selection

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AP/Purchasing/Contract Management/Vendor Maintenance


6. Both There is no vendor self-service function

for AP resulting in additional phone calls

and correspondence with vendors.

Vendor self-service functionality should

reduce the number of phone calls and

increase payment processing efficiency.

Determine level of AP functionality to be

provided through vendor self-service. If

needed, determine the appropriate

phasing of this functionality as part of

system implementation.

Selection

7. County The current system will allow two

separate individuals to create a new

vendor at the same time, but will assign

the same vendor number to both vendors.

This causes one of the vendors (and

associated information) to be overwritten.

A system that restricts vendor creation

and only assigns a vendor number once

will reduce repeated efforts and

frustration, and insure accurate

information is entered.

Ensure that the selected system restricts

the creation of two vendors with the same

vendor number.

Selection

8. Schools The current vendor file is overpopulated

and contains a large quantity of inactive

vendors. It is estimated that there are

12,000 + vendors in the AP vendor file

and about 3,000 of them are active.

Implementing a new purchasing system

will provide the County with an

opportunity to cleanse the current vendor

database.

Identify what vendors to convert into a

new system. Initiate a data cleansing

process to purge vendors that are no

longer needed for population into the new

system.

Selection

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Budgeting / CIP


9. Both Budgeting information are produced in

real-time but is not readily available in

real-time. Departments receive a monthly

budget report from Finance which they

reconcile against.

Select a system with real time budget

reporting/query capability.



selection process.

Selection

10. County Manual intervention is required in early July (before the new budget is entered) in order to create expenditures. Once the budget is entered, another manual adjustment is required.

(It is taking out a code “D” before a

purchase order can be issued. Once the

budget is entered, the “D” is placed back.)

Select a system with a fully integrated

budgeting and budget prep module.



selection process.

Selection

11. Both The budget preparation process is done

in excel (offline) and any changes or

adjustments are entered manually in

Excel. Later the budget is entered

manually into Zortec.

Streamlining the budget preparation

process and using data within the

database will improve data integrity and

increase the speed of the process.



selection process.

Selection

12. Schools There is not currently a long term capital

improvement plan that forecasts projects

to be funded 3-5 years into the future. In

the past, the County’s General

Operations Committee produced long-

term projects as has the Director of

Schools. However, these plans are not

comprehensive i.e. include estimated

maintenance costs, maintenance

schedules, and replacement schedules.

Develop a best practice capital

improvement budgeting process and build

system specifications to support the new

process.



selection process.

Selection

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Cash Receipting


13. Schools The point of sale system (Horizon) does

not interface with the current system.

Data has to be entered twice and it

causes significant integration issues.

Most ERP systems either have

standardized interfaces to numerous

point of sale systems or can easily build

an interface.

Identify required interface points and

incorporate into software system

requirements.

Selection

14. Schools Schools make daily deposits into an

School Nutrition Program (SNP) account

for their school. At the end of the month,

the SNP writes one check per school to

the Sumner County Board of Education

(45 checks). The Sumner County Board

of Education then drives the checks to the

Sumner County Financed Department

and provides a receipt for SNP to

reconcile to the General Ledger.

A single SNP account with varying sub-

accounts for each school would allow for

easier fund transfers.

The implementation of a shared ERP

would allow for a simple interface

between the County Trustee and County

Schools to simply transfer funds.

Identify a bank that has the ability to

create sub-accounts with detailed

tracking to allow ease of fund transfers.

Identify interface requirements for

transferring funds between the County

Trustee and County Schools and

incorporate into software system

requirements.

Implementation

Selection

15. Schools There is no integration between the SNP

funds and school activity funds, so if any

money needs to transfer between or be

split among funds, a refund process has

to be followed. It should be noted that

there is not a standard bank that all

schools use.

If a single bank was used district-wide it

could allow funds to be transferred

between accounts.

The implementation of a new ERP would

allow for an interface to be built between

the individual School systems and County


Identify a bank that could be used

district-wide and consider moving all

schools to that bank.


transferring funds between the individual

schools activity funds and County

Schools and incorporate into software

system requirements.

Implementation

Selection

16. Schools The process that SNP & County Schools

follow to balance deposits back to the

Trustee is manual.

The implementation of a shared system

would allow for much of this to be

accomplished through the system, with

exception reports run for issues.

Identify a clear, consistent process for

balancing deposits that meets both the

School’s and County’s needs.

Incorporate requirements into software

Selection

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Cash Receipting



17. Schools If a NSF check is received for a student

account, the money is not removed from

the student account, even if it is not

collected (school food service managers

and SNP collect these funds currently).

A NSF service would allow the District to

save time that current staff are spending

on this process, and may provide a better

return on NSF checks.

Identify potential NSF services and do a

cost/benefit analysis to determine if it

makes sense to engage their services.

Implementation

18. Schools All cash receipts are deposited as a

single deposit for each category (e.g.

SNP has 3 deposits that total X). There

is no way to tell what comprises the total

deposit.

Most ERP systems either include reports

that would show this detail or provide a

report writer so that a standard report

could be created to provide this detail.

Identify all detail that is required from the

individual deposits so that a report may

be created and incorporate into software


Selection

19. Schools There is no interface between School

Funds Online (the financial system the

individual schools use) and the current

school system.

Most ERP systems either have standardized interfaces to numerous systems or can easily build an interface.

Identify required integration points between School Funds Online and the County/School system. Work with Payroll, the bookkeepers, and appropriate staff from the Finance department to ensure that all integration points are identified. Incorporate needs into software system requirements.

Selection

20. Schools Schools write checks to the Central

School Board Office rather than just

transferring funds for items such as

daycare, field trips, print shop,

transportation, registration fees, building

projects, and computers.

If a single bank was used district-wide it

could allow funds to be transferred

between accounts.

The implementation of a new ERP would

allow for an interface to be built between

the individual School systems and County


Identify a bank that could be used

district-wide and consider moving all

schools to that bank.


transferring funds between the individual

schools activity funds and County

Schools and incorporate into software


Consider creating a single monthly invoice for all items, rather than invoices

Implementation

Selection

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Cash Receipting


for every single item. Implementation

21. Schools The process for receipting money within

the schools is fairly manual, requiring a

handwritten collection log, multiple copies

of receipts and a manual analysis of

deposits.

Work with School Funds Online to

determine if there is a way to automate

much of the manual process.

Meet with School Funds Online to review

current process and see how this

process can be automated within the

system including potentially allowing

employees access to the system in order

to enter the money they collected

directly into the system prior to providing

it to the Bookkeeper

Long term: Ensure that the need for an

interface between County Schools and

individual schools is identified in the


Implementation

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Fixed Assets


22. Both The current process of tracking and

reporting on assets is completely manual

and is extremely time consuming.

Because of the manual aspect, staff is

never sure if all assets have been

accounted for.

An integrated Fixed Assets module will

allow for assets to be tracked upon

acquisition. This will increase the

efficiency of the process and allow for

more time to be spent tracking down any

assets that were missed.

Tracking assets within the system will

allow for more robust reporting may

eliminate the need to manually compile

the data for the auditor, as it is done

today.

Implement a Fixed Assets module,

update business processes, and educate

department staff to help reduce the

number of assets that are not tracked.

Selection /

Implementation

23. County Sales from govdeals.com are manually

included into the spreadsheet for tracking

purposes.

Importing the data electronically will

reduce the opportunity for error and the

time required to complete the task.

Determine if an interface file can be used

to electronically upload the data from

govdeals into the ERP system.

Selection

24. Schools There are dozens of systems used

throughout the schools for inventory

management; however, there is no

transparency between the systems to

identify stock on hand.

Implement a centralized inventory

tracking system for inventory items that

are necessary

Include inventory management

specifications in the RFP document.

Selection

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General Ledger


25. Both Account codes are not intuitive. As such,

there are many errors when accounts

numbers are input into journal entries and

sent to Finance for positing.

Include specification for account drop

down lists for users to have access to

only those account numbers they are

allowed to post to.

Identify what users should be able to post

to the GL in a future system environment.

Implementation

26. Both The journal entry process is completely

manual and time/labor intensive.

Implement a system with improved

journal entry functionality including journal

entry upload capability. Include

specifications for automatic journal entry

functionality within the functional

requirements for a new system.

Identify what current journal entries could

be automated in a future system

environment.

Implementation

27. Both While the system enables the transfer of

funds between departments many

departments issues manual checks to

other departments instead of fund

transfers.

Become more efficient by electronically

transferring funds vs. generating paper

checks between departments. Review the

interdepartmental transfer policy and

identify ways to increase the number of

transfers to limit the number of checks

department are issuing to each other.

Identify which manual fund transfers can

be electronic in a future system

environment.

Implementation

28. County Line item budget control is being

accomplished manually.

Implement a system with automatic

budget control functionality.

Include budget control specifications in

the RFP document.

Selection

29. County Staff cannot easily identify an account

balance (asset, liability, revenue, or

expense) for a certain date. Currently,

they have to get the balance by manually

totaling transactions for individual

accounts. This is due to the system

cannot close balance sheet accounts

monthly or upon demand.

Point-in-time reporting functionality can

eliminate the need for manual

calculations for individual GL accounts,

thus reducing time and increasing

accuracy.

Identify what types of point in time reports

are needed for the GL module.

Selection

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Miscellaneous Billing & AR


30. Both Each department maintains its own

customer file, making it extremely difficult

to identify the entirety of organizations the

County is doing business with.

Develop a standard County bill and track

County customers in a central repository.



selection process.

Selection

31. Schools Every department bills separately and

there is no uniform school bill that is sent

to vendors.

Develop a standard County bill and track

County customers in a central repository.



selection process.

Selection

32. School Tracking of payment plans for out of

County tuition is a very manual and labor

intensive process.

Implement a system with payment plan

tracking functionality.

Incorporate payment plan requirements

into the specifications as part of the RFP.

Selection

Bank Reconciliation


33. Both Bank Reconciliation was an automated

process for a period of time but has since

reverted back to a manual process since

the Trustees office moved to a new

system.

Ensure an interface exists between eGov

and a new financial system to eliminate

any manual reconciliation needs.

Incorporate bank reconciliation and eGov

system interface requirements into the

specifications as part of the RFP.

Selection

19 | P a g e

Project & Grant Accounting


34. Both Due to the limitations with the current

method for tracking time, employee time

is not tracked in accordance with specific

grant related activities or when it is done

it is tracked very manually in

spreadsheets etc.

Project/Grant modules will typically allow

for activity based time tracking, allowing

for the complete reporting of all expenses

related to a certain grant or activity.

Implement a fully integrated time and

attendance/ERP system so that grant-

related activities can be tracked and tied

back to a specific grant.

Selection

35. Schools Any user could be charging an

expenditure to an incorrect grant. This

leads to a very cumbersome manual

reconciliation process during grant

reporting periods.

Implement a system with account

validation functionality, based on user

role

Identify users that require access to

charge expenditures to grant related

activities.

Implementation

36. Schools The lack of availability of easy to use

financial reports makes grant reporting

very cumbersome for end users. Users

have so much paper work they do not

have time to apply for more grants.

Implement a new financial system with

more robust grant tracking/reporting

capability.

Identify critical financial reports required

for the 5-10 larges grants currently

administered and include those reports as

required reports in the RFP.

Selection

37. Schools The grant addendum approval process is

cumbersome. It can be months between

when the addendum is approved and

when it actually is updated in the financial

system.

Review the grant addendum approval

process and streamline it via electronic

workflow in a new grant accounting

module.

Identify if the existing grant addendum

approval process can be changed, as per

existing County code.

Implementation

38. Both Many grant related documents are

scanned when they arrive in the finance

department and then scanned again for

the grant records. (In the County, the

responsibility is the grant administrator’s

to maintain all scanned documents on the

finance server.)

A centralized document repository would

reduce the time spent on scanning

documents.

Revise the processes around document

imagining, addressing procedures for

grant specific documentation.

Implementation

20 | P a g e

1.2. Human Resources / Payroll / Time & Attendance

Human Resources


39. Schools Substitutes are occasionally hired as

full time employees by the principal and

HR is not always alerted. This prevents

them from going through the whole HR

process with benefits, etc. until HR is

notified.

A formal procedure that highlights the

process a principal is to follow when

substitute teachers are hired as full time

employees would allow for standardized

offerings to each new employee.

If there is a formal process already

established, develop a campaign to

promote this procedure. If there is not an

established procedure, develop

formalized procedures for principals to

follow so that substitute teachers are

hired through the same methods as all

other employees.

Implementation

40. Schools Teachers have to be entered into

multiple systems.

Most ERP systems either have

standardized interfaces to numerous

systems or can easily build an interface.

Identify the need to create these

interfaces in the software system

requirements.

Selection

41. Schools Professional development is tracked

through the teacher center on “pink and

green sheets.”

Most ERP systems include professional development tracking / reporting in their package.

Identify the key requirements that need to

be tracked and include in the software


Selection

42. Schools The current system does not fully track

certain aspects of the mandated

Hepatitis B training.

Most ERP systems include professional development tracking / reporting in their package and would include customizable aspects to allow for tracking of shots, etc.

Identify / confirm the data elements that

tracking is required for (the date the info

packets are sent out, the dates shots are

given, etc.) and include in the software


Selection

43. Schools Training / licensing for some employees

is not currently tracked within HR (e.g.,

substitutes, DOT training [this is done

in Transportation], bus driver licensing,

etc.).

Most ERP systems include professional development tracking / reporting in their package.


be tracked and include in the software


Selection

21 | P a g e

Human Resources


44. Schools The system does not allow customized

reporting on teacher endorsements.

Most ERP systems either include reports

that would show this detail or provide a

report writer so that a standard report

could be created to provide this detail.

Document all HR requirements for the

customized reporting ( teacher license #,

the ability to pull all teacher’s that have a

specific type of endorsement [e.g.

economics] and show only those

endorsements on a report) and include

the need for this report in the software


Selection

45. Schools The State will occasionally rename

endorsements (e.g. Early Childhood

Education to Early Childhood) and

these changes are all required to be

manually updated within the system.

Some ERP systems may have a way to

automatically obtain this information and

update within the system.

Identify the need to automatically obtain /

update this information in the software


Selection

46. Schools HR currently runs reports to see which

employees have licenses that are

expiring.

Most ERP systems have the ability to set

up flags / notifications for various triggers.

Most systems also include a workflow

module that allows for automatic notices

to be distributed.

Identify the need to use flags to identify

the employees with expiring licenses, as

well as a workflow to send an

automatically generated letter in the


Selection

47. Schools The current system does not have

adequate user defined fields. HR is

using date fields to accommodate this

and tracking with a complicated set of

reference #s (e.g. 1011 means X, 1012

means Y). These are tracking various

information including: whether a copy of

the teacher’s license is on file, how the

teacher has proven that they are highly

qualified, employees that are rehired,

etc.

Most ERP systems include numerous

user defined fields or other fields that are

inherent in the system functionality.

Identify the field attributes that need to be

tracked and define those in the software

system requirements. Determine if the

vendor solution provides for the tracking

of these fields or allows for the use of

user defined fields.

Selection

22 | P a g e

Human Resources


48. Schools Leaves (e.g. short term, FMLA, etc.)

are recorded in the current system, but

the tracking is lacking in a number of

areas, including: the system does not

alert when employee is due back, no

information is sent to employees when

it is time for them to return, and the

system only stores information

regarding one leave.

Most ERP systems include leave

management within their system.

Identify the need to manage leaves in the


Selection

49. Schools There is no workflow process for

changes in position or pay. HR

receives a signed piece of paper that

they use to enter information into the

current system.

