customer board meeting march 28, 2013 united states department of agriculture office of the chief...

Customer Board Meeting March 28, 2013

United States Department of AgricultureOffice of the Chief Financial Officer

National Finance Center

Old Business Updates

USDA, National Finance Center Customer Board Meeting

March 28, 2013

High-level Timeline Recent Accomplishments

Current State Issues/Risk

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Help Desk Consolidation

• Created ability for customers to challenge incident resolution (re-assigned back to SME group for follow-up and adjudication

• Created process for agencies identified as having seasonal/temporary employees who are not issued work e-mail addresses to submit encrypted, password-protected Excel spreadsheets directly to the NFC Contact Center effective February 8, 2013

• October 2012 (Phase 1) - Consolidated help desks now supports Payroll/Personnel, EmpowHR, Employee Personal Page, and webTA Hosting Plus Systems

• March 2013 - Remedy Knowledge Management is now available internally, anticipate ability for 100% call recording

• April 22, 2013 – EPP calls will be taken from employees with government e-mail addresses assigned by their agency via 444 document process

• April 22, 2013 - NFC written inquiries function will be disabled in SPPS and will be handled by the CHD through Remedy Requester Console

• June 2013 (Phase 2) - Consolidated help desks will support Administrative Billings and Collections (ABCO), Claims, and Direct Premium Remittance Systems (DPRS)

• December 2013 (Phase 3) - Consolidated help desks will support FEHB Centralized Enrollment Clearinghouse, W-2, Retirement Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan, and the quasi-help desks for W-2, Retirement, and Thrift Savings Plan

• Building a foundation for continuous technology improvement and consolidation of help desks

• Finalizing Customer Notifications for Phase 2

• None



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• February 28, 2013 - Reviewed and responded to detailed analysis report from Blue Phoenix

• March 15, 2013 - Reviewed and revised first draft of the DB2 database design

• March 29, 2013 - Create datasets and JCL to execute PINE/PAYE in IDMS86 in order to establish compare test files

• April 2013 - Complete review of the Data Definition Language

Risk Mitigation for Legacy Payroll/Personnel Systems

• Completed detailed analysis report from Blue Phoenix

• Loaded baseline data into IDMS86 test environment

• Configured and tested modifications to the .net online development environment in support of Risk Mitigation

• Build DB2 test environment for converted batch and online applications

• Installing the .net environment for additional development team members

• Determine how to handle “sysversion” in the DB2 environment (CVs)

• None



5

• June 2012 - Prepared Development Environment• August 2012 - Prepared Production Environment• October 2012 - Deployed Pilot • November 2012 - Conducted Customer Forum Demo• April 2013 - Customer Acceptance Testing • May 2013 - Deploy Build 1 PPS data• October 2013 - Deploy Build 2

Insight Enterprise Reporting Solution

• Finalized Build 1 Functional Requirements Documents

• Deployed the file transfer process to send payroll and personnel data from PPS to Insight

• Completed initial execution of C&A controls security testing

• Completed C&A Phase II Assessment, awaiting final signatures for authority to operate

• Analyzed results from the second NFC Reporting Survey

• Finalizing Build 1 testing plan• Conducting systems integration, training

environment, and ETL testing • Validating security, access, and controls

requirements for Build 1 • Developing training courses• Developing Build 1 standard reports and

dashboards in the solution• Loading source data into Insight’s “back-end”

• None



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• November 7, 2012 - Introduced project and requested input from members at PRT meeting

• January 10, 2013 - Provided questionnaire to PRT members for completion

• January - March 2013 - Determine criticality and priority of responses with PRT members

PRT Improvements

• Modified the bi-weekly PRT reports to include data on Incident Reports for both EmpowHR and PPS

• Received questionnaire responses from 3 customers (DHS, Treasury, and Commerce)

• Discussed customer recommendations in PRT meeting on February 6, 2013

• Extended deadline for questionnaire responses to February 21, 2013 – no additional responses received

• Implemented several internal improvements prior to February meeting

• Analyzing PRT reports and other PRT activities internally to identify possible improvements

• None

Payroll/Personnel System (PPS)

