The Guam Department of Education (GDOE) has engaged Warbird Consulting Partners to:
- Provide FMIS Project Management Services. Project objectives are to acquire and implement a financial management information system that will ensure fiscal management of education funds for financial, payroll, human resources, fixed assets, procurement and record keeping as well as to strengthen GDOE’s Financial Management and Business Processes. Specific attributes of the Warbird Team includes Project management by supporting the functioning steering committee and change control board meetings, engaging process owners to prepare system requirement definitions, leading internal team through necessary tasks, monitoring contractor performance against contractual obligations, informing GDOE leadership and initiate corrective action as soon as practicable after discovery of contractor and staff failure to perform, preparing scripts and overseeing acceptance testing of contractor solutions, and data analysis of the legacy system and conversion of large data sets of information.
- Streamline and automate Accounting, Human Resources and Vendor Management systems and while making them transparent to stakeholders
Warbird worked with a local firm on a 20 person team to convert information from the AS400 and the MUNIS system.
Starting with the Static Environment Testing, Warbird determined what information was available and transferable electronically and also what data needed manual input. The areas addressed were: General Ledger, Budget, Project Accounting, Purchase Order, Bid / Contract Management, Accounts Payable and Receivable, Fixed Assets, General Billing, Employee Expense, Student Activity, and Treasury Management.
DOE finances and procurement activities are now on the MUNIS system, with personnel records, payroll and maintenance tracking set to go live in July 2012.
Benefits gained as follows :
- Removal of Guam DOE from the High-Risk grantee status. The implementation of the new financial management information system addressed one of the critical areas identified in the Comprehensive Corrective Action Plan which was to remove the Department of Education off the high-risk grantee status.
- Employee Self-Service. Employees have instant access for monitoring and updating personal and employment information such as: leave time accruals, pay history, W2’s, 1099’s, employment application status, status of leave requests, employee benefits enrollment, and performance evaluations, through a secure internet connection.
- Vendor Self-Service. Vendors now have instant access when seeking or placing a bid, checking current and past purchase order detail, or updating a respective profile. Vendors Self Service provides vendors web-based access to information and business records such as: vendor registration, registration of bids by commodity code, 1099’s, purchase orders, checks, and invoices. DOE vendors are now able to access and change information through a secure internet connection.