The Schools would benefit from a

formalized process being implemented,

as it would ensure that all changes were

addressed quickly and no errors were

made. Most ERP systems include a

workflow module that can be used to

assist in this process.

Define a formalized workflow process and

document the need to include this

workflow in the software system

requirements.

Selection

50. Schools The Schools don’t currently use

performance management; however,

they would like to within the next few

years.

Most ERP systems offer performance

management functionality as part of their

system.

Identify the key elements required for

performance management tracking and

workflow in the software system

requirements.

Selection

51. Schools There is no indication in the system if

an employee is retiring from Sumner

County Schools or if they have already

retired form a different district.

Most ERP systems include numerous

user defined fields that could be used for

this purpose.

Identify the need to have user defined

fields in the software system

requirements.

Selection

52. Schools Employee retirement / termination

payoffs are all completed manually

(with the pink & green sheets).

Most ERP systems include retirement and termination tracking, calculation and reporting in their package.


be tracked and calculated and include

these in the software system

requirements.

Selection

23 | P a g e

Human Resources


53. Schools The system does not alert HR if retired

certified employees are nearing the end

of the 120 days they are allowed to

work per year.





to be distributed.

Identify the need for the 120 day flag and

subsequent workflow that would

automatically generate a notice to the

employee in the software system

requirements. Indicate that the 120 days

is in a rolling year.

Selection


enough date fields (e.g. multiple hire

dates, seniority dates, transition dates,

etc.).

Most ERP systems include multiple date

fields that can be used in a number of

different ways.

Identify the need for the specific dates

required to be tracked in the software


Selection

55. Schools The system does not allow HR to make

global name changes (e.g. Custodian 1

to Head Custodian). This has to be

done manually for each employee.

Most ERP systems allow for global name

changes to occur within the system.

Identify the need to be able to apply

global changes (including name changes)

in the software system requirements.

Selection

56. Schools The current system does not allow HR

to save things from the system directly

into the document management

system, nor does it allow HR to tie files

from the document management

system into the system records.

Many ERP systems offer a basic

document management system as part of

their solution. This would allow files to be

tied to specific records.

Identify the need for a document

management solution that allows files to

be tied to system records in the software


Selection

57. Schools The current system does not have the

capability to link to documents used to

investigate unemployment claims

(letters of termination, all

unemployment claims, etc.).

Additionally, there is no field within the

system to indicate why an employee

left.

Many ERP systems offer a basic



tied to specific records. User defined

fields can be used to track reasons an

employee left.



be tied to system records in the software


Selection

24 | P a g e

Human Resources


58. Schools Employees are reimbursed for

fingerprint fees (if qualified according to

pay rules). Currently, this is a manual

process requiring HR’s review and

manual request for reimbursement.



A flag could be set up to either

automatically reimburse employees that

qualify or to notify HR when employees

are eligible and allowing them to approve

with one click.

Identify the need to use flags / workflow

for the fingerprint reimbursement process

in the software system requirements. .

Selection

59. Schools The current system does not have a

position control feature.

Most ERP systems have a position

control module.

Identify the need for position control in the


Selection

60. Schools The current system does not alert HR if

an employee’s VISA is going to expire.





to be distributed.

Identify the need for the VISA expiration

flag and subsequent workflow that would

automatically generate a notice to the

employee in the software system

requirements.

Selection

61. Schools The current system does not have an

investigation or case management

module that allows HR to manage HR

investigations and tie them back to

personnel records

Many ERP systems offer aspects of

investigation / case management.

Identify the need for HR investigation

management and case management in

the software system requirements.

Selection


eVerify compliance tracking or workflow

Most ERP systems have customizable

fields to allow for various tracking. Most

systems also include a workflow module

that allows customized workflows to be

developed.

Identify the need for eVerify compliance

tracking and workflow in the software


Selection

63. Schools The current system does not have a

robust self service module that includes

pay stubs, employment verifications or

self-service (status change, etc.)

Most ERP systems include robust self-

service modules.

Identify the need for a robust self service

module in the software system

requirements. If acquired, determine the

appropriate phasing of this functionality

Selection /

Implementation

25 | P a g e

Human Resources


as part of system implementation.

64. Schools HR has to manually calculate / predict

an employee’s retire eligibility date in

order to use it for budgeting purposes.

Most ERP systems include the ability to set up various calculations, including retirement eligibility date.

Identify need to calculate retirement

eligibility and include in the software


Selection

65. County Currently, the employee file is housed

with the payroll department, and most

employee management is done at the

department level. This creates a

challenge in terms of verifying accrual

balances, tracking

certifications/training, and managing

personal actions.

Implementing the Human Resources

module as part of the ERP will allow for

central tracking of personnel-related data.

Determine if personnel-related data will

continue to me managed /tracked at the

department level or if this will be done

centrally through the use of the integrated

Human Resources module.

Implementation

66. County OSHA reporting is manual since hours

are not captured.

Most ERP systems include OSHA

reporting in their standard package.

Identify the need to track and report on

OSHA information in the software system

requirements.

Selection

67. County EEO-4 Reporting is available in the

personnel module but the County uses

a separate reporting module.

Most ERP systems include EEO-4

reporting in their standard package.

Identify the need to track and report on

EEO-4 information in the software system

requirements.

Selection

68. County The system does not track historical

information. If access to historical data

is needed, staff will need to go into a

paper file and review documentation.

Most ERP systems can accommodate the

ability to track historical information.

Include the need to track up to ‘X’ years

of historical data as part of the software

system requirements. The County should

also decide historical information will be

converted to the new system.

Selection

26 | P a g e

Human Resources


69. County There is some concern regarding the

integrity of data. A number of fields in

the system (including employee name)

are freeform. So formatting may not

be consistent.

Data integrity will be a key component to

the success of any software

implementation. Steps can be taken

today to help ensure that good data is

converted during implementation.

Identify which fields may be the most

troublesome from a data integrity

standpoint. Identify any opportunities to

standardize existing data in the current

system and to perform data cleansing on

information that will need to be converted.

Selection

Payroll


70. County Payroll changes are captured manually

each payroll through the distribution of a

paper worksheet to each County

Department.

The ability to electronically capture payroll

changes through workflow and self-

service can reduce the time needed to

process payroll and result in increased

accuracy.

Identify opportunities within a new system

to eliminate the need for the payroll

worksheet. These include but are not

limited to: electronic timekeeping, self-

service, and workflow.

Implementation

71. Both System requires a lengthy setup of the

payroll schedule each pay period. This is

a time consuming process.

The ability to preset pay periods ahead of

time will eliminate or reduce cycle time.

Identify the need to preset pay periods in


Selection /

Implementation

72. County A separate audit spreadsheet is used to

audit against Payroll reports. The use of

separate side systems and reports can

increase payroll processing cycle time

and can result in inaccurate payrolls.

A system that provides solid pre-

processing payroll audit reports can

eliminate the need to maintain separate

spreadsheets to reconcile against.

Identify what types of pre-processing

reports the County would need in order to

complete a thorough pre-processing audit

each pay cycle. Include these reports

and data attributes in the software system

requirements.

Selection

73. County Multiple Journal Entry corrections are

made each pay period for employees with

unique jobs (e.g. recording minutes). The

system will deduct portions of their benefit

Consider setting up a charge to earnings

code for the unique job where time

charged to that code but benefit

premiums are still charged to the

Identify options for setting up a charge to

code for unique jobs. Also include the

need to charge time out but not

deductions out in the software system

Selection

27 | P a g e

Payroll


deductions from the minutes account

code but benefits are supposed to be

charged to their home department.

employee’s home department. requirements.

74. County Some Departments are paid current and

some are paid in arrears. This difference

can result in inaccurate payrolls and extra

work for County Payroll staff.

The County should consider moving

everyone to the same payroll cycle where

everyone is paid in arrears.

Identify when the change should be made

countywide. Ideally, this change will be

made prior to converting to the new

system.

Selection /

Implementation

75. County Life Insurance Report is done in Excel.

The report cannot be run in the system

because of how EMS is setup and it is

unable to complete some necessary

calculations.

The ability for the system to generate a

Life Insurance Report will reduce the

need for manual manipulation of data.

Include Life Insurance Reporting

requirements in the software system

requirements.

Selection

76. County Self-service is not available in the current

system.

The implementation of employee and

manager self-service can reduce the

amount of paper transactions, reduce

redundant data entry, and decrease cycle

time for many County processes.

Decide whether or not to include self-

service as part of the ERP selection and

implementation project.

Selection

77. County Retro pay is calculated manually on a

spreadsheet. This can result in

inaccurate payroll calculations or missed

steps.

Many ERP systems accommodate retro

pay directly in the system. More

specifically, if a correction is needed, it is

entered once and all the necessary

changes (GL, benefits, etc.) will

automatically occur.

Include the ability to calculate Retro Pay

as part of new software requirements

Selection

28 | P a g e

Payroll


78. Schools Payroll staff cannot report off of some

system fields which results in the need to

create manual reports.

Many ERP reporting systems offer

multiple options for reporting (crystal,

COGNOS, SQL, etc.).

Include the ability to report off any system

field as part of new software

requirements. Also, the County will want

to ensure that data in these fields can be

extracted in order to be converted into the

new system.

Implementation

79. Schools Due to current security setup, there are

limitations on what HR can see from a

payroll data perspective.

Providing staff with access to data they

need will reduce cycle time across

multiple County processes.

Identify what fields, screens, and tables

HR staff need from a payroll data

perspective. Management should review

the need for access to these fields.

Selection

80. Schools Some fields are not long enough to

capture needed information.

Having adequate field lengths will

improve data integrity.

Include ideal field lengths as part of

software system requirements

Selection

81. Schools Since school employees are paid

monthly, an additional payroll run is setup

and run when needed to address

corrections and complete other tasks.

The School Central Office should

consider changing pay cycles since an

additional run is necessary some months.

.

Central Office should decide whether or

not to change from a monthly pay cycle to

a semi-monthly or biweekly pay cycle.

Implementation

82. Schools A separate Excel spreadsheet (Black

Book) is used to audit against system

generated Payroll audit reports.

A system that provides solid pre-

processing payroll audit reports can

eliminate the need to maintain separate

spreadsheets to reconcile against.

Identify what types of pre-processing

reports the County would need in order to

complete a thorough pre-processing audit

each pay cycle. Include these reports

and data attributes in the software system

requirements.

Selection

83. Schools A pay stub cannot be reprinted. If an

employee requests a copy, a screen-print

of the last pay stub is provided.

Most ERP systems store copies of old

pay stubs in the system. With self-

service, employees would be able to

Decide whether or not to include self-

service as part of the ERP selection and

implementation project. If implemented,

determine when that functionality will be

Selection /

Implementation

29 | P a g e

Payroll


download old checks stubs on their own. phased in.

84. Schools Direct deposit functionality is limited to

one account per employee. Additional

accounts can be added, but it limits the

availability of retracting funds if necessary

in an overpayment situation.

Most ERP systems allow for more than

one direct deposit account to be setup for

each employee.

Identify the number of direct deposit

accounts that each employee should be

allowed to have. Include in software


Selection

85. Schools The current system does not provide the

ability to perform test check runs with

different parameters.

Most ERP systems allow for test check

runs.

Identify the need to do test check runs

with varying parameters in the software


Selection

86. Schools Payroll checks with Transportation to

determine how many extra hours

employees have worked (field trips, etc.)

and they then do a manual comparison to

see if this puts the employee into

overtime.

Most ERP systems will include the ability

to incorporate pay rules that will

automatically calculate overtime.

Identify the need to automatically

calculate overtime in the software system

requirements.

Selection

87. Schools Multiple departments can enter a leave

for an employee.

The Schools should consider

implementing a policy that only allows

one department (e.g. Payroll or HR) to

enter leaves. The new system security

can be set up to enforce this.

Determine if a policy will be implemented,

and if so, include the new requirements in


Selection

88. County Payroll disbursements are produced from

the feedback on the Payroll Worksheet.

No additional documentation is

necessary.

The County should implementing

processes and policies that require the

timely submission of supporting

documentation each payroll cycle. (It is

required for the 2012 Financial ACT)


and if so, identify process for

implementing the policy and using the

new system when possible.

Implementation

30 | P a g e

Payroll


89. County At some point after payroll is processed,

some offices send varying amounts of

documentation. This documentation is

not reconciled to the payroll exception

report unless there is a question.

The County should implementing

processes and policies that require the

timely submission of supporting

documentation each payroll cycle


and if so, identify process for

implementing the policy and using the

new system when possible.

Implementation

Benefits


90. Schools New benefit enrollment and open

enrollment is completed via a paper

process.

Most ERP systems include robust online

benefit enrollment packages. The data

entered here would interface with the

Payroll module as well as the benefit

module so that data would not have to be

reentered in the system.

Identify the need for online enrollment in


Selection

91. Schools Benefits currently keys data into

insurance sites for all classified

employees to enroll them in insurance.

The Schools should check with the

insurance providers to determine if there

is a standard file format that could be

imported into their system so that hand-

keying would not need to be done.

School system is working on this ability

now.

If a standard file format is able to be

imported into the system, include the

requirements of that format in the


Selection

92. Schools Benefits currently checks with the

insurance providers on a regular basis to

confirm that new employees are set up

for insurance.

The Schools should check with the

insurance providers to if a new employee

benefits report could be provided to them

at predefined intervals.

If a report is available, use the report to

confirm that new employees are enrolled.

Include the requirement for a similar

report to be provided from the new

system to compare it with as part of the

Selection

31 | P a g e

Benefits



93. Schools Employees are unable to see who their

beneficiaries are in the current system (it

is kept in a hard copy file in a safe).

Most ERP systems include the ability to

view and change beneficiaries within the

self service module.

Identify the need to include beneficiaries

in the self service module in the software


Selection

94. Schools For employees whose pay is less than

$10,000, their salary is artificially bumped

to $10,000 in order to allow them to get

Board-funded life insurance.

Most ERP systems include the ability to

build customized pay rules. A pay rule

could be set that all employees that meet

XYZ criteria will get Board-funded life

insurance.

Identify the need to build customized pay

rules within the software system

requirements.

Selection

95. County Benefits information for County

employees is maintained both in the

Payroll system as well as in two large

spreadsheets (health and dental). The

shadow system is required because not

all of the necessary information is

maintained in or can be queried from the

Payroll system.

Use of a centralized Human Resources

module would allow for the maintenance

of a complete personnel data file which

contained all of the necessary benefit

information.

Implement the complete functionality for a

fully-integrated Human Resources

module as part of the ERP

implementation, and maintain benefits

information with the rest of the personnel

file.

Implementation

32 | P a g e

Time & Attendance


96. Schools The current system does not

interface with AESOP. Teachers

complete handwritten leave

information which is then verified by

bookkeepers and handwritten onto

reports to provide to payroll. Payroll

then keys this data into the current

system and performs a number of

manual error checks.

Many ERP systems can interface

with AESOP, or a custom interface

can be built.

Include the need to interface with

AESOP in the software system

requirements.

Selection

97. Schools There is no report from AESOP that

provides the information required to

reconcile teacher leave information

with the current system data (e.g.

teacher shows as absent in AESOP

but not in current system or teacher

shows as absent, but the leave was

not approved).

Short Term: Identify information

needed on this exception report and

provide requirements to AESOP.

Long Term: The interface to AESOP

with a new system should make this

issue non-existent.

Short Term: Work with AESOP to

either develop this report or have

AESOP train the Schools how to

create this with the report writer.