Statistics

USDA, National Finance Center Customer Board Meeting

March 28, 2013

Schedule Release Summaryas of 03/22/13

• GESD Projects Scheduled

– 115 Projects Scheduled

• GESD Projects Unscheduled Breakdown

– 66 Pending (HOLD/RESP)

– 197 FRDs Assigned

– 113 TBD

– 4 Work in Progress 8

Schedule Release Summary as of 03/22/13

Unscheduled Project Breakdown By Line of Business (LOB)

Line of Business Total by LOB

PPS 243

EmpowHR 35

HRLOB (PPS/EmpowHR) 12

webTA 20

Other 70

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Schedule Release Statusas of 03/22/13

• CY 2013 Pay Period 04 Projects

- 7 Projects Scheduled







• Off Release Projects


* Projects remain open 2 pay periods after implementation

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Software Change Request (SCR)as of 03/22/13

• Completed SCR Totals – 2011 - 384 – 2012 - 459 – 2013 - 175

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PPS Incident Report (IR) Summaryas of 03/22/13

Number of PPS IRs January February March

Beginning Balance 22 26 17

Received 89 75 72

Closed 85 84 69

Ending Balance 26 17 20

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PPS IR – Average Days at Closureas of 03/22/13

Priority Category

January February March

Critical 0* 0* 7

High 12 7 0*

Medium 8 5 5

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* No IRs closed for this category

IR Summary as of 03/22/13

• Completed PPS IR Totals– 2011 - 1564 – 2012 - 1067 – 2013 - 238

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• October 29-November 9, 2012 - Completed agency W-2 testing

• January 14, 2013 - Distributed W-2s during this week

• January 14, 2013 - Posted W-2s to EPP and the Reporting Center during this week

2012 W-2s

• A11 2012 W-2s were mailed prior to January 31, 2013

• All W-2s are available in EPP and the Reporting Center

• Processing W-2Cs upon request

• None



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• webTA 4.x- May 2013 - Software delivery to NFC- Late 2013 - OCFO Pilot of webTA 4.x- ONE USDA implementing all agencies to 4.x upon

completion of pilot

• STAR Web- June 2013 - Customer Outreach will begin to discuss T&A

solutions - December 2013 - Estimated sunset

NFC’s T&A Solutions

• webTA

- Approved platform for software

• Paycheck 8

- January 30, 2013 – Established partnership to host and provide as another T&A option

- Sandbox was provided and product tested

- HHS has chosen Paycheck 8 as their T&A system

• webTA 4.x

- Awaiting delivery to begin testing

- Additional agencies are inquiring about 4.x hosting plus

• Paycheck 8

- Awaiting stand-up of platform for hosting

• None



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• Release 2 and Unscheduled Pending Customer Approval

− Various FOCUS reports to Reporting Center (this project is not in the main summary

− Establish receipt account for advance leave bills and develop separate bills for such

− Allow collection of multiple debts for Treasury Employees− Bill and collect salary overpayments while employees are in non-pay status− New debt notice for FEHB bills

• Other Ongoing Initiatives

− ABCO Database Change - Elements will be added in PP 07, 2013 without functionality

− Various debt improvements including delinquency computations, new salary overpayment bill, new payment agreement, and new reports to conform to the modified ABCO data base

− Expedite the collection process by consolidating the ABCO and Claims due process notices

− Create new inquiry screens to allow customers the ability to view Claims information

Debt Management Implementation Plan

• Level of effort established

• Tested collection of multiple debts for IRS

• Completed a work around to transfer debts to FMS in a more timely manner

• Provided Treasury with draft flowcharts that document the new collection process for ADJP and FEHB debts

• Continuing to meet with Treasury to track the progress of the data base change and address any concerns they may have regarding the proposed modifications

• ABCO database modification in progress• Developing algorithm for delinquency

computation • Provided Treasury with the option to collect

the two oldest debts simultaneously from IRS employees

• None

New Business

USDA, National Finance CenterCustomer Board Meeting

March 28, 2013

New IR/SPR Process

• GESD recently completed an initiative to provide a single process for reporting and tracking problems relating to GESD applications. Previously, GESD had two similar processes for tracking System Problem Reports (SPR) and Incident Reports (IR). The SPR process handled issues related to all of GESD’s lines of business except EmpowHR. The IR process handled issues related to EmpowHR. These processes were merged to provide uniformity and simplify the reporting process

