President Kaler recognizes ESUP progress

University President Eric Kaler, Executive Oversight Committee Chair Dean Robert Elde, and ESUP Program Director Dennis Wenzel welcomed over 120 ESUP staff and stakeholders to an appreciation event October 16 at the Campus Club.

“As I said at the kick-off a year ago, I don’t know of anything more important to the long-term viability and success of the University of Minnesota than the work you are engaged in right now,” Kaler said. “I have your back!” the President re-stated, expressing his support for everyone’s effort and commitment to making ESUP a success.

“It was good to hear the President continues to champion this project and will support the decisions being made after implementation,” said Rod DeVriendt, human resources specialist in the College of Veterinary Medicine. “I think this event energized the group to continue to carry out the final year of this project.”

Dean Elde introduced Program Director Dennis Wenzel, who provided a brief program status update. “Overall the program is in good shape,” said Wenzel. “As we start the second half, we will expand our efforts in areas like testing, development, and implementation to make sure that when we ‘flip the switch’ at Go-Live a year from now, the lights will come on.”

Wenzel also highlighted results from the recent stakeholder survey, indicating University staff have higher confidence in ESUP’s success if they know someone working on the program. “Your efforts are making a difference and you are the connections between the program and the people directly affected by our work. You are ESUP’s ambassadors,” added Wenzel.

To watch a video of the event’s program, please click here.

ESUP Update 10-21-13 to 11-04-13

Human Resources Management System (HRMS) upcoming town halls

As part of the Enterprise Systems Upgrade Program (ESUP), the HRMS upgrade will simplify and streamline the University's human resources management system and processes, add essential new self-service functionality, and improve data quality and the user experience. Interested faculty and staff are invited to attend one of three upcoming HRMS Upgrade Town Hall sessions scheduled for late October and November. Read more...

Portal releases Rough Draft: Take a look!
The Portal Team is releasing an early version of the portal for your review! It will be the place to access tools and resources you need at the University, from searching for classes to viewing your pay statement. Read more...

Consensus by collaboration: HRMS partners with Finance, others to redefine processes
In any highly decentralized organization, fostering cross-functional collaboration is a challenge -- and a necessity. The HRMS upgrade project is a prime example of an initiative that cannot succeed without cooperation from across the spectrum of University units and functions. Read more...

ESUP establishes IT Steering Committee
The ESUP Information Technology Steering Committee (ITSC) was formed over the summer to help the Program establish technology governance, processes, and policies that align the work being done on ESUP with the University’s long-term IT strategy. Read more...

Subscribe to the ESUP Blog!
Get each new blog post delivered to your inbox by entering your email address in the Subscribe by Email window at upgrade.umn.edu and following the instructions. Once your subscription is activated, you will receive an email alerting you to new ESUP posts late in the afternoon the day they are published. If there is no post, you receive no email -- simple as that!

ESUP Video: ESUP Overview

Santiago Fernández-Giménez, Assistant Program Director for Communications, Change Management, & Training, gives a high-level overview of the Enterprise Systems Upgrade Program (ESUP).

Enjoy!

As alway, please send your questions or comments to esup@umn.edu

Portal releases rough draft: Take a look!

The Portal Team is releasing an early version of the portal for your review! The portal will be the place to access tools and resources you need at the University, from searching for classes to viewing your pay statement.

Screenshot of Portal rough draft

The Rough Draft was created from many of the ideas and suggestions gathered from the Kickoff Meeting in January 2013, the Design Thinking Workshops, meetings and presentations, and through feedback collected on our website. 

This is a “Rough Draft” because development has just started and your input is integral to the process. Like a house under construction, we want you to “walk through” the site and tell us what you think. Visit the Portal Project website to log in, explore, and give your feedback. Your suggestions will help the team build a portal that will work well for the University.

Portal Sponsorship Pathway Determined

One of the challenges facing the Enterprise Portal project has been the quandary of ownership. The Portal is a new product and a new opportunity, and, while initial development is in scope for ESUP, this sort of tool needs a strong sponsor with a holistic perspective. What sponsorship structure will be most effective in setting the Portal up to create value for the long-term?  As ESUP has moved forward this question has become more crucial.    