Selection /

Implementation

98. Schools A number of issues were identified in

AESOP, including:

a) Bookkeepers cannot view a

list of preferred substitutes.

b) Teachers cannot view

substitute’s phone numbers.

c) There is no way for a school

to exclude a substitute from

teaching at that school.

d) AESOP does not require a

leave to be approved prior to

Meet with AESOP to determine if

any of the required functionality is

available in the system as is, and if

so, obtain training on it. If

functionality is not available,

determine if it could be built.

Work with AESOP to ensure the

system is being used to its fullest.

Obtain training on items such as the

report writer and any other areas that

would address the concerns listed.

Identify if it makes sense to

customize anything within the

system to address the needs listed

(do a cost/benefit analysis).

Implementation

33 | P a g e

Time & Attendance


calling the substitute.

99. Schools Classified employee time is tracked

on hourly timesheets. Employees

have a manual process for comp time

at some buildings.

AESOP can be used for classified

employee time tracking.

Implement time tracking for classified

employees within AESOP.

Implementation

100. County Departments handle their own leave

accrual tracking. Leave accruals are

reconciled with finance once a year

through a manual reconciliation.

The consistent application of leave

policies across the County can result

in accurate payrolls and could also

potentially result in cost-savings.

With a new system, determine

whether or not the management of

leave policies should be centralized

or left to departments. (Leave

policies should be embedded in the

new system. However, legally

several departments can have their

own separate policy.)

Implementation

101. County Finance feels that departments may

not be correctly enforcing their own

leave policies.

The consistent application of leave

policies across the County can result

in accurate payrolls and could also

potentially result in cost-savings.

With a new system, determine

whether or not the management of

leave policies should be centralized

or left to departments.

Implementation

102. County There is no consistent process for

when departments should submit

timesheet information to Finance.

Finance uses timesheet information

as backup documentation for payroll.

A consistent policy of submitting

supporting documentation to Finance

can improve the accuracy of payroll.

Management should establish a set

policy on when timesheet data

should be submitted to Finance.

Ideally, it would be submitted each

pay period with a payroll worksheet.

Implementation

103. County Employee leave is tracked manually. Many ERP systems have the ability

to support and track multiple leave

types and leave plans eliminating the

Include leave requirements in


Selection

34 | P a g e

Time & Attendance


need to track leave manually.

104. County There is a concern among County

Departments on how the new time

system will accommodate staff

members who travel frequently or

between different locations.

There are multiple options on how to

address this concern including but

not limited to exception reporting,

use of mobile devices, use of tablets,

etc.

County Management should

establish a policy to address how

these staff members should enter

their time.

Implementation

105. Schools Some employees are required to

complete an hourly timesheet

manually. This is currently a carbon

copy document where one copy is

kept by the school and the other for

the employee.

An electronic timekeeping system

will eliminate the need to complete

paper timesheets and reduce payroll

cycle time.

Include time collection requirements

in software system requirements

Selection

106. Schools While timesheets are supposed to be

audited by the department or school

bookkeeper, Payroll has to

recalculate and audit all timesheets

every pay period. This is a time

consuming process which takes away

from payroll processing time.

Holding Department and School

Timekeepers accountable for

auditing timesheets can provide

Central Office Payroll staff with more

time to conduct payroll-related audits

and corrections during the regular

payroll preparation process.

Identify ways and opportunities to

ensure that thorough timesheet audits

are being conducted by Department

and School timekeepers.

Implementation

107. Schools There is no drop dead deadline for

timesheets and payroll changes to be

submitted to Central Office Payroll.

This impacts the ability for Central

Office Payroll to complete a thorough

audit.

Establishing and enforcing a payroll

schedule with clearly defined

deadlines for timesheets and

changes can help streamline the

payroll process.

Central Office Finance Department

should review the current process and

identify drop dead deadlines for

Departments and Schools.

Implementation

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Time & Attendance


108. Schools HR is not aware of leave unless they

are notified by Payroll. This can

impact the ability for Schools HR to

identify employees who may be

eligible for FMLA.

A system with flags that will identify

employees who have been on leave

for an extended period of time can

help HR identify employees who may

be eligible for FMLA.

Short-term: HR and Payroll should

identify a process for notifying and

flagging employees who may be

FMLA eligible.

Long-term: Consider building a

business rule that will flag employees

taking high amounts of leave for

FMLA consideration.

Short-term:

Selection

Long-term:

Implementation

109. Schools Leave adjustments are tracked

through paper forms (Pink/Green/Blue

forms). These are done manually and

takes time to update in the system.

A system that allows leave

adjustments to be submitted through

workflow can eliminate the need for

paper forms and reduce the time

needed to process these

adjustments.

Identify to-be process for processing

leave adjustments in a new system.

Include in system workflow

discussions.

Implementation

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1.3. Document Management

Document Management


110. Schools The current document management

system does not allow users to save

files directly from the system directly

into the document management

system. In addition, files can only be

saved as .tif files.

Most ERP systems offer a basic



tied to specific records and saved as .pdf

files.



be tied to system records in the system

requirements.

Selection

111. County Currently Finance is scanning in most

of the documents received within the

office; however, they are not accessible

outside the Finance Department. Many

departments also keep local copies.

A County-wide document management

system would simplify the storage of

documents and reduce multiple copies

and scanning efforts.

Formalize an enterprise wide document

management strategy.

Implementation

112. Schools Multiple document management

systems are used across the various

departments. Additionally, files are

often scanned in multiple times and

saved in various folders within the

system.

By standardizing on a single document

management system, departments could

easily share information.

Identify all departments’ requirements for

a document management system and

include in the system requirements.

Selection

113. Schools Emails cannot be sent from the current

document management system

Most document management systems

include the ability to email documents

directly from the system.

Identify the need to email documents

directly from the system in the system

requirements.

Selection

114. Schools Selected newer hardware

(workstations, printers and scanners) is

not supported with the current system.

A new document management system

will support all the new technology.

Identify current technology used in the

system requirements/RFP.

Selection

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3 Technology Readiness Assessment

3.1 COUNTY ENVIRONMENT

Sumner County network consists of 1 building only. There is no data connectivity to any other county facility. All systems in the data center are protected by UPS systems but there is no power generator. A non-liquid fire suppression system is also available at the data center. Access to the data center is protected by a locked door and only authorized personnel have access to this room. Windows 2008 is the operation system used on 100% of the servers. Currently server virtualization is not used. An EMC centralized storage system is available for use and has expansion capabilities. The majority of the servers used are “Enterprise class” systems and the preferred manufacture of these system is Dell Computer Systems. The majority of the systems are less than 3 years old. Daily full backups are currently performed to disk and also to an online resource. The backups are verified periodically and backups are transported to a secure off-site (online resource). Currently there is no server or workstation patch management policy in place. All system are protected with an antivirus software. There are approximately 150 workstation / laptops in the organization and the organization has started the migration to a Windows 7 (b4-bit) platform. The organization has standardized on the use of Dell servers, workstations, and laptops.

Network Infrastructure Configuration (WAN & Internet)

There is only 1 building on the county network.

The network is a managed service – bandwidth management and troubleshooting are provided by a third party

End user devices are connected using either 10/100Tx Ethernet technology.

IPv4 is the primary protocol used on the network.

Remote access to the network is currently not available.

Network traffic volumes for the WAN, LAN, and servers are not formally tracked.

Opportunities

Implement systems monitoring and management - Implement a network and sever monitoring system to proactively monitor and identify potential system issues. While the implementation of a full scale network management system would unnecessary, it is recommended that a minimal form of a network monitoring system should be implemented.

Data Center

There is a dedicated room to host the County’s servers and core network components.

This facility is protected behind locked doors and only authorized personnel have access to this facility.

A single dedicated air cooling system is available for the data center.

A non-liquid fire suppression system is available for use at the data center.

A single UPS unit is used to provide backup power protection for all IT components in the data center.

Opportunities

No major opportunities identified for this section.

Server & Storage Environment

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There are approximately 20 servers as a part of the County environment. Dell Computer Systems (80%) is the preferred manufacturer of the server equipment. The age of the server varies from 1 year to 5 years (1-3 years = 80%, 3-5 years = 20%).

The majority of the systems have redundancy features such as dual power supplies, NICs, and hard drives.

There currently is no proactive server maintenance program for hardware issues.

There is no consolidated data storage system in place. Each server stores data on its local drives.

Microsoft Windows 2008 is the only server operating system used.

Systems are updated on an as-per-need basis; there is no formal patch management in place.

Antivirus software is use on all of the server.

Server virtualization is currently not used.

Opportunities

Implement server / storage management system - The County should consider implementing Dell OpenManage (IT Assistant and OpenManage Server Administrator) management to proactively monitor and manage the servers & storage environment.

Consolidate all critical data on to a centralized storage system - The County should consider consolidating all of the data on to a centralized storage system that has tiered classes of storage.

Implement patch management policy - The County should implement a standardized patch management policy. To test the overall security (password strengths) and patch levels on all systems running Microsoft operating system, the County should periodically run Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) tool. This tool provides a streamlined method to identify missing security updates and common security misconfigurations for system running MS operating systems.

Consider servers virtualization technologies – When the time comes to upgrade the current server & storage environment, the County should consider the use of server virtualization technology to maximize the use of server hardware, reduce costs by increasing energy efficiency, and build a business continuity process.

Policies / Backup & DRP Environment

Policies / Procedures

No all components of the system (network and servers) are documented.

Regular maintenance window are not defined.

Data classification is not conducted.

Proper access control policies are not in place. The System Administrator account is used for day-to-day system activities.

Account creation and deletion are handled on an adhoc basis. User accounts are not audited on a regular basis.

There is no password policy in place requiring users to change or have complexity in their passwords

Backup / DRP

Disk-to-Disk (D2D) technology is used to backup the data; the backups are not encrypted.

Daily full backups are performed. In addition, an online backup service is used to ensure backups are located off-site.

Databases used are also backed up, but the process used to backup them up are inconsistent e.g. not all databases have backup agents that allow for the backups of open

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records.

A DRP is not currently available. A threat matrix, RPO (Recovery Point Objective) , RTO (Recovery Time Objective), and BIA (Business Impact Analysis) have not be documented.

A complete system restore has not been tested to validate the integrity of the backups.

Opportunities (Policies / Procedures)

Develop system documentation and standard operating procedures - Apply the necessary resources to creating usable documentation. This investment is critical considering much of the information regarding the IT systems at the County is stored within individual employees (or vendors). The documentation must be stored in a secure location on the network that is accessible only to authorized personnel.

Implement a standard system maintenance window - Regular maintenance window should be defined.

Classification of Data - The data should be classified for sensitivity and appropriate data controls applied to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the data.

Restrict system administration account usage - The Administrator account should not be used for day-to-day operations. For users that require occasional administrator capabilities, in addition to their normal account, a separate administrative privileged account should be created for system administration and management purposes.

Formalize user account creation process - Formalize process and procedure should be developed that authorize the create/deletion/modification of system accounts.

Develop strong password policies - Polices related to passwords, personnel devices, data backup and retention should be developed. Strong password restrictions/policies should be enforced. The estimated cost to implement this opportunity is expected to be minimal but will require procedural effort.

Opportunities (Backup & DRP)

Classification of Data – (see above). To ensure that all critical data is being backed up, the criticality of the data should be identified. This process would also assist with the DRP efforts. Data backups should also be encrypted to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the data on stored disk.

Review current backup process & procedures – The data backup process should be formalized and consistent with the data retention policies of the organization. The organization should consider implementing an off-site / online backup system. If the organization desires to retain backup operations in-house, the organization should implement incremental backups Monday-Friday to disk, and full weekly backups to disk and to tape. At a minimum, the weekly backups should be taken to an off-site location such as the bank vault or other secure facilities. The off-site weekly backup rotation should be in accordance to the organization’s backup policy. Random restores should be performed on a periodic basis (weekly or monthly) to test the integrity of the backup system.

Formalize Disaster Recovery Planning - A written disaster recovery plan (DRP) should be developed. The DRP should address recovery of facilities and all business functions/departments. The Organization should develop an appropriate DRP/BCP strategy. This process should begin by identifying various business goals critical to the organization. Using the goals, various processes need to be identified and an appropriate DRP/BCP developed. Using the DRP/BCP as a blue print, the network and server infrastructure should be evaluated along with the process and modified accordingly so as to meet the objective of the DRP/BCP. The established business goals would determine the need to create a backup or live data center (probably at a plant), move services to a hosted location, or simply maintain status quo. The Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) would also determine the criticality of the infrastructure that needs to be planned. The development of a BCP/DRP should be considered as long term project as it requires considerable planning and implementation. Recovery procedures for IT components and

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applications should be documented and periodically tested. Testing results should be reviewed with the Management Team.

Implement a backup validation test process – To ensure the integrity of the backup systems, on a regular basis, the County should implement a test restore process that validates the integrity of the systems being backed up.

Workstation Standard

There are approximately 150 workstations across the County network. The age of the workstation rage from less than a year old to greater than 5 years. The estimated age of the workstation is as follows - <1 year = 20%, 2-5 years = 70%, 5-7 years = 10%, and > 7 years = 0%.

Due to the age of the workstations, a variety of operating systems are in used – Windows 95/98 (20%), XP (40%), and Windows 7 (40%). All new system are procured with Windows 7 operating systems.

Trend Micro is used for antivirus protection on the workstation.

Microsoft IE (90%) and Google Chrome (10%) are the primary web browsers used on the workstations.

An active inventory of the workstations and peripheral devices is not maintained.

Opportunities

Establish and enforce patch management policy and procedure - Patch management is critical to functioning and security of the servers. Establish a clear timeline for rollout of the server and workstation patch management system by establishing testing and rollout process. A maintenance window (weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly) should be established during which server updates are performed. The County should consider implementing a local Windows SUS server an update server. The SUS server allows administrators to completely manage the distribution of updates that are released through Microsoft updates to computers and servers on the County network. This allows for consistent deployment of updates. Updates to servers should be reviewed by application owners and application vendors prior to deployment.

Current ERP Systems / Applications

The County use Microsoft Exchange 2007 email services that are hosted internally and has approximately 32,000 email boxes.

A proprietary web content management system is used to manage the web sites.

Opportunities


Staffing

There is only 1 County IT employee. To the most part, the County use external resources to assist with the day-to-day activities.

Opportunities


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3.2 SCHOOLS ENVIRONMENT

Sumner County Schools network is spread across 47 buildings. On the WAN, though dark fiber and leased fiber

connectivity methods are used, the buildings are primarily connected using leased network bandwidth services.

The majority of the buildings are connected in a star topology. Hewlett-Packard network equipment is primarily

used for network electronics. The primary data center is currently hosted in the school district, but the Schools

are in the process of moving their data center to a colocation facility in January 2013.

Windows 2003/2008 is the operation system used on the majority of the servers. There are instances of Apple OSX servers in the organization as well. Currently server virtualization is used but in limited instances. The organization has standardized on the use of Dell servers and the age of the servers ranges less than a year old to greater than 7 years. A centralized storage system is available but is only used for certain segments of data. Backups are currently performed to disk and the backup software allows for bare metal restores. The backups are not verified periodically and backups are not transported to an off-site secure data storage vault. There are some inconsistencies in the data backup strategies and the district is it the process of revaluating their backup and restore strategy. The District also does not have a completely documented Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) in place. Microsoft SQL and MySWL databases are used. Microsoft online email services (live 365 email services) is used and there are approximately 32,000 mailboxes. Servers and workstation are patched on an adhoc basis; there is no formal patch management policy in place. All system are protected with an AVG antivirus software. There are approximately 10,0000 workstation / laptops in the organization. The ages of the workstation range from less than a year old to greater than 7, and in some instances approximately 10 years old.

Network Infrastructure Configuration (WAN & Internet)

There are 47 buildings on the Sumner County Schools network. Of these, 37 are connected in

a star topology network and the remaining building are connected in off the nodes on the star topology.

