Project Proposal

A. General Information
Provide basic information about the project including: Project Title – The proper name used to identify this project;
Project Working Title - The working name or acronym that will be used for the project; Proponent Secretariat - The
Secretariat to whom the proponent agency is assigned or the Secretariat that is sponsoring an enterprise project;
Proponent Agency – The agency that will be responsible for the management of the project; Prepared by – The
person(s) preparing this document; Date Prepared - The date this document is initially prepared.

Project Title: Administration Information Project Working AIS

System Title:

Proponent Education Proponent Virginia

Secretariat: Agency: Community
College System

Prepared by: Jo Jo Martin, Director Project Date Prepared: May, 2006

Management and Administrative
Services, ITS

Answer the following questions by marking Yes or No and provide a brief response as appropriate. Yes No
Is this an updated Project Proposal Document? If yes, what is the reason for this update? X

Is this a follow-on to a previous project? If yes, what is the project name and date of completion? X
Name of previous project: Date completed:
Will the project deliverable(s) replace a current asset or group of assets? If yes, what is being X
replaced? FRS
Is the Project Initiation Phase effort funded? If yes, what is the amount of funding? $199,050 X
Is the Project Planning Phase effort funded? If yes, what is the amount of funding? $8,912,835 X

Points of Contact
List the principal individuals who may be contacted for information regarding the project.

Position Title/Name/Organization Phone E-mail

Project Sponsor Karen Petersen, (804) 819-4910 kpetersen@vccs.edu
Administrative Service,
Executive Vice Chancellor
Program Jo Jo Martin, Director of (804) 819-4680 jmartin@vccs.edu
Manager Project Management
Services
VCCS – Systems Office
Project Manager Bob Swab, Project Manager (336) 416-7922 robert.swab@bearingpoint.c
BearingPoint om

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 Proponent Dietra Trent,
Cabinet Deputy Secretary of dietra.trent@governor.vi
Secretariat Education, Virginia (804) 786-1151 rginia.gov

Proponent Glenn Dubois, Chancellor (804) 819-4903 gdubios@vccs.edu

Agency Head Virginia Community College
System

Customer (User) Dave Mair, Fiscal Services (804) 819-4929 dmair@vccs.edu

Representative(s) Controller

Other Neil Matkin, Vice Chancellor (804) 819-4990 nmatkin@vccs.edu

of Information Technology
Services

B. Project Purpose
Explain the business reason(s) for doing this project. If the Project Analysis Worksheet was completed, the Project
Purpose (Section B) from the worksheet provides information to support completion of this section.

1. Business Problem
The Business Problem is a question, issue, or situation, pertaining to the business, which needs to be answered or
resolved. State in specific terms the problem or issue this project will resolve. Often, the Business Problem is
reflected as a critical business issue or initiative in the Agency’s Strategic Plan or IT Strategic Plan.

The current financial management system utilized by the Virginia Community College System
(VCCS) employs obsolete technology which limits the expansion of functionality necessary to
remain competitive in the higher education market and to meet VCCS educational and public
service missions. VCCS uses a fixed asset inventory system which is not integrated with the
financial management system. The fixed asset system requires extensive manual processing,
reconciliation activities, and additional reporting. To address these problems, VCCS plans to
implement commercial software for financial management. The proposed system will provide
self-service access and business process support to students, faculty, and staff and improve
workflow for major financial functions performed throughout the VCCS colleges and Central
Office. Enhanced interoperability with other VCCS internal and external application systems will
provide additional benefits from information sharing, elimination of redundant data entry, and
business process improvement.

The capabilities of the PeopleSoft financial module will support reengineering efforts and
business process improvements. The reduction in manual reconciliations and processing will
result in a significant cost savings for the 23 colleges represented in this project.

2. Project Business Objectives

Define the specific Business Objectives of the project that correlate to the strategic initiatives or issues identified in
the Commonwealth or Agency Strategic Plan. Every Business Objective must relate to at least one strategic initiative
or issue and every initiative or issue cited must relate to at least one Project Business Objective.