The question of Portal sponsorship became a barrier as the project team began working on portal features.  What are the right things to do now to effectively facilitate a positive user experience for students, faculty and staff? The Portal team had good ideas and a clear process for this, but had no sponsor with whom to vet the long-term vision.  Even short-term priority setting was becoming difficult, since each priority has ramifications for long-term sustainability.  

The Executive Oversight Committee wrestled with this question last week, and, based on recommendations from the Portal Leadership Team, has determined that the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost is the right place in our structure to sponsor the Portal.  The Provost's Office has agreed to take on this responsibility. ESUP sees this as a great fit, as the Provost's Office has system-wide responsibilities, understands and supports student and faculty affairs and the mission of the Portal, and has a broad interest in improving the coherence and continuity of the user experience. In addition, a collaborative Portal Governance Team with representation from other strategic areas of the University will be put in place.  

Given the tight timeline for the upgrade, the Provost's Office doesn't want to interrupt progress. They have assigned leadership for the duration of the program to Susan Van Voorhis, Assistant Vice Provost of Academic Support Resources and University Registrar, while they figure out how best to structure their resources. Sue will provide active sponsorship within the context of ESUP to help ensure that the Portal project meets our goals. Sue will work with Susan Geller, Portal Project Director, and the Portal Leadership Team to continue setting priorities, so the team can deliver Portal features that meet the needs of ESUP and the University community.

ESUP is very pleased to see this next step in our sustainability planning come to fruition. ESUP governance and the Portal Team look forward to working with Sue and the Provost's Office toward continued success.

HRMS project to preview changes, solicit input at town halls

As part of the Enterprise Systems Upgrade Program (ESUP), the HRMS upgrade will simplify and streamline the University's human resources management system and processes, add essential new self-service functionality, and improve data quality and the user experience. Interested faculty and staff are invited to attend one of three upcoming HRMS Upgrade Town Hall sessions scheduled for late October and November.

The purpose of these town halls is to share the latest information on HRMS project progress and decisions and to gather input from interested stakeholders to ensure that the new system, processes, and training meets your needs and those of the University. We will take a closer look at the major system changes identified to date, discuss challenges and opportunities posed by new functionality and processes, and more.

You can attend these town halls in person or online via UMConnect. The sessions are scheduled as follows:

• Thursday, October 31, 3 to 4 p.m., Physics 166 (East Bank)
• Thursday, November 7, 3 to 4 p.m., Carlson 2-206 (West Bank)
• Thursday, November 14, 3 to 4 p.m., Alderman Hall 415 (St. Paul)

Please RSVP via ULearn and take this opportunity to learn more about the HRMS upgrade and to engage in the change process. Our goal is a more streamlined and effective HRMS system that better supports our human resource  enterprise and the University’s academic mission.

For more information on the HRMS upgrade project or ESUP overall, visit z.umn.edu/hrms or upgrade.umn.edu.

Consensus by collaboration: HRMS partners with Finance, others to redefine processes

In any highly decentralized organization, fostering cross-functional collaboration is a challenge -- and a necessity. The HRMS upgrade project is a prime example of an initiative that cannot succeed without cooperation from across the spectrum of University units and functions.

A fresh perspective on core HR data
Restructuring appointment data and reducing multiple appointments required significant cross-functional consultation by the entire appointment data team just to develop a recommendation that would have traction in the broader U community. Gretchen Wolfangel (UMN) and James Ellis (CCI), in particular, conducted at least a dozen consultation sessions with academic and administrative units throughout the University. They also contacted peer institutions facing similar challenges to see how they approach appointment data. The conclusion? Everyone does it differently, and no one would recommend their approach.

Then in mid-July, the team invited the HRMS, Finance, and Reporting and Data Management work streams together for a collaboration session in which they walked through the major challenges posed by appointment data and solicited input.