‾ The new process was implemented on February 1, 2013

‾ Problems for all business lines are now referred to as IRs. The SPR acronym is obsolete

‾ Previously, customers did not receive a report of the PPS problems. Beginning February 1, 2013, the Project Review Team (PRT) bi-weekly reports sent to customers include IRs from both PPS and EmpowHR

‾ Remedy was modified to automatically close GESD incidents 13 days (instead of the previous 3 days) after the resolution is entered. This allows the customer designated on the Remedy Incident additional time to review the resolution of the problem

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NFC’s Official Pay Date

• Direct Deposit – Monday or first business day following the completion of the payroll process

- Many financial institutions may place funds in an employee’s account early and post as “pending” or “memo posting” transactions

- This early posting is a courtesy by the financial institution

• Paper Checks - Thursday following the completion of the payroll process

• Net Salary Payment Dates for CY 2013 - Please refer to the CAPPS Notice that was provided on November 1, 2012

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• January 16, 2013 - OPM distributed online questionnaire

• January 17, 2013 - OPM Kick off meeting

• March 1, 2013 - Responses to Phase 1

• April 12, 2013 - Responses to Phase 2

• April - June 2013 - Conduct and attend follow up interviews

HRLOB Provider Survey

• Internal kick off meeting was held on February 6, 2013

• Submitted Phase 1 responses to OPM

• Researching and gathering information and artifacts in support of the assessment

• Documenting responses for Phase 2 submission to OPM

• None



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• February 2013 - Completed Impact Assessment

• February 2013 - Initiated Customer Outreach

• March 2013 - All project phases defined and schedule finalized

• February/March 2013 - Testing with Federal Reserve Bank (FRB)

• April 2013 - Systems Requirements completion

• October 2014 - Treasury Mandated Compliance

• December 2013 (Target) - NFC Full Compliance pending defining project phases and coordination of final project schedule with stakeholders

Central Accounting Reporting System (CARS)

• SAM Crosswalk Phase I

–Submitted file requirements to FRB

–Established connectivity with FRB

–Defined discrepancies between Treasury TAS codes and NFC TAS codes

• Remaining Phases - Payments/Collections/IPAC

–Continued Impact Assessment and Requirements Analysis meetings with internal NFC Stakeholders

–Continued Project Planning including defining various project phases, activities, and milestones

• Shared Accounting Module (SAM) Crosswalk Phase I (old String TAS format to new component TAS format)

–Development/Unit Testing in progress–Planning outreach with customers to discuss

any impacts• Remaining Phases

−Project Planning, Impact Assessment, Stakeholder,

and Requirements Analysis ongoing

• None



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• March 21 - April 12, 2013 - Agency testing

• April 2013 - The Personal Benefits Statements will be available in EPP for employees and the Reporting Center for HR offices

Paperless Personal Benefits Statements

• Modified to include TSP Roth information

• Updated dates to reflect 27 pay periods

• Development areas are testing system modifications

• Agencies are submitting ssns for testing

• None



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• April 2, 2013 - Document Type 444 must apply into the Payroll/Personnel System for current employees with work e-mail addresses

• April 8, 2013 - NFC Contact Center (NCC) will begin taking calls from employees with work e-mail addresses

EPP Assistance

• Distributed CAPPS Notice identifying the new EPP Password Assistance Process on February 8, 2013

• Re-published CAPPS Notice on March 13, 2013, to allow agencies additional time to respond

• Completed temporary process to accept spreadsheets from agencies with multiple resets

• Allowed agencies (who do not send spreadsheets) to reset up to five employee accounts per phone call

• Provided additional training in preparation for new business model

• Modifying current business model to begin taking EPP Calls from employees with government e-mail addresses assigned by their agency via 444 document process in PP 07, 2013

• Providing a “One-Time” manual load of 444-type data for agencies with a large population through the Front-End System Interface (FESI) Process