All of the buildings on the Wide Area Network (WAN) are connected using 1 Gigabit Ethernet (1GBPS) technology. The majority (38/47) of the buildings are connected over a leased bandwidth (Comcast) network, 6 are connected over leased fiber network, and the remaining 3 are connected using a private fiber network.

The WAN is a managed service – bandwidth management and troubleshooting are provided by a third party.

The schools primarily use Hewlett-Packard network equipment (approximately 85%) for LAN/WAN connectivity. Cisco System equipment (approximately 15%) is also used on some parts of the network. End user devices are connected using either 10/100 or 10/100/1000Tx Ethernet technology.

VoIP technology is used in the District, but is used only on the internal network. VoIP is not used across the WAN. Video conferencing and data multicast applications are used on both the LAN and WAN. IPv4 is the primary protocol used on the network.

Remote access to the network is available via IPSEC technology. Authentication for VPN is provided by a local database.

Only the core components of the network are under maintenance contracts.

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Opportunities

Integrate VPN authentication with directory services - To increase security and reduce system administration, the District should consider integrating the VPN database with the District’s directory services.

Reconfigure the current VPN system for consistency - The School should explore the reliability of the remote VPN access system.

Implement systems monitoring and management - Implement a network and sever monitoring system to proactively monitor and identify potential system issues. While the implementation of a full scale network management system would unnecessary, it is recommended that a minimal form of a network monitoring system should be implemented.

Data Center

The current data center does not have adequate physical security.

There are some major physical infrastructure deficiencies in the current data center environment.

The Schools are in the process of moving the current data center to a third party hosted data center facility. This process is to start early next year (2013).

Opportunities

Proceed with data center migration - We concur with the School’s decision to migrate the current data center to a third party hosting facility.

Server & Storage Environment

There are approximately 50 – 100 servers as a part of the SCS environment. Dell Computer Systems is the preferred manufacturer of the server & storage equipment. The age of the server and storage system varies from 1 year to 5 years (1 < year = 10%, 2-5 years = 45%, > 5 years = 40%).

The majority of the systems have redundancy features such as dual power supplies, NICs, and hard drives.

There currently is no proactive server maintenance program for hardware issues.

A centralized storage system is available, but not all of the data is stored on the centralized storage system. Some of the systems store data on local drives.

Microsoft Windows 2008 (60%), Windows 2003 (30%), and Apple OSx (10%) are the primary operating systems used on the servers.

Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor is used for server virtualization. Server virtualization is deployed in a limited manner.

Systems are updated regularly, but there is no formal patch management in place.

AVG Pro is used on the servers for antivirus.

Opportunities

Implement server / storage management system - The Schools should consider implementing Dell OpenManage (IT Assistant and OpenManage Server Administrator) management to proactively monitor and manage the servers & storage environment.

Consolidate all critical data on to a centralized storage system - The Schools should consider consolidating all of the data on to a centralized storage system that has tiered classes of storage.

Implement patch management policy - The Schools should implement a standardized patch management policy. To test the overall security (password strengths) and patch levels on all systems running Microsoft operating system, the Schools should periodically run Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) tool. This tool provides a streamlined method to identify missing security updates and common security misconfigurations for system running MS operating systems.

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Policies / Backup & DRP Environment

Policies / Procedures

No all components of the system are documented.

Regular maintenance window are not defined.

Email is the primary method for communicating the status of IT systems.

Data classification is not conducted.

Proper access control policies are not in place. The System Administrator account is used for day-to-day system activities.

Account create and deletion are handled on an adhoc basis.

There is no password policy in place requiring users to change or have complexity in their passwords

Backup & DRP

The current data center does not have adequate physical security.

Some of the critical systems are not backed up on the regular basis. It appears that the onus is on each individual department to identify the data that needs to be backed up.

There currently is no verification or testing process in place to validate the integrity of the backups.

There are multiple backup systems in place and the process and procedure, type of data being backed up, system notification process, etc. is inconsistent.

Disk-to-Disk (D2D) technology is used to backup the data; the backups are not encrypted. Symantec Backup Exec is used for system backups.

Databases used are also backed up, but the process used to backup them up are inconsistent e.g. not all databases have backup agents that allow for the backups of open records.

The storage of the backup media is also inconsistent.

A partial DRP is currently in place.

All of the critical data is stored internally. Backup data is not transported to a secure off-site location.

For the DRP, a threat matrix, RPO (Recovery Point Objective) , RTO (Recovery Time Objective), and BIA (Business Impact Analysis) have not be documented.

Opportunities (Policies / Procedures)

Develop system documentation and standard operating procedures - Apply the necessary resources to creating usable documentation. This investment is critical considering much of the information regarding the IT systems at the Schools is stored within individual employees. The documentation must be stored in a secure location on the network that is accessible only to authorized personnel.

Implement a standard system maintenance window - Regular maintenance window should be defined.

Classification of Data - The data should be classified for sensitivity and appropriate data controls applied to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the data.

Restrict system administration account usage - The Administrator account should not be used for day-to-day operations. For users that require occasional administrator capabilities, in addition to their normal account, a separate administrative privileged account should be created for system administration and management purposes.

Formalize user account creation process - Formalize process and procedure should be developed that authorize the create/deletion/modification of system accounts.

Develop strong password policies - Polices related to passwords, personnel devices, data

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backup and retention should be developed. Strong password restrictions/policies should be enforced. The estimated cost to implement this opportunity is expected to be minimal but will require procedural effort.

Opportunities (Backup & DRP)

Classification of Data – (see above). To ensure that all critical data is being backed up, the criticality of the data should be identified. This process would also assist with the DRP efforts. Data backups should also be encrypted to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the data on stored disk.

Review current backup process & procedures – The data backup process should be formalized and consistent with the data retention policies of the organization. The organization should consider implementing an off-site / online backup system. If the organization desires to retain backup operations in-house, the organization should implement incremental backups Monday-Friday to disk, and full weekly backups to disk and to tape. At a minimum, the weekly backups should be taken to an off-site location such as the bank vault or other secure facilities. The off-site weekly backup rotation should be in accordance to the organization’s backup policy. Random restores should be performed on a periodic basis (weekly or monthly) to test the integrity of the backup system.

Formalize Disaster Recovery Planning - A written disaster recovery plan (DRP) should be developed. The DRP should address recovery of facilities and all business functions/departments. The Organization should develop an appropriate DRP/BCP strategy. This process should begin by identifying various business goals critical to the organization. Using the goals, various processes need to be identified and an appropriate DRP/BCP developed. Using the DRP/BCP as a blue print, the network and server infrastructure should be evaluated along with the process and modified accordingly so as to meet the objective of the DRP/BCP. The established business goals would determine the need to create a backup or live data center (probably at a plant), move services to a hosted location, or simply maintain status quo. The Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) would also determine the criticality of the infrastructure that needs to be planned. The development of a BCP/DRP should be considered as long term project as it requires considerable planning and implementation. Recovery procedures for IT components and applications should be documented and periodically tested. Testing results should be reviewed with the Management Team.

Workstation Standard

There are approximately 10,000 workstations across the school system. The age of the workstation rage from less than a year old to greater than 10 years. The estimated age of the workstation is as follows - <1 year = 3%, 2-5 years = 13%, 5-7 years = 30%, and > 7 years = 54%.

A vast majority of the workstations are beyond their expected life expectancy.

Due to the age of the workstations, a variety of operating systems are in used – Windows 95/98, XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

The Schools are in the process of implementing a pilot Virtual Desktop Integration (VDI).

The Schools are in the process of implementing a Windows Services Update Server (WSUS) to manage deployment of Microsoft operating system and application patches /updates.

Multiple web browsers are is use.

Clonezilla and Microsoft SCCM are used for workstation image management.

The printing environment is heterogeneous and include network printing, multifunction devices, and standalone printing.

Opportunities

Develop and implement workstation refresh policy - For the majority of the workstations, they are being used beyond their reasonable expected life expectancy. A workstation refresh

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policy should be developed and implemented. This allows the Schools to replace a certain percentage of workstations annually and avoid workstation obsolesce.

VDI implementation can extend the useful life of the aged workstations – We concur with Schools decision to implement a VDI solution. The use of an appropriate VDI solution can extend the life of the current workstations, thereby maximizing the ROI on the VDI solution.

Implement WSUS for server patch management - We concur with the School’s decision to implement WSUS for workstation patch management. The same tool can be used for the management of patches on the servers as well.

Implement standardize applications – To streamline and effectively administer the application and workstation environment, the School should define a standard set of application that are deployed and supported by IT.

Implement Multifunction Devices for printing - To streamline and effectively administer the printing environment, the School should move towards the use of Multi Function Devices (copiers/scanner/printer) for printing purposes. The departure from local printing and multitude of network printer can reduce operational costs.

Current ERP Systems / Applications

The Schools use Microsoft Outlook 365 hosted email services and has approximately 32,000 email boxes. This includes e-mail for students.

Onbase and ImageEase are used for document imaging and Electronic Content Management (ECM).

Open source content management system (CMS) Joomla is used for the management of website content. The Schools are currently evaluating Atlassian Confulence as well.

When web based applications are developed internally, PHP is the preferred programming language.

Microsoft SQL and MySQL are the two primary databases used in the organization.

Besides the current Student Information System (SIS), an ERP system / application is not used.

Opportunities


Staffing

To the most part, the schools are self-sufficient and use external resources strictly on an as-per-need basis.

There are approximately 10employees in IT.

After hours support for the system is provided via remote access. There are configurational issues with the current VPN system that provide consistent and reliable access to the network remotely.

There is limited cross training between the IT employees primarily due to time constraints. There is currently no training budget for the IT staff.

Opportunities

Promote IT cross-training - To provide coverage in the event that an IT specialist is unavailable for an extended period of time, the organization should consider promoting cross-training skills between various IT personnel

Create and enforce policies to require staff development - The School should also create policies that require IT staff to undergo skills refinement training each year, including a combination of formal training, train-the-trainer, on-line webinars, conferences and seminars. This would create for better employee morale, use technology more efficiently, and also assist them in deploying new technologies for the Schools. When possible, the School, in its annual budget, should allocate budgets dedicated for the purpose of IT training. IT Staff development should be a major performance metric while assessing their annual performances.

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4 ERP Market Analysis

4.1 INTEGRATED ERP MARKETPLACE

The purpose of the Market Analysis is to provide the County with an overview of the current financial system

and ERP software vendor marketplace. Information provided in this marketplace assessment was gathered

from prior Plante Moran project and consulting experience, feedback from the County staff during interviews,

and external research.

Generally, enterprise financial system solutions evolved out of a desire to provide the functionality of two or

more systems, such as Financials and Human Resources, in an integrated software solution. Enterprise

software solutions experienced its first major growth in private sector businesses in their manufacturing and

supply chain operations. Many of these “Tier 1” ERP solution providers offer broad solutions designed

specifically for the private sector. Over the past several years, these solutions were enhanced, configured and

tested in public sector organizations. With these enhancements, these solutions originally developed for private

sector organizations could now be deployed in a public sector setting.

There are also a number of “Tier 2” ERP software providers that originated and offer specific vertical solutions

designed for the public sector including fund accounting, encumbrance accounting, sophisticated budgeting,

grants management, etc. and capabilities which are pervasive in this segment. These solutions are typically

characterized as “Tier 2” solutions and are normally deployed in medium sized public organizations. Over time,

there has been increased focus from these Tier 2 vendors towards developing niche solutions designed to

compete with the Tier 1 providers. Small to Medium size government agencies, such as the County, generally

select financial management solutions identified as Tier 2 solutions.

The most basic differentiations between Tier 1 and Tier 2 providers lie within the depth of functionality, breadth

and complexity of the software.

4.2 TIER 1 PROVIDERS

Tier 1 providers have a broader offering that often include modules for Customer Relationship Management

(CRM), Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), Learning Management, Analytics and Reporting, Data

Warehousing, and Project Management modules. While Tier 1 providers offer robust core financial modules, as

well as HR and Payroll, typically they rely on third party vendors for functionality specific to government

activities in other functional areas. Most, but not all, Tier 1 providers have a large network of implementers

available to implement their solution, many of which have dedicated public sector practices. The most

significant challenge with Tier 1 solutions is that government agencies often find that they are not able to

dedicate enough technical resources to leverage expansive capabilities of the system to meet their needs. Due

to their flexibility (thus complexity) Tier 1 implementations are most successful at organizations with structured

IT software governance and/or ERP process governance, not typically demonstrated in organizations which

have implemented a fragmented software approach. In addition to the necessary governance, strong IT project

management is also critical for Tier 1 deployment. In several instances, Plante Moran has worked with public

sector clients who have implemented Tier 1 ERP systems and the following situations have prevented them

from realizing the full benefit of these systems thus diminishing their return on investment:

The governmental body did not budget the necessary capital to implement the solution and optimize

current business processes due to cost factors related to capital budget and resource constraints.

The operating costs to maintain Tier 1 solutions relative to software maintenance and support

consumed operating budgets thus creating a situation where hiring the necessary internal resources to

maintain and enhance these systems (e.g., data mining, workflow, custom reporting, etc.) was not

feasible.

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4.3 TIER 2 PROVIDERS

Users of Tier 2 solutions often find that these solutions are more prescriptive; i.e., governmental best practices

are designed within the application. This is intuitive since Tier 2 solutions were designed for use within the

government sector. They may offer less flexibility and configurability than Tier 1 system but, as a result, are

typically less cumbersome to implement within their organization, because of their native public sector design

and more prescriptive implementation approach. Tier 2 vendors tend to have their origin based in the

government sector and have been improving and updating their software products to offer a greater range of

modules and functionality. As such, the Tier 2 vendors are touting themselves as viable alternative solutions to

Tier 1 providers. However, beyond enhanced functionality, the scalability of the services being offered by Tier 2

solution providers is a strong consideration when determining the best overall solution. Unlike Tier 1 solution

providers, nearly all Tier 2 solution providers implement their own software and do not rely on third party

implementers.

The software marketplace has seen the emergence of solutions being touted as Tier 1.5’s, or “one and a

halves.” Originally positioned as Tier 1 or Tier 2 solutions, these vendors have now positioned themselves

between the two tiers and often offer enhanced functionality in areas such as HR and Payroll. They are also

offering modules that are able to scale up to a larger client’s complexity and transaction volume but at a lower

cost and time to implement as compared to a Tier 1 provider.

As identified by Gartner Research, there are still distinct differences between Tier 1 and Tier 2 software

providers in the ability to address all business needs. Tier 1 vendors, such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and

UNIT4, garner economies of scale by focusing on a smaller set of back-office capabilities and building add-ons

to products they sell in other vertical markets. They attempt to address local government-specific business

requirements, such as permitting and licensing, by building templates using a combination of ERP, CRM and

business intelligence (BI) products. Conversely, the Tier 2 provider’s smaller scale allows for country-specific

business and regulatory compliance requirements, and positions them to focus on local government-specific

capabilities. In order to meet a greater subset of business needs, they have evolved through a number of

acquisitions that have led to solutions that satisfy both back-office and front-office business requirements. The

struggle, however, has been to evolve toward an integrated suite package while continuing investments in

business development for the separate products.

While overlap occurs, generally Tier 1 vendors are more prevalent in larger counties (populations over 500,000)

while Tier 2 vendors occupy the market space for cities below this threshold. Large global vendors tend to

focus on the largest local government jurisdictions. The cost of their solutions and their business models, which

usually require a system integration partner for design, configuration and implementation, are usually beyond

the means of smaller jurisdictions. Conversely, local independent software vendors tend to be viable for smaller

jurisdictions and have pricing and implementation timelines that tend to be more favorable for midsize and small

local government organizations.