“The big takeaway from that session was that everyone understood the challenges and said, ‘We’re ready for a consistent approach; come back to us and tell us how we can do this in a better way going forward,’” says Lori Lamb, director of OHR Operations.

The team invited the same people back together in early September to share the final recommendations for restructuring. More than 50 people attended the second session in person and online and gave their consensus endorsement to the new approach. That recommendation was ratified by the Integration Steering Committee at its Sept. 10 meeting and by the Executive Oversight Committee on Sept. 17.

Teamwork key to simplifying payroll accounting 
To redesign the University’s payroll accounting processes and take advantage of delivered functionality, the HRMS and Finance work streams held 26 working sessions this past summer, totaling more than 80 hours on the topic of payroll accounting. The Finance and HRMS Functional Steering Committees also met jointly on this topic, and the Integration Steering Committee reviewed and endorsed the resulting Distribution Entry business process last month. By many accounts, the level of collaboration has been unprecedented; past partnerships have been strengthened and new connections fostered around a process that has previously been challenging at best.

“The changes currently being recommended for the Payroll Accounting process are the result of significant collaboration between HR and Finance professionals,” says Dan Hemauer, project manager for the Finance system upgrade. “The representation for the first two phases of the project has been very broad. … As a result, a number of recommendations have been made that will significantly improve the current business process from a functional as well as technical perspective.”

ESUP establishes IT Steering Committee

The ESUP Information Technology Steering Committee (ITSC) was formed over the summer to help the Program establish technology governance, processes, and policies that align the work being done on ESUP with the University’s long-term IT strategy.

The ITSC will focus its efforts on reviewing all technology infrastructure integrations, custom web-application development, security, complex development and dissenting opinions on application design. “ESUP formed this committee to help inform and influence technology decisions. It will operate like the other functional steering committees where they discuss best practices, processes, and support for these systems after Go-Live,” said Sharon Ramallo, chairperson of the committee and associate CIO for Enterprise Systems in the Office of Information Technology.

The ITSC’s objectives include:

• Endorsing and communicating overall technology direction for ESUP to appropriate audiences
• Providing resolution for ESUP technology project issues
• Conducting technology reviews and setting priorities and direction of efforts
• Reviewing and approving major technology project deliverables that warrant discussion
• Providing a network for open communications between IT groups
• Reducing project risks and optimize project performance

“The broad viewpoints represented on the Committee help us tackle important issues, identify risks, and take action necessary for ESUP to succeed and align with the University’s long-term goals,” said Mark Powell, assistant program director for technology for ESUP and ITSC committee member.

Please send questions about the ITSC or its decisions to Sharon Ramallo at ramal003@umn.edu.

Payroll Accounting sneak peek: More robust functionality, less data entry

Much of the buzz in the HRMS and Finance work streams in recent months has been around payroll accounting -- the business processes at the intersection of the University’s HRMS and Finance systems. Payroll accounting (or in PeopleSoft lingo, commitment accounting) includes six related business processes that handle how University employees are paid, and from what funds: distribution entry, encumbrances, actuals distributions, fringe costing, retro distribution, and the position budgeting interface.

The HRMS upgrade project provides an opportunity to significantly reduce data entry and simplify payroll accounting processes in most cases, and strengthen processes and accountability in others. These can be challenging processes to understand, even for regular system users -- as a result, the HRMS training team has developed a "sneak peek" video to explain some of the new functionality. For the rest of the University community, suffice it to say that the interaction between the U’s HRMS and Finance systems should be significantly simpler and easier to manage going forward -- reducing data entry and the opportunity for error, and improving efficiency and productivity.

ESUP Update 10-07-13 to 10-20-13

Three weeks later with Dennis Wenzel

Tricia Conway (TC): It’s been three weeks since Dennis Wenzel joined the ESUP team as the new Program Director. If you missed our first Q&A with Dennis, you can read it here. Now that he has his bearings, we asked Dennis to give us his impressions. Click here to read more.

A Dynamic Duo
Effective teamwork is foundational to the success of ESUP. Whether it’s the teams formed by the Program’s governance structure like the Project Leadership Team (PLT) or those formed around the University’s business processes in IDPs, strong teamwork is a key factor for the Program to reach its goals. Click here for more information.