• Setup a process to allow agencies with no government e-mail addresses to submit an encrypted, password protected spreadsheet to NFC. These agencies were identified in the recent CAPPS Notice dated February 8, 2013

• None



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• Annually - Updates are required in the event of an emergency

T&A Emergency Authorization Letters

• Successfully completed deployment due to Hurricane Isaac, (August 2012) utilizing the emergency authorization letters when needed

• Utilized letters during Super Storm Sandy (October 2012)

• Distributed CAPPS Notice on March 8, 2013

• Two options are available:

–Option 1: NFC will generate 80 hours of regular time for full time employees. Part-time employees will be paid based on their normal tour of duty

–Option 2: An authorized representative can contact NFC and elect to have employees paid the same as the previous pay period or according to an employee’s normal work schedule

•Many existing letters are outdated-Points of Contact may have moved to other positions,

retired, or moved to other agencies

• Risk of employees not being paid in an emergency situation

Re-design of NFC’s Website

• March 18, 2013 – New website launched

- Bulletin issued on March 14, 2013

- Overview of changes are posted on new site

• New features include:

- New image carousel highlighting products, services and events

- Cleaner design with drop-down menus

- Larger Application Launch pad

• New documentation features include:

- “Latest Updated/Reviewed” data at the bottom of each page

- Enhanced Search capability with descriptive meta data

- Procedure manuals now offered in both HTML and PDF format. HTML version contains email features including “Share this Page” and “Send Feedback” from within the document

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Signature of Non-Disclosure Form

• Every year the Board members are required to sign a Certification Regarding Non-Disclosure of Acquisition Information, Conflicts of Interests, and Procurement Integrity form - Signed forms should be returned by Friday, April 12, 2013, to the

Customer Board mailbox at [email protected]

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EmpowHR

USDA, National Finance CenterCustomer Board Meeting

March 28, 2013



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• AVUE- November 13, 2012 - Met with vendor - Implementation TBD

• NGA e-Recruit (Recruiting and Staffing)- November 13, 2012 - Met with vendor - August 2013 (Tentative) - Implementation

• OPM USAStaffing (Recruiting and Staffing)- December 2012 - Design Document - August 2013 (Tentative) - Implementation

Non-Core HR Services

• AVUE

-Initial testing completed

-Discussed path forward to development with vendor on February 4, 2013

• NGA

-Successfully tested connections between NGA and EmpowHR and awaiting NGA mods to continue with web services testing

• OPM USAStaffing

- Initial testing completed

- Built test environments for EmpowHR and OPM and successfully tested connection over HTTP protocol

• AVUE initial meetings took place and working toward next steps in development

• NGA connections tested and awaiting NGA mods to continue with web services testing

• OPM USAStaffing design document and development in progress

• None



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EmpowHR Implementations

• Manager Self-Service (MSS) DHS/FEMA

Implementation in PP 01, 2013

Manager Self-Service (MSS)

Implementation OCFO in PP 23, 2012

• PP 08, 2013 - One USDA Phase I

-Enhancements

-Standardized Security Roles

-Standardized Workflow

•PP 17, 2013 - One USDA Phase II

-Non-EmpowHR USDA Agencies

•PP 24, 2013 - One USDA Phase III

-Forest Service re-load

• Development underway for PP 05 and PP 08, 2013 Releases

• One USDA weekly Project Manager meetings

• One USDA bi-weekly Integrated Project Team meetings

• Planning underway for PP12, 2013 Release and PeopleTools Upgrade

• None

EmpowHR Incident Report (IR) Summaryas of 03/22/13

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Number of IRs January February March

Beginning Balance 82 80 84

IRs Received 8 17 16

IRs Closed 10 13 3

Ending Balance 80 84 97

EmpowHR IR Average Days at Closure

as of 03/22/13

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Priority Category January February March

Critical 1 33 0* 0*

High 61 0* 0*

Medium 183 155 3

* No IRs closed for this category

EmpowHR IR Summaryas of 03/22/13

• Completed EmpowHR IR Totals– 2011 - 391 – 2012 - 222 – 2013 - 26

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