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The following list represents the team’s goals and objectives in implementing PeopleSoft Finance
Module at VCCS:

• Facilitate communication
• Establish and improve analytics
• Increase the efficiency of business operations
• Promote data-driven decision-making
• Targeted automation/integration
• Improve Change Management capabilities of the organization
• Facilitate access to business data and reporting
• Enhance access to the business systems

3. Core Business Activity Impacted

Core Business Activities are agency defined cross-functional processes that produce the agency's primary products
and services, or support the production of the products or services. List the Core Business Activities impacted by the
project and identify the impact.

Agency Core Business Activity Impact on Core Business Activity

Core Business Core Business
Activity Title Activity Sub-
Function Title
Higher Education High Education Foster and facilitate improved
Academic Support communication, information gathering,
decision making and routine business
processes by leveraging modern
technology.
Higher Education Higher Education Foster and facilitate improved
Student Services communication, information gathering,
decision making and routine business
processes by leveraging modern
technology.
Higher Education Higher Education Foster and facilitate improved
Institutional Support communication, information gathering,
decision making and routine business
processes by leveraging modern
technology.
Higher Education Higher Education Foster and facilitate improved
Student Financial communication, information gathering,
Assistance decision making and routine business
processes by leveraging modern
technology.
Higher Education Operation and Foster and facilitate improved
Maintenance communication, information gathering,
Assistance decision making and routine business
processes by leveraging modern
technology.

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4. Constraints
Constraints are items that by their nature restrict choice. Identify Constraints that will influence the selection of a solution to
resolve the Business Problem. Constraints can include but are not limited to: time, funding, personnel, facilities, and management
limitations.

Time
The optimal time to implement a new financial system is tied to the VCCS fiscal year,
but is also impacted by the college’s academic calendar. Therefore, careful
consideration of scope by phase is crucial to the success of the project.

Funding
The funding required for the AIS project represents a large investment in technology
which will require a significant funding commitment from the Commonwealth and/or
the VCCS. In anticipation of the need to replace FRS, the VCCS has committed
funding for the project and on-going maintenance. Any changes or modifications
outside the scope will be constrained by available funds.

Personnel
The internal staff available for substantial project time commitment is limited. This
project will require a substantial commitment of staff time in both functional and
technical areas; the VCCS decision to rely on vendor developed and supported
administrative systems and implementation services is intended to minimize the staff
required for implementation and operation.

Interfaces
The Administrative Information System will interface to five other automated systems.
The internal interface between the Student System and AIS will have a major impact
on ability of the VCCS to improve services to students. External interfaces must be
developed to legacy state systems requiring specific data formatting and coding
configurations.

C. Project Description
Describe the project approach, the specific solution, customer(s) served, and expected benefits. The approach is the
overall strategy for solving the Business Problem. The solution should identify in specific terms how the project is
accomplished and include information about the general timing and cost of major procurements or purchases. If the
Project Analysis Worksheet was completed, the Preliminary Project Description (Section C) and the Recommendation
(Section G) on the worksheet provide information to support development of the Project Description.

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 The VCCS strategy is to replace mainframe-based financial, asset management and
limited procurement functionality with PeopleSoft Financials (Version 8.9). In addition
to the replacement of legacy software, the implementation of an Administrative
Information System (AIS) for finance will include re-engineering of business processes
(both automated and manual) and development and implementation of interfaces to
VCCS and Commonwealth of Virginia systems with the objective of improving service
delivery to customers—the VCCS students, faculty and staff.

Detailed scope by module and functionality is included in AIS Project Charter.

D. Strategic Justification
Identify how the project is consistent with the Commonwealth and Agency Strategic or IT Strategic Plan. If the
project is not consistent, explain why the project is being proposed.

Answer the following questions in the space provided. Attach detailed explanations and analysis as appendices.
1. Briefly, describe how this project supports or is consistent with the Commonwealth of Virginia Strategic Plan for
Technology. If it does not support the Commonwealth of Virginia Strategic Plan for Technology, explain why this
project proposal is being submitted.
Commonwealth Goal Applicable Objectives Project Objective
Goal #2 Objective 2.1 Enhanced interoperability with other
Facilitate IT collaboration Share data easily across VCCS internal and external
and partnerships boundaries of government application systems will provide
additional benefits from information
Objective 2.2 sharing, elimination of redundant
Create a knowledge data entry, and business process
sharing culture improvement.