New Approach to Appointment Data will Transform HRMS

It’s mid-afternoon, and HRMS business owner Kelly Krattiger is presenting a proposal to restructure the U’s appointment data to a full conference room. The discussion could be dry and technical -- a bad combination after lunch -- but Krattiger begins by clicking through a simple model of the current system, built in PowerPoint. Click here to read more.

Subscribe to the ESUP Blog!
Get each new blog post delivered to your inbox by entering your email address in the Subscribe by Email window at upgrade.umn.edu and following the instructions. Once your subscription is activated, you will receive an email alerting you to new ESUP posts late in the afternoon the day they are published. If there is no post, you receive no email -- simple as that!

Three weeks later with Dennis Wenzel

Dennis Wenzel

Tricia Conway (TC): It’s been three weeks since Dennis Wenzel joined the ESUP team as the new Program Director. If you missed our first Q&A with Dennis, you can read it here. Now that he has his bearings, we asked Dennis to give us his impressions. We asked what challenges he believes ESUP faces and what he’s looking forward to between now and October 2014. 

Dennis Wenzel (DW): This has been a whirlwind three weeks. People have been very welcoming and have done a great job training 'the new guy.' 

The Program is going strong and people are doing great work. I have been most impressed by the commitment and passion of the team; people are truly committed to making ESUP a success. I also get the sense this team wants ESUP to be different--to change the way the University communicates, collaborates, and works together. It is encouraging to see so much cooperation across the University. 

Moving forward, I would like to turn my attentions to preparing the team for implementation. The Program is at a point where we can start focusing on planning for deployment. I hope to bring my experience deploying many large systems to the team. There is a lot of work to do to prepare for a smooth go live--from testing, to infrastructure set up; partnering interfaces to old system conversions and retirement; and communications, training, and sustainability. There is a lot to do, but there is a great team to do the work!

(TC): Thanks, Dennis! If you haven’t met Dennis, please join us at the next Meet n’ Greet on Monday, Oct 7 from 10 - 11 AM in 140 Nolte. Dean Elde, chair of the Executive Oversight Committee, and Dennis will answer questions submitted via our anonymous Google form. Light refreshments will be served. Please join us! 

A Dynamic Duo

Effective teamwork is foundational to the success of ESUP. Whether it’s the teams formed by the Program’s governance structure like the Project Leadership Team (PLT) or those formed around the University’s business processes in IDPs, strong teamwork is a key factor for the Program to reach its goals.

According to businessdictionary.com, a team is “a group of people with a full set of complementary skills required to complete a task, job, or project”. With that definition in mind, Richard Toetschinger and Mary Gilbertson make a great team. Richard is a University employee for the Student work stream and Mary is his counterpart from CedarCrestone Inc (CCI).  Their job is to “plan for the financial aid team and to make sure [they] report [their] progress to project managers and the financial aid steering committee,” says Richard. Mary also stresses the importance of “making sure all of the campuses are heard and that they all have a voice.”

Richard Toetschinger and Mary Gilbertson

This collaboration between CCI and the University is essential. Richard illustrates this when he says that the project would have gone poorly without an expert like Mary on board, “It’s very nice having Mary here because she’s gone through this before at other schools, so she brings that knowledge. There’s a trust that she knows what she’s doing.” It’s this trust that’s the foundation of teamwork and problem solving. For example, when scheduling their IDP sessions, Richard and Mary grouped the financial aid business processes in sets of two or three instead of serially. Richard explains this “helped the functional staff see the bigger picture and make some connections between processes.”

Richard and Mary continue to learn from each other during this process. They both say they’ve learned to hold back and not to take things personally. One thing Mary appreciates about Richard is a sense of calm he brings and his “understanding of how financial aid works. He knows the business analysts who work for him and their strengths.” Richard appreciates Mary’s “expertise, sense of humor and her fine baking skills.” Their humor helps keep things fun while spending nearly 40 hours a week together and their skills keep the team on track.