4.4 VENDOR CONSOLIDATION

Consolidation among public sector software vendors has left a fewer number of vendors providing customized

services to the public sector than in prior years. Organizations such as Harris, Oracle, SunGard Public Sector,

and Tyler Technologies have acquired competing software offerings over time and, to varying extents,

marketed, licensed, implemented and supported each of them. As such, the remaining vendors have a larger

installed base per vendor. It is anticipated that, over time, these vendors will reduce, not increase, the number

of ERP solutions that they will maintain and support for the public sector. This consolidation of solution

offerings is typical in the software industry as a result of their desire to create a sustainable business model.

Thus, it is important during the due diligence and contract negotiation process to consider any future product

plans available from software providers, with the purpose of maximizing solution longevity and avoiding

expensive capital outlays for upgrades and for replacements.

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4.5 BEST OF BREED

Fortunately, given the trends in the Tier 1 and Tier 2 ERP marketplace, there are software packages that

complement ERP systems, referred to as “Best of Breed.” Common examples include time entry systems that

include greater functionality than what is in a typical ERP system, such as time clocks; enterprise asset

management systems; investment management systems; and land management systems such as code

enforcement, permitting, and business licensing. These systems, typically offered by third parties, need to

interface with the ERP system, and thus are not seamlessly integrated. However, Tier 1 and Tier 2 core ERP

vendors will generally target specific best of breed providers in which they will develop long-term relationships

and integrations between their products to satisfy clients’ needs for an overall integrated solution.

As the ERP marketplace evolves, with certain offerings being incorporated into or separated from ERP systems,

organizations will need to determine which solutions to purchase as part of an ERP and which to purchase as

“best of breed.” Currently, HR and finance functionality are the main solutions to purchase within an ERP, with

the other modules depending on the needs of the organization and the software vendors’ offerings.

4.6 SUMMARY COMPARISON: TIER 1 VERSUS TIER 2

The following table identifies some of the key differences between Tier 1 and Tier 2 software providers on

issues such as support requirements, cost of implementation services, cost of major version upgrades, software

support channel and other factors:

Characteristic Tier 2 Vendors Tier 1 Vendors

Sample Representative

Vendors:

SunGard Public Sector (e.g.

OneSolution)

Tyler Technologies MUNIS

and Eden

New World Systems

Harris (e.g. Innoprise, etc.)

Springbrook

Others

Oracle (PeopleSoft and

Oracle e-Business Suite)

SAP

Oracle (JDE 1.5)

Infor – (1.5)

CGI – (1.5)

Unit4 – (1.5)

Others

Design Considerations Primarily designed for public

sector

More prescriptive functionality

and less conducive to

customization without altering

source code

Often leverage common

municipal technology

standards (e.g. MS SQL

database). Some support

Oracle

Environments leverage 3rd

party tools (database, report

writer, etc.)

Developed product for

private sector and later

adapted for public sector

Many modules specific to

public sector

Larger organizations with

greater R&D budgets, offer

more robust technology

Robust development tools

Scalable to leverage most

robust development and

database environments

Ongoing Technology

Support Resource

Requires fewer technology

FTEs to support

Most require multiple

technology FTEs to support

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Requirements Also impacted by level of

integration with other

organizational systems

Also impacted by level of

integration with other

organizational systems

Software Functionality Incrementally less robust

functionality for core

components

HR/Payroll solutions are

frequently less robust as

compared to Tier 1 offerings

Many vendors offer additional

public sector modules, such

as fleet management, request

for service, etc.

License costs per user

typically less expensive than

Tier 1

Core modules have robust

functionality

May lack public sector

specific features (e.g.

encumbrance rollover,

GASB 34 reporting, etc.)

License costs per user

typically more expensive

than Tier 2

Implementation Services for

New Installation

Vendor “Homework” approach

has organization responsible

for many implementation

tasks

Frequently implemented with

organization resources not

dedicated to the project

Rarely requires full-time

vendor staff to implement

Software vendors also

implement their own solutions

Implementation services to

license fees ratio typically

closer to 1:1. 2:1 would be

more robust services

approach

Requirement for multiple full

time staff to implement

Requires significantly

greater implementation

vendor resources than Tier

2 to implement including

key staff that are full-time to

the project

Software implementers are

typically integrators /

channel partners

Implementation services to

license fees ratio frequently

3:1 or higher

Staff required for

Implementation

3-5 FTE 6-12 FTE

Ongoing support staff

required

1-3 FTE 3-8 FTE

Cost Model for Major

Version Upgrades

License fees for version

upgrades often included with

maintenance fees

Most major upgrades require

moderate levels of vendor

services

Most major upgrades

include significant license

fee costs

Most major upgrades

require significant levels of

vendor services to assist

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Software Support Channel Primarily direct vendor

support

Mixed, some direct, some

through implementer / value

added reseller channel

Hosting Options* Generally hosted internally,

some offering Software as

Service/Cloud solutions. Few

multi-tenant web-based

options.

Generally hosted internally,

some offering hosted

solutions. Few multi-tenant

web-based options.

4.7 APPROACH: REPLACE CURRENT SYSTEMS WITH AN INTEGRATED ERP

In 2012, Sumner County enacted the “Financial Management Modernization System of the County of Sumner,

TN”, or otherwise known as the 2012 Finance Act. As a result of this Act, the County and the Schools are to

streamline business operations and consolidate associated financial systems on or before June 17th of 2016.

Through a competitive RFP process, the County could procure and implement a fully integrated Tier 2 (or a Tier

1 (or “1.5”)) ERP system. As described in detail earlier in the report, some Tier 2 solutions are designed

specifically for the public sector so that they offer a wide variety of modules and Tier 1 solutions are used by a

wide variety of industries, including special districts. Tier 2 solutions typically have fewer configuration options

but require a significantly lower implementation effort and on-going internal support. Tier 1 solutions will require

a greater level of implementation effort but can provide the County with robust functionality and flexibility to grow

in the future. Given this, the new system would replace the current Zortec applications as well as the many

additional spreadsheets and other “shadow systems.”

By changing systems, the County would support the current environment throughout the future system selection

and implementation effort. The system selection would be a competitive procurement with stakeholder input to

define requirements and measure vendors against them. It would require a capital investment and necessitate

ongoing sustained investment through software maintenance and continued internal technical support.

The following graphic illustrates how the County’s future ERP environment may look.

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Core ERP: Those modules that are intended to be replaced as part of the project through the RFP

process although their replacement will likely occur in various stages of software implementation.

Expanded ERP: Those modules that are being considered for further evaluation during the RFP

process and may or may not be replaced as part of the project depending on a number of factors.

County Interfaces: Those modules that are not within the scope of the project but may have interfaces

to the implemented ERP solution. At some point in the future, the County may consider replacement of

these modules or a marketplace assessment to determine the current vendor solution set that exists for

these areas.

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4.7.1 Cost Estimates

Capital Cost Estimates for ERP System Selection and Implementation

Through a competitive RFP process, the County can procure and implement a fully integrated ERP system.

Based on Plante Moran’s experience with ERP projects of similar scope and an anonymous Request for

Information distributed by Plante Moran on behalf of the County, estimated internal and external cost projections

have been developed for the County to select and implement an ERP solution, as follows:

Total ERP Project Costs*

*Does not include on-going support or software maintenance costs.

ERP Replacement Project Costs

Low Estimate

(Tier 2)

High Estimate

(Tier 1.5)

External Project Costs

Hardware/Software 871,000$ 1,681,000$

Hardware & Supporting Software 145,000 181,000

Software License Fees 726,000 1,500,000

ERP Vendor Services 592,000$ 3,000,000$

Implementation & Vendor Proj. Mgmt. Services 544,000 3,000,000

Other Expenses 48,000 -

Additional 3rd Party Services 304,000$ 360,565$

System Selection, Proposal Evaluation and Contract Negotiation Services 77,740 77,740

Implementation Management Assistance 226,260 282,825

Project Contingency 272,000$ 756,000$

Total External Costs 2,039,000$ 5,797,565$

Internal Project Effort / Costs:

Vendor Selection (FTE) 5 5

Vendor Selection (duration - months) 6 6

Vendor Selection Cost: 200,000$ 200,000$

Software Implementation (FTE) 4.5 6

Software Implementation (duration - months) 18 18

Software Implementation Cost: 540,000$ 720,000$

Total Intenral Costs 740,000$ 920,000$

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On-Going Support Costs

After procurement and implementation of an ERP system, the County must be able to support the new solution.

Essential to the support and maintenance of an enterprise solution are the following issues:

Vendor Support and

Maintenance

As part of the total cost of ownership, software vendors require

payment of annual support and maintenance fees. Generally,

annual fees range from 15-25% of initial license fees. Types of

support can include on-site post-implementation support, off-site

telephone support, third party support, access to upgrades, and

access to training courses. Enhanced “Critical Software Support”

and “Managed Services” are available from vendors as well at

considerably higher rates.

Technical and Functional

Support

The level of technical support varies depending on the complexity of

the enterprise solution. Technical support is essential to maintain

proper application compatibility and ensure the successful continued

operation of the system. Software vendors recommend different

staffing levels for ongoing support based on the complexity of the

system. It should be noted that every public sector entity is different

and staffing levels may differ depending on the complexity of the

system, in-house expertise, and overall IT governance structure.

End-User Training After implementation, the County can only take advantage of the full

functionality of the ERP if users are adequately trained to use

software. Similarly, new employees must receive adequate training

on the system.

Cost estimates for ongoing support of a new ERP system for 5-years are included in the table below:

Additional details related to the assumptions used for the cost estimate are included in the ERP Cost Estimate

Assumptions section in the Appendix.

Ongoing System Support Effort / Costs (5 yrs):

Low Estimate

(Tier 2)

High Estimate

(Tier 1.5)

Functional Support (Business Analysts) (FTE) 2 4

Internal Support Costs 800,000$ 1,600,000$

Training Staff (FTE) 1 2

Recurring Annual Training 400,000$ 800,000$

Vendor Annual Maintenance and Support 610,000$ 1,650,000

5 year On-going System Support Cost: 1,810,000$ 4,050,000$

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5 Recommended Next Steps 5.1.1 Project Governance

Implementation of the new ERP system will require a well-coordinated and well-organized governance structure

in which to operate and manage the project. For the ERP system being considered by the County, all staff will

be impacted. Complex ERP implementations are most successful at organizations with structured governance

structure set-up for the project.

The process and technology changes will be significant and will impact all departments. As a result of the

passage of the 2012 Finance Act, there will also likely be policy and organizational structure changes that will

need to be considered and implemented to receive the full benefits.

Strong project management is also critical for deployment, and becomes increasingly important with the ERP

investment. As a result, it will be critical to form a project structure that meets the following requirements:

Considers the needs of a variety of stakeholders

Provides the ability to make decisions in the most efficient and effective manner

Ensures that project communication is flowing to the right individuals at the right time including those

that are part of the project team and those external to the project team

The project team structure is empowered by management to enforce policies

Recommended Strategies

The following strategies should be employed relative to the establishment of a project governance structure

during the selection and implementation phases of the project:

1. Governance Structure Establishment: Establish a formal governance structure to coordinate the

selection of the new ERP system, with the intent that structure can be leveraged and specific roles can

be re-defined for future design, implementation and maintenance phases of the ERP lifecycle. See the

Sample System Selection Roles & Responsibilities matrix in the Appendix for further clarification.

2. Identification of County Staff Time Commitment: As part of the RFP process, request information

from vendors as to the optimal County staffing structure and time commitment required for a successful

ERP implementation including on-going support and maintenance of the system.

3. Establishment of Time Commitment Expectations: Prior to launching the implementation phase of

the project, establish expectations with County staff as to the time commitment that will be required for

a successful implementation.

4. Determine Sunsetting Policy: Establish policies to sunset legacy best of breed and “shadow”

systems, in conjunction with the ERP implementation so that they do not perpetuate an environment of

dual information tracking.

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5.1.2 Request for Proposal (RFP) Tactics

The Request for Proposal (RFP) will encompass a number of sections including a list of the software modules to

procure, detailed software specifications, interface requirements, and migration paths for existing systems.


The following strategies should be considered by the County through the RFP and due diligence activities

leading up to the selection of a future ERP solution:

1. Vendor Clarity in RFP: Ensure that software vendors are clear as to the strategy of the organization

as it relates to the procurement of replacement software.

2. Open Procurement: The County should define both functional and technical requirements as part of

the RFP process and allow to vendors propose their respective solutions. The County will then be able

to evaluate the solutions based on the selection criteria and conclude on the most appropriate level of

investment. The ERP Marketplace Assessment section further details the differences between the

Tiers of vendors.

3. Identify Other Vendor Module Capabilities: Within the RFP, include additional questions pertaining

to the capabilities of vendors in other areas not considered as part of the initial scope of the project (i.e.,

system interface required modules) but which may be available from the ERP vendors.

4. Balance a Strategic Vendor Decision with a Preliminary Investment: Include all ERP modules

which the County may consider as part of an ERP procurement and structure the RFP to provide “a la

carte” pricing. This will allow the County to evaluate the full scope of the vendor solution to aid in the

strategic decision of the vendor/ERP platform; however, make a subsequent conclusion on phasing the

investment. Please refer to the Phasing section below for additional details.

5. Progressive Elaboration: As the County learns more about the work of the project, planning can

progress and becoming more elaborate over time. Using consultant templates and expert judgment

can assist with leveraging lessons learned from other similar local public sector organizations; however,

specific implementation planning requirements will be increasingly defined throughout the project

phases.

6. Evaluate Financing Options: As part of the RFP process, the County may wish to consider financing

options that are available from the vendor to provide an improved payment stream to fund the cost of

the project.

7. Consider County and Vendor Hosting Solution Offerings: The capabilities of municipal software

vendors that provide robust hosted solution offerings are becoming more appealing for a variety of

reasons. The County should consider requesting both types of offerings from responding vendors to

evaluate the potential of having one or more solution components be externally hosted.

8. Software and Services Solutions: Ensure that information is gleaned from providers of ERP solutions

in areas of both product and service as part of the RFP and due diligence activities. Specifically, this

would include the following: a. Review their product offerings as requested in the RFP

b. Identify and contact relevant references of a comparable size to the County

c. Develop vendor demonstration agendas that are geared towards identifying how the vendors will achieve specific County outcomes

d. Develop a preliminary Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over 5 years factoring in all internal and external costs

e. For multi-product solutions, assess the degree in which these various products have operated with each other at other clients

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5.1.3 Phasing

The implementation of a municipal management solution presents a number of options as to when certain

modules are deployed, frequently based on when the various business cycles are executed within the County

such as:

Fiscal year-end

Calendar year-end

CAFR development

Budget development

There are a variety of options to consider when implementing a new system including the appropriate phasing

of modules. For the County, the natural grouping of modules, although not necessarily in the order shown, is as

follows:

Core ERP (to include Financials, Document Management and HR/Payroll)

Time and Attendance

Asset Management


Although there is no perfect answer as to when certain modules should be deployed, the following best

practices should be considered related to the implementation phasing set of activities:

1. Implement Complimentary Modules Together: There is a natural implementation phasing of like

modules as part of the deployment of a new ERP system. For example, core financial modules should

be implemented together. Likewise, HR/Payroll modules, to the extent incorporated, should be

implemented together as well. This is another example of factors to be considered when determining

an overall implementation approach.