Objective 2.3
Promote IT solutions that
support common business
processes
Goal #3 Objective 3.1 Improve budgeting, executive
Ensure a trusted and Ensure consistent, anytime, decision making, and reporting
reliable technical anywhere service levels capabilities of the VCCS through
environment enhanced access and analysis of
Objective 3.2 financial information.
Protect the assets,
credentials and privacy of
Commonwealth of Virginia
systems and their users
Goal #4 Objective 4.1 Implement system solution that will
Create a reputation of Provide technology in an utilize commercially available
performance for accountable, responsive, enterprise resource planning (ERP)
technology open and results oriented software and allow for full integration
manner of all administrative and student
Objective 4.2 functions within the VCCS and with

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 Ensure continuous
improvement for technology
Objective 4.3
Facilitate consistent capital
funding for technology
external Commonwealth systems
(e.g., eVA, CARS, CIPPS, PMIS,
BES, etc.).

Goal #5 Objective 5.3 Implement software to effectively

Increase workforce Increase workforce process mission critical administrative
productivity through the knowledge and skills in the functions within the VCCS System
use of technology use of technology Office and the 23 colleges of the
VCCS
3. Explain where and how this project is identified in the Agency IT Strategic Plan most recently approved by the Chief Information
Officer. If it is not identified in the plan, explain why this project proposal is being submitted.

The proposed system is identified in the VCCS IT Strategic Plan as the Administrative
Information System and was Recommended for Funding of the Detailed Business Case in the
ITIB Recommended Technology investment Projects (RTIP) 2005 Report – Survey Results.

4. Briefly, describe how the planned solution complies with Commonwealth Enterprise Architecture Standards. If it does not comply
with the Commonwealth Enterprise Architecture Standards, explain why this Project Proposal Document is being submitted, and identify
which Commonwealth Enterprise Architecture Standard(s) are not being met.

Requirements for the AIS system have been approved by the VITA Enterprise Architecture
(EA) staff as complaint with the Commonwealth EA standards. The EA staff will continue to
monitor compliance of the system to Commonwealth EA standards.

E. Estimated Project Development Schedule (Major Milestones)

Identify major Project Milestones for planning, execution, and closeout.

No. Phase / Activity Date

Phase I – General Ledger, Accounts Payable
1 Plan & Design 5/1/2006 - 9/29/2006
Build & Unit Test 10/2/2006 – 3/30/2007
2
System & Integration Test 4/2/2007 – 5/11/2007
3
User Acceptance Testing & Training 5/14/2007 – 6/15/2007
4
5 Post Implementation Support 7/2/2007 – 8/31/2007

6 Close Project Phase 9/3/2007

Phase II – Asset Management / Time and Expense
1 Plan & Design 8/1/2007 - 9/14/2007
Build & Unit Test 9/17/2007 – 10/26/2007
2
System & Integration Test 10/29/2007 – 11/16/2007
3

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 User Acceptance Testing & Training 11/19/2007 – 12/1/2007
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5 Post Implementation Support 12/3/2007 – 2/1/2008

6 Close Project Phase 2/4/2008

F. Financial Estimate
Provide an economic justification for the project based upon the Cost Benefit Analysis and the expected return on
investment. Identify the estimated funding resources required to complete the project and then identify the funding
requirements to operate or maintain the product(s) or service(s) developed from the project.

1. Cost Benefit Analysis Summary

Answer the following questions in the space provided. Attach detailed explanations and analysis as appendices.

a. Summarize the results of the Cost Benefit Analysis. Explain why the expected monetary and non-monetary benefits validate the
expenditure of resources for this project. Attach the Cost Benefit Analysis as Appendix A. Describe saving achieved and separate
savings from cost avoidance.

The VCCS currently employs the SCT Banner product FRS for financial management and the
Oracle/PeopleSoft Student Administration system for student administration management. There
is no enterprise solution implemented across the VCCS and colleges for human resource
management. However, the VCCS owns licenses to the Oracle/PeopleSoft financials and human
resource management modules. A goal of the VCCS is to attain seamless integration of
administrative management information and will ultimately implement integrated solutions for all
administrative functions. Therefore for the purpose of product selection, the VCCS evaluated the
cost and benefits of implementing comparable suites of the Oracle/PeopleSoft and SCT Banner
products. This comparison is reflected in the Solutions #1 and #2 presented in the detailed Cost
Benefit Analysis.

