Surviving Large Scale Rollout of Financial System Overhaul

UCCSC 2014

August 4, 1024

Mimi Sosa

Where we wereOnce upon a time, long long ago….

Financial accounting structure was implemented in Mainframe system once considered “leading edge”

Where we wereOver next decade(s);

Accounting structure had planted a deep roots across all over campus and Medical Center departments

Where we were

Few years ago, we had to face the truth and begin the process to bring the system into 21st century…

Where we wanted to go

New Chart of Accounts (COA)

A comprehensive redesign of UCSF’s system of accounting records

MyReports

Improved financial and operational reporting campus-wide to support decision making

UPlan

Web-based Budgeting and planning tool with Excel-style interface

Pre Planning

Part of Chancellor’s Goals Create a financially sustainable enterprise-wide business model

Design and implement transparent and effective budgeting and planning processes

Maximize existing revenue streams, develop new ones and continue Operational Excellence efforts to manage costs

High Level Conceptual Design of COA Road Show by Controller’s Office High Level time/effort estimates Identify key players

Planning Establish Project Teams

Project Management Team Departmental Champions Steering Committee/Think Tank Working Groups (SME) Technical Teams

Establish Roles and Responsibilities High Level Project Timeline Project Plan, Project Budget & Resource Plan Comprehensive inventory of Departmental Systems System Environment Planning Communication Strategy

Design & Development Conversion Methodology & Development Identify impacted programs Meetings with Departmental Representatives and IT staff Identify Integration impact Functional Specifications Technical Specifications and Development

Testing

System Environment Management Test Case/Scenarios Functional Testing Integration Testing Performance Testing User Acceptance Testing Mock Conversions Tracking Testing Issues

Implementation Preparations

Downtime for all impacted systems and dependencies Implementation (Cutover)Plan (Including Rollback

Plan) Implementation Rehearsals Training Change Management Pre-Cutover Tasks

COMMUNICATIONS!!!!

Implementation

24x7 OperationCheck-in pointsImplementation staff – Task updatesFunctional Sanity Testing Go/No Go

Challenges

• Design Changes• SaaS modifications & Integrations• Lack of Departmental system inventory• Lack of Design/Conversion understanding• Moving System freeze dates• Coordination of 3 major initiatives• Coordination and communication with all

impacted systems

TIPS

Identify Key User Departments and advocates early

Identify right resources with proper skill setsRun the Project with Internal Staff with

augmentation of consultants as requiredManage by Project PlanCommitment from Senior Management to

Staff

TIPS Take the opportunity to re-engineer business

process and implement best practiceClear understanding of business requirementsThorough analysis of current stateMinimize customizationsDefine historical data conversion requirements

early and understand various dependenciesThoughtful decision on go live dateTimely decision on key design issues

TIPS

Identify all integration points and it’s dependencies Identify all impacted systems earlyEarly engagement with SaaS vendorsEarly engagement with UCOP for UCOP reporting

and identify impact to the systemFrequent Conversion TestingMultiple “go live” rehearsalsObserve system freezeTest, Test and Test

TIPS

Dedicated Website Change Management & TrainingPost go live support readinessLeverage all channels of communicationsKeep positive attitudes & stay flexible Rally the team and support each otherBelieve that project will be completed (in

this lifetime)

F3 Stats• 350+ people contributed as Champions, UPlan Control Point Coordinators, FAS Think Tank

members, SOM Think Tank members, and MyReports SME’s and Volunteer Testers• 80 total project team members over 2 years• 10,000+ UCSF personnel affected• 5,630 people made 17,008 visits to the F3 Training site• 29 training modules & 69 job aids created• 2,685 people took online training for COA, MyReports, and UPlan• 295 people took in-class UPlan training• 361 pages written to create the UPlan training manual• 23 Champion Meetings totaling 46 hours and 1,230 slides• 8 Town Halls• 1,585 people made 3,177 visits to the Department Readiness tool• 209 readiness items in DR Tool• 8 dedicated distribution lists• 4 dedicated help desk resources

COA Stats300~ Design Specifications written (many re-written)1100~ Tickets created for Enhancements and

Testing350~ PeopleSoft Technical Projects Migrated 9500~ PeopleSoft Technical Objects Modified 75,000~ hours spent by 28 Staff (past and present)

and Consultants16~ Monthly Meeting with Department ITProject Timeline – Approx. 2 years

Post GO LIVE

Almost scary quietAll hands on deck to quickly resolve issuesContinued few strategic meetings to ensure

smooth transitionVigilant monitoring of the systemTracked trending of issues to identify

improvement areas

CELEBRATE!!!