2. Avoid “Big Bang Approach”: The deployment of a new ERP system is a very significant project

requiring a large amount of staff and vendor time to implement as it will impact people, process, policy

and technology. Careful phasing of implemented modules should be performed versus a “big-bang”

approach of implementing all software at the same time to minimize overall project risk. The County

may wish to consider separating core financial modules, payroll and personnel, and procurement

functions into separate phases. Integrations to other County systems should follow as the ERP

modules are implemented over time.

3. Evaluate Opportunities for “Quick-Win” Implementations: There are a number of opportunities to

obtain quick-win implementations of a new system that provide visible evidence of project success and

minimize the risk of bringing all modules up simultaneously. Frequently, modules such as Debt Service

Management and Investment Management are isolated to a limited number of individuals, are relatively

simple to deploy and do not have significant interaction with the core financial system. Opportunities for

these quick-wins should be explored during the vendor selection phase of the project and more closely

during system implementation. Certain “quick-wins” may need to be initially implemented in stand-

alone mode with or without temporary bridges in place and then later integrated when the core ERP is

live.

4. Consideration of Natural Business Cycles: A natural tendency is to implement a the financial

components of an ERP system such that go-live is on a fiscal year-end to have all transactions for a

year on one system. In general, there are many cases where this is not the ideal situation as the post

go-live challenges with implementing a new system impede significant activities that are required for

year-end close. HR/Payroll solutions tend to go-live on a quarterly basis and the County may wish to

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consider going live at a calendar year break due to the processing of W-2 statements for employees.

Regardless, natural County business cycles should be considered as part of the phasing of ERP

modules.

5.1.4 Cost Containment Strategies for Implementation

The procurement and implementation of a comprehensive ERP solution can be a very expensive endeavor with

opportunities for purchasing software and services that do not necessarily equate to immediate or long-term

value for the County. This is especially relevant in these difficult economic times in which County expenditures

need to be directed appropriately to maximize the benefits to County staff and to the constituents served by the

County. There are a number of strategies that the County should consider when selecting and implementing a

software solution to maximize the value of what is being acquired as follows:

Ensure that the purchased solution is an appropriate fit for the County versus over-buying on a solution

that has additional functionality that will likely not be used by the County

Take advantage of “best practices” offered by the software vendors versus customizing the products to

meet unique County needs

Defer or opt-out of procuring more advanced software functionality that adds incremental value to the

base solution or whose overall costs is not worth the functionality provided

State the top-end budget for the software vendor in the RFP such that the onus is on them to construct

a response that fits within the County budget

Minimize the amount of data conversion to be performed

Implement only critical interfaces during the initial go-live while deferring or opting out of the

implementation of less critical interfaces

Opt out of certain services that add incremental value to the overall success of the project or

alternatively perform those services internally if the skillsets exist (e.g., change management)

Negotiate the start of maintenance payments as far in the future as possible

Negotiate vendor payments to be aligned with achievement of critical milestones

Negotiate hold-backs/retainages to be paid out once final acceptance of the entire solution is achieved

Look for price concessions from the vendors as part of contract negotiations

Implement a vendor-hosted solution and construct the payment stream such that it is evenly spread

over a seven or ten year period

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5.1.5 Staff Backfill

The anxiety of staff who will be involved in the project is significantly high as they try to comprehend the amount

of effort that will be required to implement the new solution and associated processes while continuing to

perform their existing work. Frequently, staff who are the most desirable to lead such a replacement project are

also the ones who also have the most knowledge of the legacy environment and are viewed as key in

maintaining the integrity of the existing environment.


Consider the following tactics with respect to performing staff backfill during the implementation phase of the

project:

1. Factor Backfill Costs in Project Budget: The County should factor backfill costs into the overall

project budget that is presented to the County Commission as part of the entire project budget.

2. Consider Recent Retirees to Provide Backfill: To the extent feasible, evaluate the opportunity of

using recently retired staff to provide backfill support for the project or to provide assistance in critical

areas deemed important for the project due to their institutional knowledge. This may include areas

such as data conversion assistance, including data cleansing, where this institutional knowledge is

relevant, or for addressing day to day operational responsibilities, while current County subject matter

experts focus their attention on the ERP implementation effort.

3. Consider Workload Sharing: Based on normal business cycles, certain County staff may become

especially busy addressing operational requirements. During these times, a refocus of other staff’s

efforts to assist them in their operational duties, can mitigate the bottlenecks which can result and

increase staff availability to participate on project work. Additionally this can help with staff cross-

training, and collectively “upgrade” staff skills in each work area. To the extent that the County can

proactively initiate such approaches in advance of the ERP project, it can provide benefits to allow

subject matter experts to more easily transition to their project roles.

5.1.6 Data Cleansing/Conversion

Legacy systems frequently have data stored in a variety of formats either electronically within the system or in

hard-copy format, which is deemed as critical and has data retention requirements. Vendors will generally

provide two approaches towards the conversion of client data. In one method, vendors will provide a template

format to the County and request that all data to be converted is provided in the requested format regardless of

the number of data sources that currently house this information. In the second method, vendors will manage

both the extraction and conversion of information into the template format. In both cases, the data conversion

process will be iterative in terms of extracting, converting, reporting and reviewing.

Likewise, cleansing of the data prior to the data conversion activity during implementation will generally make

this process occur more smoothly. Regardless of the methods taken, data conversion is considered a critical

part of system implementation and one that can be a critical risk to the project if not managed correctly.


The following data cleansing/data conversion strategies should be considered to minimize the challenges that

many organizations encounter as part of migrating data from the legacy to the new environment:

1. Scope Data Conversion Requirements Early: Define general data conversion requirements in the

RFP and work with the tentative finalist vendor during the last stages of the selection to finalize the

scope of conversion within the Statement of Work (SOW) with the ERP vendor.

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2. Minimize Data Conversion Volume: Avoid converting all historical information to the new

environment. Instead, consider the conversion of summary information as a first course of action

unless detail is needed.

3. Assess Alternative Options to Converting: Consider alternative options of accessing historical

information other than electronically. This may include printing of reports to electronic files or the

creation of a data mart.

4. Develop Required Cross-Walks: Develop a cross-walk between legacy and new system data as part

of the conversion process. For example, this may include development of an interface that allows users

to enter in an old account that then displays the same account in the new structure. Likewise, an old

vendor number could populate a field in the new system to act as a cross-reference.

5. Initiate Data Cleansing Activities Early: Begin data cleansing activities as early as possible. For

example, the County may wish to start reviewing its existing vendor file and eliminating duplicates or

vendors who no longer exist. During the implementation phase of the project, most ERP vendors will

provide specific instructions related to data cleansing activities.

6. Assess Alternative Conversion Destinations: As a separate internal project, consider the use of a

data mart for housing of legacy data for historical reporting purposes. If this route is chosen, clear

responsibilities for separately acquiring and implementing the data warehouse will be required to

consider both vendor and County staff involvement.

5.1.7 Interface Development

Interfaces related to the deployment of a new financial system can exist in various forms as follows:

Standard imports or exports provided by the vendor’s solution with entities and systems outside of the

County (e.g., benefit providers, other governmental entities, etc.)

Interfaces between the vendor’s solution and applications that are not being considered for replacement

as part of the project (e.g., ESRI, eGov, etc.)

Interfaces between the vendor’s solution and applications that are being considered for replacement as

part of the project that may or may not be provided by the prime vendor (e.g., document management,

etc.)

Decisions as to who will develop and provide on-going support for system interfaces are another important

factor to consider. Frequently, vendors will provide toolsets that assist in the development and management of

system interfaces.


The following strategies should be considered relative to interface development activities:

1. Define Required Interfaces Early: Define needed interfaces between the new ERP and external

entities in the RFP. This would include existing as well as desired new interfaces that would be

populated in the Application Interface Table of the RFP.

2. Consider External Systems in Interface Definition Development: Define needed interfaces

between the new ERP and other County systems not being replaced in the RFP. This would include

existing as well as desired new interfaces that would be populated in the Application Interface Table of

the RFP.

3. Mandate Prime Vendor Responsibility for Interface Development: Ensure that the prime vendor is

responsible for the delivery of all system interfaces during implementation.

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4. Shadow Staff to Facilitate Knowledge Transfer: County staff should shadow ERP vendor staff

during system implementation to develop an understanding of their conversion tools such that the

County can maintain those interfaces designated for County support going forward.

5. Contract for Standard Interface Support: Consider allowing the software vendors to maintain

interfaces that exist between their product and entities outside of the County (e.g. benefit providers,

IRS, etc.) and, as an option, other systems not being considered for replacement by the County.

6. Ensure Holistic Interface Strategy: Perform the necessary work to inventory the system interface

requirements, develop an System Interface Plan, design and develop the system interfaces, test and

accept the interfaces and implement them in conjunction with the “out of the box” system

implementation.

5.1.8 Report Development

Although the selected vendor will provide a significant number of reports and queries through their base system

there will be a need for the County to have existing reports customized and to have additional reports developed

that are not available as part of the core set of reports. The skill sets required for report development include

not only the report development tools but also an understanding of the database and/or views which the

reporting tools access. Likewise, if the County pursues the use of a separate data mart /data warehouse in

order to perform more complex analysis, additional skill sets will be needed.

When software vendors demonstrate their solutions, the expectation of users being able to perform ad-hoc

reporting themselves is heightened as the vendors will present the process as simply involving the point and

click of a few buttons to generate the desired results. In reality, the process of using the tool and developing an

understanding of the database/view takes a period of time.


The following strategies are proposed to maximize the reporting outcomes from the project:

1. Establish Staff Expectations on Reporting Options: Reset staff expectations that traditional

reporting should not necessarily be the first or most appropriate method towards obtaining the financial,

procurement or HR information that they seek. Instead, as part of the overall training approach, ensure

that staff understands the self-service, inquiry and portal functions available in the system, and when to

use them.

2. Ensure Training on Reporting Tools: Identify a joint team of process owners and technical support

staff to be trained on the ad-hoc reporting tools during the implementation. These staff will likely be

generating custom-developed reports for some time after the go-live period.

3. Assess Reporting Options During Selection Process: Obtain a clear understanding during the

selection process as to the reporting options available with each vendor solution and, for each reporting

option, and who within the County will be using the tool.

4. Establish Process for Identifying and Developing Custom Reports: Work with the software vendor

during the implementation phase of the project to develop a select set of custom reports, with their

assistance, to improve knowledge transfer as to both the product and database structure.

5. Establish Go-Live Reporting Expectations: Reset staff expectations that not all reports will be

available at the go-live transition and that all users will be able to generate ad-hoc reports.

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5.1.9 Change Management

Project success comes from having a very clear idea of how management would like to run the County and then

using a new ERP system to facilitate the way the County has envisioned it. When software implementations do

not meet expectations it is often due to people issues, and not necessarily the technology. Research indicates

a correlation between the success of a change initiative and how well the people side is managed. That is why

applying a change management methodology is critical to the success of such an initiative. A rigorous change

management methodology is critical to supporting the successful launch of the new ERP. The purchase and

implementation of a new ERP system and related technology is done to assist in meeting organizational

objectives and improving performance. Organizational performance is also impacted by the people of an

organization and the processes used to complete work. Throughout the project, the goal is to balance these

components, as illustrated:

People

Process

Technology

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5.1.10 Communication Planning

As part of the first steps of change management planning, the County should develop communications plans

intended to guide project communications from inception through post-implementation. By its nature, the ERP

replacement project will affect many staff across the County. For this reason, a Communications and Change

Management Team recommended the appointment of key “change agents” within each County Department to

nurture 'buy in' and get Department staff committed to taking relevant actions. Such team members will be

involved in educating Department staff about the impacts and benefits of the project and be “inspiration agents”

by helping Department staff find ways to discover their potential, overcome barriers, and celebrate successes.

These staff should monitor "what is working", "what isn't working" and "what do we need to change" – and

provide regular feedback on progress to Department staff. Acknowledging the diverse County audiences that

will be involved and impacted by this project, a Communication Plan should be developed to create awareness

and make the project relevant by effectively communicating the impacts to both internal and external

stakeholders. Sample objectives for a Communication Plan may include:

Accurately distribute information in a timely manner concerning important project benchmarks and

progress to employees.

Use various media to provide multiple sources from which information concerning the project can be

accessible.

Ensure all information available is updated and accurate.

Reduce confusion among employees by providing a sole directive and source from which all project

information originates.

Provide clear channels of communication within which County project staff can operate to lead to an

expedited solution to issues that arise during the selection and implementation and after its completion.

Encourage feedback from employees across the County

5.1.11 Process Re-Design

The County should be re-engineering business processes in conjunction with the implementation of the new

ERP, as part of a successful change management approach. The needs assessment activities that were

conducted outlined a number of 'as-is' process maps, and surfaced several opportunities for improvements in

the management and execution of existing processes. Through the course of conducting process owner review

sessions and stakeholder review sessions, process-specific as well as County-wide issues and opportunities

were surfaced.

During the implementation phase of the project, there will be significant levels of review conducted by the

selected vendor to understand existing County processes and how their software can be used to improve the

efficiency and effectiveness of these processes. However, it is generally considered the responsibility of the

client to develop the actual procedural documentation that defines exactly how these processes will operate

with the selected system for use by process owning and process end-user staff.


The following strategies related to process redesign are recommended:

1. Educate Vendors on Process Considerations During Implementation: During the RFP

development and due diligence activities associated with reviewing vendor responses, ensure that

process redesign decisions are provided to the vendors.

2. Recognize Change Management Challenges: Consider the significant change management aspects

associated with the large amount of process redesign that will likely occur on the project.

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3. Assess Process Redesign Support During Selection Process: As part of the due diligence phase,

ask the finalist ERP vendors what process redesign activities they will conduct during the

implementation phase of the project and the specific deliverables that will be produced.

5.1.12 ERP System Training

The County should develop appropriate training plans in conjunction with the implementation of the new ERP.

The County does not currently have any formalized training program for existing financial, procurement and

human resources systems. Current training methods are primarily limited to informal one-on-one training

provided by County staff that support the individual systems or are the key users of the systems, at the time that

and that is an issue.

The process of providing training to on the new County system should occur in in conjunction with the

implementation of the new ERP. Training should be both functional and technical. Functional training should

be for both process owners and process end users to include technical training to County IT and departmental

“power user” staff.


The following strategies should be employed relative to training on the new system and associated changed

processes:

1. Communicate Training Expectations: During the RFP development and due diligence activities

associated with reviewing vendor responses, ensure that any specific training expectations are

articulated to the vendors. Consider the use of a “train the trainer” approach, whereby the County

would save on vendor implementation expense, as well as encourage County process owners to

become knowledgeable about the key aspects of the system.

2. Assess Level of Training to be Performed: As part of the due diligence phase with the finalist ERP

vendors obtain a clear understanding as to the level of training activities they will conduct during the

implementation phase of the project and the specific training materials.

3. Define a Training Team for Implementation: During the implementation of the new ERP, formulate a

Training Team which will focus both on the implementation training requirements on the development of

an ongoing internal training program for continued exploitation of the capabilities of the new system

over time.

In future budget cycles, consider including an ongoing training budget specific to the ERP system, to assist in

maximizing the ongoing leveraging of the County’s investment.

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Appendix A: Project Charter Sumner County, TN

ERP Needs Assessment and Solution Selection - Project Charter PROJECT NAME: Sumner County, TN Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Project

VISION STATEMENT:

The project will provide an integrated Enterprise system that will support County staff in the delivery of Government services and activities, take advantage of best practices, and significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of County's customer service and business processes.

PROJECT OVERVIEW:

The County will implement an Enterprise Resource Planning system on or before June 17, 2016. The implementation will replace the current mainframe system.

PROJECT PURPOSES:

Replace certain core business systems and shadow systems with a web/internet based, transaction based, integrated ERP system.

