F$M Analyze Activities Close to Completion, Some Functional Design Activities Starting:

The F$M Team and the Service Area Teams have completed mapping the new and improved end-to-end business processes and collecting business requirements for all the Service Areas.  DOE, WFO, Buying/Paying, Effort Accounting, and Travel & Conferences have completed their validation sessions, with DOE and WFO starting to move into design activities.  Lastly, the Reporting group will be validating the functional requirements through the end of June with a representative group of stakeholders.

Newly Redesigned F$M Website:

We invite you to peruse the newly redesigned F$M website, fsm.lbl.gov and tell us what you think. Use the site as your regular source of key information and new updates about F$M. The site is best viewed in Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Internet Explorer 10. Still have questions or comments about F$M? Visit the F$M Contact Us page to submit them. 

New F$M Project Administrator Nick Franscioni:

We welcome Nick Franscioni as the new F$M Project Administrator. Nick will provide central F$M project support related to logistics and project coordination. Nick is a recent grad from the University of Southern California with a degree in Computer Science and Business Administration, and joined Accenture’s San Francisco Office in April.

Meet Our New F$M Team Members:

We also extend our welcome to Jeryle Tauto-an, Zack Keys, and Talia La Rosa from Accenture as the new members of the F$M Team. Jeryle is the Lead PeopleSoft Developer for F$M,  Zack Keys is transitioning into Jason Jacobs’ role as Work for Others Lead, and Talia takes over from Kevin Conway as Reporting Lead.

Processes that have been reviewed and validated to date include:  Travel and Conferences, WFO, General Accounting, and DOE. The F$M Team has been working diligently with each Service Area Team to map new and improved business end-to-end processes in each Service Area.  The processes are reviewed and validated by both OCFO service providers and a representative group of divisional stakeholders for the service area. Processes that have been reviewed and validated to date include:  Travel and Conferences, WFO, General Accounting, and DOE. Remaining end-to-end processes to be validated are Buying/Paying and Effort Accounting  A special thanks to the Service Area Teams and other contributors for their support and dedication in ensuring that the new processes satisfy the Lab’s short-term and long-term needs.

The F$M website is being revamped for you. The F$M Team is teaming up with Maria Atkinson to redesign the website to include clearer and more relevant content for you.  Is there something you’d like to see on the F$M website? We’d like to hear from you!  Fill out the Comments form in F$M Contact Us page and share your suggestions.

Meet the team. Welcome Thomas Chen, Joseph Agabin, and Ray Baez as the new members of the Core Project Team.

The Financial Systems Modernization (F$M) project has approached the General Design phase, which began on April 1, 2013 and will culminate with the Global Design Deliverable on July 5, 2013. Global Design is a comprehensive documentation that will guide the development and implementation of the new financial systems and processes.  Learn more by visiting the F$M Project site. 
                   
Who’s working on F$M? In addition to the Core Project Team from OCFO and Accenture, there are several Service Area Teams organized by OCFO service line, and comprised of staff from across the Lab. Many thanks to the Service Area Team members for their continued input and support.
                   
Do you have comments, questions, or suggestions regarding F$M? We’d like to hear from you. Visit our F$M Contact Us page and fill out our new Comments form. Entering your name is optional. A special thanks to Sally Nasman for suggesting this feature. Do you have other suggestions? Try out the form!

The first Quarterly All-Hands meeting of the F$M Team was held on Wednesday, March 13. The Financial Systems Modernization (F$M) project is currently in the Analyze & Design phase, which is scheduled to conclude in July with the completion of Global Design. Global Design is a comprehensive documentation that will guide the development and implementation of the new financial systems and processes.

Phase II of the Financial Systems Modernization (F$M) project was officially kicked off on February 4th, with a workshop attended by project leads from OCFO and the selected Systems Integrator, Accenture. The F$M Project Team, organized around the OCFO Service Areas, is a partnership between OCFO and Accenture. The Accenture team will be working onsite with their OCFO counterparts, located in the mezzanine of Building 971 at 6401 Hollis St. The Accenture Team has been added to the Project Team document, to help you put names to the new faces you may be seeing in Building 971.           

One of the first outcomes of F$M Phase II is the development of a global design with re-engineered business processes, and the team has begun reviewing functional requirements and business process flows. In addition to the Project Team, each member of OCFO plays a role in contributing to the success of the F$M project, and enhancing the OCFO’s contributions to the Lab’s scientific mission. For questions about the F$M Project, please contact us at FSMTeam@lbl.gov.

Dr. Alivisatos has approved proceeding with Phase II of the Financial Systems Modernization (F$M) project.  After extensive evaluation, the OCFO Buying Team selected Accenture as the Systems Integrator who will partner with us to deliver F$M.  Accenture brings extensive knowledge of the PeopleSoft solution, industry best practices, change management, and will help us leverage our internal subject matter expertise efficiently and effectively.
 
A Project Team organized around the OCFO Service Areas has been developed and we are in the process of staffing work teams for each of the Service Areas.  A Project Council has been established to provide input and guidance to the team and includes: Rachelle Jeppson, Chuck Axthelm, Becky Cornett, Mark Dedlow, Ray Turner, Helen Cademartori, and Kim Williams in her role as Project Director. Additionally, a F$M Stakeholder Committee is currently being assembled, with memberships from each ALD area, and will include both operational and scientific representation.
 
F$M Phase II starts immediately with a six month Global Design effort that covers all of the F$M project scope and includes redesigning the Lab’s Financial Data Architecture.  Upon completion of Global Design, the team will begin re-implementing our core financial processes, including Project Costing, General Ledger, Purchasing, Accounts Payable, Grants, Billing, and Accounts Receivable, with Go-Live estimated for early FY15.  Additional functionality related to Time and Labor, Payroll, Travel, Asset Management and additional Procurement functionality would be part of an optional sub-phase that would be released in FY16.
 
The F$M Project Team will be primarily located in Emeryville, but will continue to maintain additional workspace on The Hill in order to facilitate access to all of the project stakeholders. This will likely put additional strain on the resources and amenities in building 971, and the Project Team asks for your patience as we transition space and work to resolve these issues.
 
As Kim stated in her official project announcement last week: “F$M will help reshape how we deliver services and information to the Laboratory community, while effectively meeting our stewardship responsibilities”.  The F$M Project Team is looking forward to working with you on this exciting opportunity to enhance the OCFO’s contributions to the Lab’s scientific mission.  We will continue to update you on the progress of the F$M project in the coming weeks. For questions about the F$M Project, please contact us at FSMTeam@lbl.gov.

• F$M Value Proposition