For the purpose of determining a project return on investment after selection of the
Oracle/PeopleSoft suite of products, the scope of the project was limited to an implementation of
selected Oracle/PeopleSoft financials modules. This evaluation is presented in Solution #4, and
reflects the cost and benefits which will be transferred to the project proposal.

The Web services and electronic workflow capabilities of Oracle PeopleSoft will support re-
engineering efforts and business process improvements. The reduction in paperwork and
manual processing will result in cost savings for back office functions (fewer staff needed to
support operations). Improvements are expected in a number of key business functions.

Tangible Benefits –

Five critical business processes* were researched and benchmarked during the requirements
definition and are listed below.

Finance, Accounts Payable, Online Query/Reporting

1. Weekly manually keying data into Excel Spreadsheets from the FRS system
General Ledger Interface
2. Daily transferring the data from the ATV report (SIS to accounting system)
3. Daily reconciling the ATV transactions from the SIS/FRS GL interface

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Asset Management
4. Account payable to fixed asset coordination
Travel and Expenses
5. Completing, copying and getting signatures on your travel and expense vouchers

In addition to these, 28 other business processes will be re-engineered to improve administrative

efficiency and effectiveness.

Summarize the results of the Return on Investment Analysis. Provide ROI for 5 years and 10 years. If the project does not have a
positive expected return on investment, explain why this project proposal should be approved. Attach the detailed Return on
Investment Analysis as Appendix B

Calculations derived using VITA on-line CBA tool.

Project Cost = $8,912,835 NPV = $7,818,699

Benefits/Cost Avoidance = $9,906,950 NPV = $8,885,522
(Annual discount rate of 4% assumed)

Return on Investment = 13.6%

Pay Back period = Greater than 4 years

Product Selection Process supporting the economic feasibility analysis.

For product selection, the AIS Steering Committee (Agency Internal Oversight Committee)
developed an evaluation framework to guide their recommendation to ACOP and the Chancellor.
There are eight areas included in the evaluation framework.

1) Fit/Gap – The College used DecisionDirector to gather requirements from the Colleges
and System Office. The two potential vendors were given access to the requirements and
provided information about whether their products meet the requirement and how.
2) Demonstrations – The software vendors were provided business process scripts and
asked to demonstrate how their product performed the processes outlined in the script.
College and System Office participants who attended the demonstrations were then asked
to return to DecisionDirector to evaluate each vendor’s performance against the script.
3) Vendor Risk Assessment – Based on information provided by the vendor, vendor
references and published sources, information was gathered about the vendor, their
product strategy and support model, and availability and quality of upgrade and
implementation consulting support. As well, references were contacted to describe their
experience with each of the products.
4) Technical Assessment – The vendors were sent a list of questions addressing the
technology and infrastructure implications for each vendor’s product. These questions
addressed the development toolset, use of third party vendor products, platform
compatibility, scalability and security Vendors provided written responses that were
analyzed by the College IT staff.

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 5) Cost Analysis – Information on costs to own, implement and operate the products was
provided by the vendors. These costs were evaluated over a five-year period and used to
prepare a comparative Total Cost of Ownership Analysis (TCO). Vendors were compared
against each other rather than a budget or other independent value.
6) Supporting Technologies and Tools – Add-on technology features and functions,
including reporting capabilities, portal technologies and integration tools were analyzed
based on responses to requirements, demonstrations and technical questions.
7) Implications for SIS – The College has recently implemented the PeopleSoft student
administration system. This analysis evaluated the impacts of the vendor products on the
student system and integration with the AIS.
8) Technical Staffing and Skills Analysis – The College technical staff is currently
proficient in certain technologies. This evaluation was designed to determine the impact
on technical staffing levels and skill sets with respect to each vendor’s product.

Demonstration Process

 College obtained sample scripts

 AIS Project Team developed scripts for demonstrations
 Scripts and demonstration agenda provided to vendors late December 2005
 Reviewed script points and agenda with each vendor in early January 2005
 Questions during demonstrations (vendors had choice to answer during demo or
follow up in writing)
 Oracle completed all questions during demonstrations
 SunGard completed all HR/Payroll questions and provided written responses to
some finance questions
 Demonstration participants provided evaluations using DecisionDirector

* Evaluation Packages with complete details available on request.