Have more effective business processes & replace our paper-oriented processes using e-forms, document imaging and workflow.

Have employee self-service for HR activities.

Provide better front-end services by improving our back-end services & systems.

Replace our 15 year old mainframe based system that is antiquated, disjointed and in some cases, does not provide a complete and consistent view of the information.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

County hopes to accomplish the following objectives with the successful completion of this project:

Incorporate fully integrated "best business practices"

Develop a system that is user-friendly and empowers departments to improve their business processes

Add and improve functionality in back-office functional areas

Improve quality and accessibility of information for decision support

Eliminate paper-based workflow processes and forms

Reduce redundant “shadow systems”, data entry, storage, and paper processing

Improve operational effectiveness and productivity

Enable e-Government initiatives, including enhanced customer service and web self-service

Reduce the number of systems we own and support and their related costs by retiring existing legacy

and back office "systems" and tools

Increase our ability for teleworkers and telecommuters to access systems and information remotely

through the use of a web-based user interface

BUSINESS DRIVERS:

1. One current view of the data; a single source of the truth. Eliminate conflicting information, shadow systems (spreadsheets, multiple systems with the same basic functionality, etc.)

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2. Significantly reduce process time through business process reengineering and best practices in the ERP product

3. Users & vendors can see where their transaction is in the process. Fewer phone calls for status.

4. Eliminate paper-based processes & forms

5. Employee self service

6. Quality is moved to the front of the transaction

7. Get off the 15 year old mainframe

PROJECT INFLUENCES:

Available resources for implementing the selected solution – Staff time and financial resources

Existing processes have been in existence for an extended period of time that are paper-based and are based on existing technology

Current system lacks flexibility.

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS:

Ensuring that all of the needs of the County are thoroughly defined, documented and understood by the vendors.

Business process reengineering takes place as appropriate

Vendor understanding of what the County is trying to accomplish with a new system

Obtaining buy-in from the departments on the process for defining the needs and selecting a new system

Gaining ownership by the departments on the selected system

Ensure that the selection process is conducted under a sound and unbiased process

The County provides adequate resources to the selection and implementation of the system

County staff perform appropriate due diligence in reviewing the potential vendor solutions to ensure that the selected solution will meet their needs

Have users that are computer literate to the extent that they can effectively use the system

Have a user help system in place to provide quality, timely help to trained users and to provide training to new employees and users

PROJECT CONSTRAINTS:

Staffing resources during the implementation effort

New system needs to be operational by June 17, 2016

There is no formal training function that currently exists within the County (materials, support staff, etc.)

User buy-in and capacity for change during implementation

Legal restraints that impact County financial and human resources operations

PROJECT SCOPE:

In-Scope: This project will impact the business processes that the County employs to accomplish most financial and human resources related tasks. Virtually all County employees will be affected as current paper-based processes are moved to the ERP system including the following areas:

o Accounts Payable

o Bank Reconciliation

o Budgeting (including Budget

Forecasting)

o Cash Management

o Cash Receipting / Point of Sale

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o Dashboard

o Debt Management

o Fixed Assets

o General Ledger

o Human Resources

o Inventory Management

o Investment Management

o Miscellaneous Billing and Accounts

Receivable

o Payroll (including time entry)

o Performance Management

o Project & Grant Accounting

o Purchasing

o Financial Statement Preparation

o Document management

Out-of-Scope: The following areas are deemed to be out of scope on the project:

o CRM system

o Most law enforcement processes

o Health patient care systems

o Jail management system (jail & inmate operations)

GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

The County shall adhere to the following principles throughout the planning, design and implementation of the project:

a. Information is a County asset to the extent that it is not confidential or private.

b. Establish common processes & practices across the County.

c. Focus on process and transaction quality; build quality at the source.

d. Provide relevant, timely, and consistent management information.

e. Minimize resources allocated to transactional activities; focus more on information to run the business.

f. We will embrace process improvement strategies and shall encourage the implementation of out-of-the box functionality (what is normally termed in the industry as "vanilla") and best business practices embedded in the software. We will use the functionality provided by the software “out-of-the-box”. There will be virtually no customization (we modify the source code) of the software; it will be considered only as a last resort with Steering Committee approval. We will configure the system to meet our unique needs within the options offered by the product.

g. The ERP Steering Committee shall be composed of department leadership staff who are committed to dedicating appropriate staff resources to ensure the success of the project.

h. The County shall embrace financial accounting best practices.

i. Decisions related to project activities and system implementation shall be developed for the betterment of the entire County.

j. Department needs shall be given adequate consideration in the development of project policies and activities.

k. The project shall minimize system interfaces, and prioritize integration over best-of-breed solutions, unless significant, mission-critical reasons exist for not doing so.

l. We will place high priority on transitioning displaced personnel into other Government job positions within a similar classification should this be necessary due to system implementation.

m. The County shall commit to providing adequate staffing and financial resources to ensure the success of the project, during and after its completion.

n. The ERP Steering Committee commits to ensuring that adequate training is available to project team staff and County system users during the implementation, prior to placing the system into production, and after the system is in production.

o. The project shall strive to decentralize operational responsibilities and approvals to the degree reasonable and possible. The ERP Steering Committee commits to ensuring that adequate training is available to project team staff and system users during the implementation, prior to placing the system into production, and after the system is in production.

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p. The County’s IT architecture & standards shall be followed and will be communicated as a “must” in the system RFP.

q. Mainstream security practices and functionality will be built into the system.

PROJECT MILESTONES AND DELIVERABLES:

ERP Specification Development: o ERP Assessment Report: 12/14/2012

Software Selection Phase: o Release of ERP RFP: TBD o Select Preferred Vendor: TBD o Negotiate ERP Contract: TBD

Implementation Management Phase: o TBD

Note: See Project Schedule in SharePoint for the most current & complete schedule information.

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PROJECT ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

The following are the roles that will be employed for the County ERP selection phase of the project. These roles are essential for the success of the project and are intended to define the project reporting structure and lines of authority for decision-making. This structure will be modified once the selected vendor solution has been made and the implementation phase of the project begins.

The management component of the project consists of the Executive Sponsors, the Steering Committee and Project Managers. The Project Managers report directly to the Steering Committee. Leadership is further broken down into Process Area Team leads and team leads for Communications and Change Management. Further description of the teams, membership and responsibilities are outlined below.

Project Role Individual(s) Responsibility

Executive

Sponsor

David Lawing

Del Philips

Maintain the project vision

Act as the project champion

Energize the project leadership and teams

Be visibly committed to the project

Provide a strategic perspective when defining the needs for a future ERP and associated processes

Remove project roadblocks

Secure alignment across departments

Coach the project leadership

Steering

Committee

Policy Subcommittee of the Financial

Management Modernization System

of Sumner, Tennessee of 2012

(Anthony Holt

Del Phillips

David Lawing

Amanda Prichard)

ERP projects require executive level support from all

organizational areas significantly impacted by a new

system. The Steering Committee should provide incentives

to County-wide executives to view the project as a top

priority. To the extent possible, the Steering Committee is

comprised of senior-level managers who have the ability to

make the decisions regarding changes in organizational

policy and procedures that will be required by an ERP

implementation.

Steer the Project Managers

Address issues presented by the Project Manager

Clear roadblocks that jeopardize project success

Create the conditions to make the Project Managers successful in their role

Review and decide on proposed changes to organizational policies and procedures that will be impacted by the project

Review and make decisions on project change orders

Review and approve significant project recommendations (e.g., recommended vendor solution)

Review and approve the ERP Needs Assessment Report

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Software

Selection

Committee

David Lawing

Amanda Prichard

Shawn Curtis

Work with the County departments to ensure that all software functional needs have been identified and prioritized (musts, wants)

Develop proposed vendor selection criteria and weightings

Review and approve release of the ERP RFP documents

Review and provide feedback on vendor proposals

Participate in vendor proposal analysis meeting to determine and recommend finalist vendors

Participate in software vendor demonstrations and integrator presentations

Conduct reference checking and site visits, if performed

Solicit input from the Team Leads (if not a team lead) regarding the vendors’ solutions

Conduct scoring of finalist vendor solutions

Recommend preferred vendor solution

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Project Managers David Lawing

The person(s) in this role must monitor and manage

several "mini projects" over the life of the ERP project.

There are many teams working on individual tasks and

many tasks occurring simultaneously. Therefore, the

effective project manager determines the right level of

involvement—keeping a close enough eye to recognize

problems early but maintaining the "big picture" vision to

ensure that the project as a whole is on target.

It is critical that the project manager be at the center of all

project communications and activities so that he is current

on the status of the project. All communications and

questions about the project shall be directed to the project

manager.

Ensure that prompt and clear communications to County department staff is conducted

Manage project milestones & activities

Manage the project budget

Manage the project schedule and task completion

Identify and log proposed project change orders

Manage and direct project resources

Follow-up on project tasks to ensure on-schedule completion

Communicate project status, issues and risks to the appropriate stakeholders

Document and track to resolution project issues and decisions

Escalate issues in a timely manner to the Steering Committee or Executive Sponsor as appropriate

Oversee planning activities associated with project

Ensure that project deliverables are reviewed by appropriate County staff

Provide progress updates to County management, project Steering Committee, County Commission and other interested stakeholders

Participate as a member of the Project Steering Committee

Participate in contract negotiations with the selected ERP software vendor

Maintain project team well being

Manage the configuration of the SharePoint site

Work with the team leads in communicating decisions that need to be brought to the Project Steering Committee for review and resolution

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Project

Administrator

Beth Browning

Amanda Prichard

Schedule various meetings between the consultant and County staff and other necessary project-related meetings

Maintain the project calendar

Ensure availability of appropriate resources to support project meetings

Act as a liaison between the outside consultant and the County related to various project logistics

Take minutes at meetings, as needed

Ensure project communications are distributed

Tabulate vendor demonstration evaluation sheets

Process Area

Team Leads and

Backups

David Lawing

Amanda Prichard

Shawn Curtis

With a focus on a specific component of the ERP system, the process area team leads work with the project manager to drive the process. Each of these resources must have very strong expertise in their assigned functional area and should possess strong organizational, analytical and communications skills, as well as the ability to meet deadlines.

Provide information on current County processes, systems and shadow systems used

Participate in initial/on-site and cross-functional interview sessions

Articulate needs and desires for a new ERP and associated processes

Develop an understanding of how a future ERP and associated processes might operate

Identify and communicate potential procedural or policy changes that may require decisions related to implementation of a new ERP

Review and provide feedback on the Issues & Opportunities matrix

Review and approve module specifications

Review and provide feedback on appropriate sections of vendor proposal responses

Develop vendor scripts to be used during vendor demonstration activities

Participate in software vendor demonstrations

Provide feedback on demonstration and due diligence activities

Conduct due diligence on software vendors with peer organizations

Non-Process

Owning

Departments

Beth Browning

Amanda Prichard

Participate on project teams

Provide input from an end-user perspective related to various processes that are executed in their department

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Technical Team David Lawing

Amanda Prichard

David Pigna

Craig Clayton

Provide information on the County’s current IT infrastructure during the Needs Assessment phase

Define technical requirements for a new ERP

Review and provide feedback on the technical components of vendor proposals

Conduct due diligence on technical aspects of the vendors’ solutions

Assess the impact of vendor solutions on the County technology infrastructure

Ensure vendor solutions conform with County IT policies, technical architecture and standards

Ensure that the SharePoint site is operational throughout the course of the project

Establish the resource(s) for support during the implementation phase of the project

Change

Management

Team

David Lawing

Amanda Prichard

Shawn Curtis

Assess the readiness of the County with respect to change that will occur as a result of the project

Actively participate in the conducting and analysis of the Denison Cultural Assessment

Develop change management strategies and practices that can be used to enhance project success based on the results of the Denison Survey and other sources

Develop, implement and monitor change management action plans

Act as a liaison to the team leads for identifying and resolving change issues associated with people, process and technology

Identify training and education requirements as it relates to change management needs associated with people, process and technology

Define change management requirements for inclusion in the ERP integrator RFP

Evaluate the change management approach provided by vendors in their RFP response

Work with the selected ERP vendor in the development and implementation of additional change management strategies during project implementation

Educate the project teams on change management theory and practices and bring those to the project

Work with the Communications team on providing content related to the external facing project web site that is viewable by all County staff

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Communications

Team

David Lawing

Amanda Prichard

Develop a Communications Management Plan that identifies how oral and written communications will be addressed for the various project stakeholders

Communicate, implement and monitor deployment of the Communications Management Plan

Manage a project suggestion/comment box

In conjunction with the Change Management team, develop and implement strategies related to maintaining employee morale during the project (e.g., name the project, project celebrations, recognition of outstanding results, etc.)

Act as the point for project communications that are directed towards stakeholders external to the project team

Act as the focal point for external stakeholders who have information needs related to the project (e.g., press, community, etc.)

Manage the structure and content of the County Intranet project site that is visible to all County staff

Maintain awareness of general communications that are occurring related to the project

Training Team David Lawing

Amanda Prichard

Shawn Curtis

Define training requirements for inclusion in the ERP RFP

Evaluate the training approach provided by vendors in their RFP response

Formulate a training strategy to be used during the project implementation phase including identification of resource (e.g. trainers, facilities, materials, etc.) needs

Human

Resources

Department

David Lawing

Amanda Prichard

Shawn Curtis

Act as the initial point of contact for issues that related to job roles and responsibility and/or civil service changes

Procurement

Office / Legal

Counsel

David Lawing

Provide terms and conditions to be used in the RFP

Participate in contract negotiation activities with the selected ERP vendor

Negotiating

Team

Policy Subcommittee of the Financial

Management Modernization System

of Sumner, Tennessee of 2012

Negotiate contracts with vendors (e.g. ERP software vendor)

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Outside

Consultant

Plante Moran

Facilitate the needs assessment and selection phase of the project

Apprise the project manager of current and potential project risks and discusses means of mitigating these risks

Work with the project manager in scheduling, planning and conducting on-site visits

Provide leadership and guidance to the County throughout the project

Develop project deliverables

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PROGRAM MANAGEMENT STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES

It is important to ensure that the entire project team is aware of the project standards and procedures, so that project deliverables are both uniform and easily referenced.

The Project Team will function with the following set of standards and procedures. Communication related procedures are defined in the Communications Management Plan. SharePoint will be the primary source of project communications and archival of project information throughout the project. Team Leads are expected to post their team’s meetings in the SharePoint Project Calendar section.

Issues and Action Items Management:

An issues and action items log will be placed on the project’s SharePoint site. The issues database will include a description of the issue, a brief narrative of the potential impact to the project, date reported, date resolution needed, responsible party for follow up, and date resolved.

The issues log review will be a part of the weekly Project Management meeting .

The Team Leads will bring to the Project Manager in a timely manner any and all issues that need approval / resolution.

So as to not impede the progress of the team, all reported issues must have a 24-hour turnaround for an initial response. Both the County and Vendor Project Manager should be notified once an issue has been logged.

Risk Management:

A risk management database will be placed on the SharePoint site that will be used to log all project risks to include the following for each risk: description, probability of occurrence, ability to control, impact and risk response strategy.

Monitoring of project risks is the responsibility of all project participants.

The risk log will be reviewed as part of the weekly Project management meeting.

The Team Leads will bring to the Project Manager in a timely manner any and all risks that have newly surfaced or have changed in either probability or impact.

So as to not impede the progress of the team, all reported risks must have a 24-hour turnaround for an initial response. Both the County and Vendor Project Manager should be notified once a risk has been logged.

Budget Management:

Tracking of the project budget during the selection phase of the project will be the responsibility of the Project Manager and reported out to the Project Steering Committee on a monthly basis.

