HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-02-03 City CouncilCity of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
ATTN:FINANCE COMMITTEE
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: ADMINISTRATIVE
SERVICES
DATE:
SUBJECT:
FEBRUARY 3, 2004 CMR: 133:04
QUARTERLY UPDATE ON THE SAP
RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP)
IMPLEMENTATION
ENTERPRISE
SYSTEM
This is an informational report and no Council action is required.
BACKGROUND
At its July 22, 2002 meeting, Council directed staffto proceed with the project for a new
Resource and Financial Tracking System (RAFTS). This included approval of: the
purchase of a software license and services agreement with SAP, Inc; a professional
services agreement with ea Consulting, Inc., to conduct the software implementation; and
an agreement with the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) to assist with
implementation oversight. Council requested that staff provide quarterly reports on the
status of the project. This is the sixth status report, which contains an update on work
completed since October 2003, for both Phases of the implementation.
DISCUSSION
The RAFTS project was implemented over two phases in an 18-month period. Phase I
went live on July 1, 2003 and included the following functions: financials, project
management, procurement and inventory management, and service and work orders.
Phase II included payro!l and human resources (HR), and it went live on December 13,
2003.
Since the last report to the Finance Committee, staff completed several milestones
including a successful go live of Phase II. Payroll, HR and IT staff dedicate many extra
hours to accomplish this significant challenge. They had great support by staff from
across various departments. Exempt staff (managers and professionals) dedicated many
extra hours, thereby keeping the use of overtime salaries to a minimum. For the most
part, the desired results have been better than expected. The organization transition to a
CMR:133:04 Page 1 of 3
new Payroll/HR system had minimal impacts and for the most part it was business as
usual. There were some minor issues such as payroll coding errors and work schedule
conflicts, but payroll staff is working on resolutions. Another important factor is that the
project continues to be on time and within budget. Accomplishments for the period
include:
Phase I and II
Over 800 employees have been trained and have access to the new SAP
system. Ongoing training continues with some refresher training included.
¯Master data loading for HR and payroll was completed.
¯Over 1,200 timecards were entered and approved online.
¯Payroll processed approximately 1,200 electronic fund transfers and 200
checks for employees.
Staff started the review of HR/Payroll system reports with live data, making
modifications as necessary. Some of the reports being reviewed are retirement
reporting, personal leave balances, and project time summaries.
¯About 50 staff members from various departments were trained as "Super
Users" to assist in end user training and support. This diverted many calls out
of the payroll area, resulting in payroll staff allocated more time to citywide
problem resolution.
¯Training materials were completed for formal end user classroom and mass
audience training, including manuals and user guides as well as data for
classroom exercises for reinforcement of the lessons. An interactive web-
based tutorial tool was also developed to complement the online help for users
learning the timecard functions. The development and production environment
for the Enterprise Portal and the Employee Self-Service (ESS) programs were
installed and configured.
¯An Employee Self-Service (ESS) program will allow employees to access
certain personal information such as emergency contact, benefit information,
and leave balances, as well as their detailed payroll stub information. The
configuration is complete, but the roll out and training will not occur until early
2004, to allow for sufficient training on timekeeping. This will also allow time
for employees to assimilate the new timecard functionality before having to
learn how to use the new secured ESS program.
¯Minor adjustments were made to various Phase I modules to continue the
development of the system.
Items to be Accomplished in the Next Quarter
¯Continue the loading and configuration of the fixed assets module.
¯Conduct the month-end closing process for financials.
¯Continue to configure financial reports to address business needs resulting
from new and/or changed business processes.
CMR: 133:04 Page 2 of 3
¯Complete the rollout of ESS.
¯Adjustments to Phase II modules as necessary.
¯Roll out workflow (automated notification)
purchasing transaction processing.
to assist with payroll and
RESOURCE IMPACT
Staff has included a budget-to-actual report for the project (Attachment A). The project
continues to be on time and on budget. The project expenditures to date total $4.3 million
from a $5.2 million project budget.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Approval of this agreement does not constitute a project under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); therefore, no environmental assessment is required.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A:
Attachment B:
Project Budget-to-Actual Report
Phase II status chart
PREPARED BY:
LALO PE~
Assistant ASD
RON
Manager, Information Technology
DEPARTMENTAL HEAD APPROVAL:
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
CARL
Director,
EMILY HARRISON
Assistant City Manager
Services
CMR: 133:04 Page 3 of 3
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ATTACHMENT B
SAP Phase II Progres~ Chart
First Payrot/
Run
Dee. 26