2. Estimate of Execution Expenditures and Funding

Provide an Estimate of the Expenditures and Funding required for execution and close out of the project.

Estimated Expenditures ($000)

FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009 Total Comments
Internal Staff
Labor 38,509 407,003 191,965 637,477
Internal Staff
(New Hire) 527,850 307,913 835,763
Services 152,429 3,765,365 2,135,176 6,052,971
Software Tools 75,000 75,000
Hardware 250,000 250,000 250,000 750,000
Oracle Services 18,000 25,000 20,000 63,000

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Travel and Misc. 5,000 10,000 8,000 23,000
Software
Maintenance
(Portal) 16,500 9,625 26,125
Software
Maintenance 156,000 91,000 247,000
Cost included in
Training Services
PM Support &
IV&V 18,000 117,000 67,500 202,500
$730,337 has been
included in
Consulting
Services and
Oracle Services
for contingency
Contingency based on identified
(Risk) risks.
Total 556,938 5,274,719 3,081,179 8,912,835

This estimate is accurate to: 50% [ ] 60% [ ] 70% [ ] 80% [ ] 90% [ X ]

Explanation:

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Anticipated (proposed) Funding Source ($000)
FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009 Total Comments
556,938 5,274,719 3,081,179
General Fund
Non-General
Fund

Federal

Other
556,938 5,274,719 3,081,179 8,912,835
Total
This estimate is accurate to: 50% [ ] 60% [ ] 70% [ ] 80% [ ] 90% [ X ]
Explanation:

3. Estimate of Operations Expenditures and Funding

Provide an Estimate of the Expenditures and Funding for Operations and Maintenance of the asset(s) delivered upon
project completion.

Estimated Expenditures ($000)

FY 200_ FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 Total Comments
Internal Staff Labor 169,950 339,900 339,900 849,750
Software Maintenance
(New Product) 6,875 16,500 16,500 39,875
Software
Maintenance(Existing
Product) 54,984 131,963 131,963 318,910
Materials and
Supplies
Facilities
Telecommunications
Training
Contingency (Risk)
Total 231,809 488,363 488.363 1,208,535

This estimate is accurate to: 50% [ ] 60% [ ] 70% [ ] 80% [ ] 90% [ x ]

Explanation:

Anticipated (proposed) Funding Source ($000)

FY 200_ FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 Total Comments
231,809 488,363 488,363 1,208,535
General Fund

Non-General Fund

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 Federal

Other
231,809 488,363 488,363 1,208,535
Total
This estimate is accurate to: 50% [ ] 60% [ ] 70% [ ] 80% [ ] 90% [ x ]
Explanation:

G. Project Risk
After completing a Preliminary Risk Analysis Worksheet for this project, determine the level of risk for the project and
the risk score. On the chart below, circle the resulting risk level and record the risk score for each risk item. Attach
the Preliminary Risk Analysis Worksheet as Appendix C.

Risk Item Risk Level Risk Score

Budget Risk High (18–25)
9
Medium (9-17)
What level of risk does the proposed budget
represent to the project? Low (1-8)

None (0)
External Dependencies Risk High (11–15) 9
Medium (6-10)
How dependent is the project on other
projects or work efforts? Low (1-5)

None (0)
Management Risk High (11–15) 7
Medium (6-10)
What level of risk does the organization’s
project management capability represent? Low (1-5)

None (0)
Mission Critical Risk High (11–15) 2
Medium (6-10)
How critical is the project success to the
success of the organization? Low (1-5)

None (0)
Failure Risk High (11–15) 5
Medium (6-10)
What is the risk of failure?
Low (1-5)

None (0)
Complexity Risk High (11–15) 5

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 How complex is project? Medium (6-10)

Low (1-5)

None (0)
Preliminary Risk Assessment High (73–100) Total Risk Score:
37
Medium (36-72)
What is the overall risk of the project?
Low (1-35)

None (0)
H. Approvals
Obtain the Project Sponsor’s and Agency Head’s signatures indicating approval to submit this Project Proposal for
investment consideration. If the Agency Head’s signature is the only signature provided, the Agency Head is assumed
to also be the Project Sponsor.

Position/Title Signature Date

Project Sponsor

Agency Head

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