Budget status will be published to the SharePoint site on a monthly basis.

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Meeting Management:

The following ground rules should be followed with respect to project meetings:

Honor other people’s time. Be prompt in showing up at meetings (i.e., meetings will start at the scheduled time and end at the scheduled time).

Attendance is strongly encouraged. If not available, have your back-up attend and debrief your designated back-up prior to the meeting.

Bring your calendar to the meeting. Keep your Outlook calendar current.

Pagers/phones off/vibrate.

No surfing / emailing.

Respect everyone's opinion.

Do not interrupt others while they speak.

One person speaking at a time, no sidebars.

If you gotta go, go.

Speak-up, silence is consent. We will either actively contribute to decisions or implicitly agree to the outcome.

Strive for consensus.

Get to the point.

Stay focused, stay out of the weeds.

Use the parking lot.

Keep it functional, not personal.

Major issues, action items and risks identified during the meeting should be communicated to the Project Manager for logging purposes.

Decision Management:

Various types of decisions will be made during the course of the project.

A Decision database will be maintained in the SharePoint site to track major decisions made during the course of the project to include:

o Process-related decisions o Policy-related decisions o Significant system configuration decisions o Other key project decisions

Significant project decisions will be escalated to the Steering Committee for review and decision-making.

The results of these decisions will be communicated to and logged by the Project Manager to the SharePoint site.

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Change Order Management:

Steering Committee approval will be required for all modification, and scope changes.

A special form will be used for documenting the issue and providing guidance on approvals.

Timeline Management:

Management of the project timeline during the course of the selection project will be the responsibility of the outside consultant, Plante & Moran.

Current timeline progress will be maintained by the consultant and published to the Project Schedule (using Microsoft Project) Library in SharePoint on a weekly basis.

Status Reporting:

During the selection phase of the project, the outside consultant will provide a bi -weekly status report to the Project Management team apprising them as to overall project status.

The status report will include the following information: o Activities accomplished during the previous week o Activities expected to be accomplished in the upcoming week o Issues / barriers to success o Traffic light (green, yellow, red) related to various project areas o General narrative status discussion o Status of major milestone completion o Summary of project change order requests

Status reports will be published to the SharePoint site on a bi-weekly basis.

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Appendix B: Application Inventory A partial list of the County applications identified through the ERP Needs Assessment process has been

assembled, organized by functional area and is presented below:

** Legend: (ERP Availability)

Generally Available: The module is generally available from most / many providers of ERP

solutions to similar size entities

Best of Breed: The module is not generally available from most / many providers of ERP

solutions to similar size entities and is typically selected and implemented

as a separate best of breed system, then later integrated to ERP, as

feasible, based on available funding and skills.

Expanded ERP: The module is available from certain, select providers of ERP solutions to

similar size entities and if not selected and implemented as part of the

integrated ERP system, would need to be retained and / or obtained by

the County from a separate best of breed system, then later integrated to

ERP, as feasible, based on available funding and skills.

* Legend: (Preliminary System Migration Plan)

Replacement (R): The County is intending on replacing this application

Consider (C): The County is considering replacing this application with an ERP solution,

based on the strength of the finalist vendor offering and cost / benefit of the

replacement module

Maintain (M): The County is intending on retaining the application, not replacing it.

Interface (I): The County is intending on keeping the application and interfacing/integrating

it with the selected ERP solution.

Note that the County should further refine and document this plan as part of the process to develop

specific software and interface requirements as part of a RFP process. Additionally, later as the County

may conclude on a finalist ERP vendor, the County should update the list and conclude on the scope of

the finalist vendor system components and services.

Guidelines for Preliminary System Migration Plan

With some exceptions, the following guidelines were used in performing the analysis of existing systems

to develop the preliminary system migration plan:

Limited ERP: Replace as available in ERP unless providing other strategic the County

function. Interface otherwise.

Best Of Breed: Interface, unless available as stronger offering in ERP

Shadow System: Replace as available in ERP

3rd Party

Application:

Interface as appropriate

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Current ERP Application Application Notes/Description Functional Area

Preliminary System

Migration Plan*

ERP

Availability**

Expected ERP

Module

DataQuest HR HR R Generally

Available

HR

DataQuest Payroll Payroll R Generally

Available

Payroll

DataQuest Benefits Benefits R Generally

Available

Benefits, Open

Enrollment

DataQuest Cash Receipting / Management Finance R Generally

Available

Cash Receipts /

Account

Receivable

ImageEase Document Management Finance / HR /

Payroll

R Expanded Document

Management

OnBase Document Management Maintenance and

Pupil Services

C / I Expanded Document

Management

AESOP Time and attendance; sub-calling

system

Payroll / HR I NA NA

SearchSoft Online applicant tracking HR C/I Best of Breed NA

Filemaker Pro Applicant Tracking/Demographic

Information

HR R Generally

Available

Human

Resources

Alexander & Company Open enrollment for supplementals (life,

disability, short term, etc.)

Benefits I NA NA

School Funds Online/TRA

Funds

Individual schools accounting system

for activity funds

Finance I NA NA

Horizons Point of Sale Point of Sale System (may replace with

CyberSoft)

School Nutrition

Program

C / I Expanded Point of Sale /

Food Service

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Preliminary System

Migration Plan*

ERP

Availability**

Expected ERP

Module

My Payments Plus Online student meal pay School Nutrition

Program

I NA NA

Zortec/Local Government Current Payroll system for County and

Schools

Payroll R Core Payroll

TimeForce Timekeeping system for Sheriff and Fire Time and

Attendance

R Best of Breed NA

ESchedule Scheduling software for Sheriff Time and

Attendance

C/I Best of Breed NA

Quickbooks Budget tracking software for some

County Departments

Budget R Core

Budget

Strategic Asset

Management Systems Schools Asset Management Fixed Assets I Extended

Asset

Management

Universe (Custom Built

Unix System)

Highway Purchasing System Purchasing C/I Core

Purchasing

Nova Highway Time Entry Time Entry C/I Core Time Entry

TLC Library Management Library M NA NA


Unix System)

Highway Fleet Management Fleet

Management

C/I Best of Breed

NA


Unix System)

Highway Job Costing/Project

Accounting

Project

Accounting

C/I Core Project

Accounting

Progress/Visual Recorder Registrar of Deeds System Registrar of

Deeds

M NA

NA

Kronos Time Entry – Schools Maintenance Time Entry C / I Core Time Entry

eGov Trustee – Bank Reconciliation Bank

Reconciliation

C / I Core Bank

Reconciliation

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Preliminary System

Migration Plan*

ERP

Availability**

Expected ERP

Module

State of Tenn. eReporting

State of TN department of education

site Grant Accounting M

NA

NA

Atrium Schools Library Management Library M NA NA

Book Trax School Text Book Management

Asset

Management M

NA

NA

Maintenance Direct Work Order System - Schools Work Order M Extended NA

Commerce Bank P-Card System

Accounts

Payable M

NA

NA

Inventory Direct Inventory Management - Schools Inventory C/I Extended Inventory

Zortec/Local Government Core Financials

Accounts

Payable, General

Ledger, Bank

Reconciliation,

Financial

Reporting R Core Core Financials

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Appendix C: Sample Approach for

Selection/Implementation

SAMPLE APPROACH FOR SELECTION OF MAJOR NEW TECHNOLOGY

Based on expected acquisition of an ERP system in the future, an established technology acquisition

approach is appropriate. A sample high level approach is as follows:

Establish Functional /

Technical

Requirements:

A detailed list of functional and technical requirements should be established

that reflects the needs for the ERP system. Involvement of the relevant

County staff and users is critical. Steps to identify these requirements will

vary but may include: identification of functional requirements, identification

of best practices, involvement of process owners and customers, etc.

Technical requirements will need to be identified as well.

Define Selection

Criteria:

System selection criteria should be defined to assist with identifying how

vendor / technology solution decisions will be determined.

Appropriate Purchasing

Process:

Formal RFP process should be used to request information, quotations or

proposals as appropriate. An RFP format should be used that both are

intended to capture the appropriate information regarding vendor solutions

and ease vendor response analysis.

Evaluate Vendor

Responses:

Vendor responses should be evaluated based on the selection criteria

including factors such as one time and ongoing costs, the solution’s

adherence to the County’s system requirements, the background of the

vendor, and their ability to provide the appropriate level of ongoing support

and training.

Additional Due

Diligence:

Semi-finalist vendors should be further evaluated and additional due

diligence should be performed. Such due diligence should include activities

such as system demonstrations, reference checking, and performing site

visits as appropriate.

Finalist Determination: The finalist vendor should be selected based on the analysis of the vendors’

solutions and considering the information gathered during the due diligence

activities.

Finalize Scope of

Software License and

Vendor Implementation

Services:

The contract should be defined listing an agreed-upon matrix of roles and

responsibilities for the required activities for all involved in the

implementation and ongoing support of the system. Consideration should be

given to the realistic services required to realize the envisioned benefits of

the system.

Negotiate Contract: A contract should be negotiated with terms and conditions that are sufficient

to protect the County’s interest and that meet the spirit and intent of the

transaction. Any pending contract should be reviewed by the County’s legal

counsel prior to completion.

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SAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH FOR MAJOR NEW TECHNOLOGY

Based on expected implementation of various new technologies in the future, an established technology

implementation approach will be valuable to assist the effective adoption for technology initiatives. Best

practice project management approaches, including the adoption of PMI’s (Project Management Institute)

PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) will be valuable to consider for future technology

initiatives at the County. As such, a sample high level approach for technology implementation is as

follows:

1. Project Initiation and Planning Phases: o Project Charter o Define Project Sponsor o Define Project Milestones o Define Roles & Responsibilities o Define templates, tools and a process for project administration (to do tracking, issues,

meeting, status reporting, decisions, schedule) o Define method for tracking project costs o Identify project risks, impacts and mitigation approaches o Communications Planning o Understand Stakeholder Impact o Project Planning (scope, schedule, costs, quality, staffing, risk, communications) o Define meeting frequencies for the teams, team leads and leadership group o Define project success o Other activities as necessary

2. Execution and Controlling Phases: o Administer Project o Meetings and Status Reporting o Cost Management o Installation and Configuration o Process Mapping & Redesign: identifying specifics on how to incorporate the new tools

into operations o Security o System Modifications o Testing and Quality Assurance o Training and Documentation o Data Conversion

3. Closing Phase: o Final Acceptance o Identify follow up items o Support Transition Plan from Vendor to Internal o Archive Project Records o Close out Contracts o Post project review activities

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Appendix D: ERP Cost Estimate

Assumptions Various assumptions have been used in the evaluation of the cost estimate. There are certain

assumptions relevant to specifically highlight, which include:

1. Complex componentization: There are many components and variables which could be

modified and thus influence the specific outcomes. The intent of this ERP Needs Assessment is to focus

on the assessment of core ERP functionality and provide recommendations for a strategic long term

direction, rather than tactical plans. A detailed implementation plan for replacing the ERP will need to be

developed, which may lead to changes in the estimated costs.

2. Input into Estimates: The financial information is based on three primary sources: County

feedback, vendor information, and consultant experience. Input and feedback related to how the County

staff envisioned future steps occurring was considered in the development of the assumptions. Further,

Plante Moran consultants utilized their experience and responses to a Request for Information in order to

provide the County with ranges for costing.

3. Nature of Estimates: Any cost estimates provided are broad estimates for planning purposes

only. RFP proposal responses from the vendor community will provide more accurate cost estimates.

4. Exclusion of Process Redesign Costs: The implementation of a new ERP system will provide

the County the opportunity to review its ‘as-is’ business processes and identify any

efficiencies/optimizations that could be achieved by streamlining and automating some of the related

process activities via central tracking and electronic workflow. A significant portion of the total project ROI

will result from the ability to redesign processes based on the capabilities available within the new ERP

system. Some organizations choose to engage external professional services firms to assist with this

process. For the cost estimate, there is an assumption that this will be an internally led activity.

6. Exclusion of Staff Backfill Costs: In developing the estimates, which quantified internal effort

for the County staff who would be dedicated to the project, costs were not included for staff backfill. The

County project managers will need to consider the potential of backfilling staff during the implementation

effort.

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Appendix E: Sample System Selection

Roles & Responsibilities The following matrix of roles and responsibilities further outlines a sample governance structure for the

County to consider for the system selection phase of a future ERP environment:

Role Employee

Type

Responsibility

Project

Sponsor

County

Administrator of

Finance

Director

Maintain the project vision

Act as the project champion

Be visibly committed to the project

Identify and support the project manager

Provide a strategic perspective when defining the needs for a future ERP and associated processes

Lead the Steering Committee and remove project roadblocks

Project

Manager /

Project

Management

Team (PMO)

Department

Head(s) and/or

Asst. Finance

Director

Ensure that prompt and clear communications to department staff is conducted

Manage project activities

Oversee planning activities associated with project

Work with the Steering Committee and other department leaders to coordinate resources to meet the project objectives.

Ensure that project deliverables are reviewed by appropriate staff

Provide progress updates to management, County Commission and other interested stakeholders

Participate on the Project Steering Committee

Participate in contract negotiations

Develop, execute and coordinate selection and implementation plans for non-ERP technology and process improvements

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Role Employee

Type

Responsibility

Project

Steering

Committee

Project

Sponsor

Project

Manager(s)

IT Director

Other Senior-

Level Staff

Work with the Departments to ensure that all needs have been identified

Work with staff to make project decisions

Obtain necessary resources to meet project objectives.

Determine vendor selection criteria

Review and provide feedback on project deliverables


Participate in proposal analysis meeting

Attend vendor demonstrations

Conduct reference checking, site visits, and other due diligence activities

Provide input and make timely decision on a recommended finalist vendor

Participate in other project-related meetings

ERP Process

Owners and

End-Users

Process

Owners and

Process End-

Users

Provide information on current processes, systems and shadow systems used

Articulate needs and desires for a new ERM and associated processes

Develop an understanding of how a future ERP and associated processes might operate

Participate in developing, review and approve module specifications and specific interface requirements

Review and provide feedback on appropriate sections of vendor proposal responses

Participate in vendor demonstration planning

Participate in software vendor demonstrations

Provide demonstration / due diligence feedback

Conduct due diligence on software vendors

Review project deliverables for accuracy / completeness

Technical

Team

IT Staff Define technical requirements


Conduct due diligence on technical aspects of the vendors’ solutions

Assess the impact of vendor solutions on technology infrastructure

Ensure vendor solutions conform with technical standards

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Appendix F: As-Is Process Maps As part of the needs assessment process, Plante Moran documented twenty core ‘as-is’ financial and

human resource business processes as identified in the table below. All documented County As-Is

business process maps are attached to this Appendix as well as provided in .PDF format on the project

collaboration SharePoint site.

Organization As-Is Business Process

School Payroll

School Time Entry

School Bank Reconciliation

School Budget Development

School Budget Adjustment

School Cash Receipting

School Invoice Processing (AP)

School Job Posting

School P-Card

School Purchasing

School Hiring Process

County Bank Reconciliation

County Budget Development

County Fixed Assets

County Grants and Projects

County Misc/Cash Receipting

County Payroll

County P-Card

County Purchasing (Purchasing and AP)

County Time Entry

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{Thank You!}

For more information contact:

Scott Eiler, Partner

248-223-3447

[email protected]

Mike Riffel, Manager

312-602-3539

[email protected]

plantemoran.com

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

ERP Needs Assessment Report - Sumner County, …finance.sumnertn.org/getdoc/011ecdba-f91e...needs_assessment_report...ERP Needs Assessment Report SUMNER COUNTY, TN ... With these goals