Overview
Executive Summary
Estates and Buildings currently utilise the heavily customised EBIS system environment to manage financial management aspects of the business activity related to stock control, purchase ordering, purchase/sales invoice creation/processing, recharges, and property and lease management, project/programme financial management. This functionality is business critical to Estates and Buildings. Whilst the current system has proved to be successful in the past, the ever increasing reliance on external vendors and associated costs in maintaining / upgrading the system is imposing unacceptable delays in implementing on-going change. The revised E&B/IS approach to system requirements is that wherever possible it will be preferable to utilise “out of the box” systems rather than relying on bespoke work to meet our requirements. In addition, the current system does not meet current requirements for capital projections plan reporting (between £60m-£100m on capital and £40M on revenue)
This project will enable Estates and Buildings to establish their functional requirements in relation to the stated aspects of the financial management of the business associated with;
- process and manage Estates and Buildings financial transactions
- support its current and future business requirements
- deliver the required financial management information
This project forms the first of a multi-year, multi-phase process that will encompass
- The production of a full business requirements specification
- Complete an options appraisal with regards to the existing in-house systems of WebCentral and eFinancials
- Develop a business case based on the options appraisal that will meet the business needs
Depending on the outcomes of this project will determine if the further multi-year projects are required regarding
- relating to possibly application development / or procurement,
- implementation
Business Objectives and Project Deliverables
No | Description | New or Changed (Y/N) |
| Stage 1 | ||
O1 | Identify the business requirements for Estates and Buildings to
| N |
D1 | Produce process flows, based on aspects of Estates and Buildings financial management requirements incorporating ;
|
|
D2 | Produce detailed business requirements based all aspects of Estates and Buildings financial management incorporating ;
|
|
| D3 | Analyse current and predicted business users usage of the system in terms of both software licensing and underlying IT infrastructure | |
O2 | Ensure identified requirements can logically interface with existing or proposed University of Edinburgh corporate systems, e.g. authorised signatories and procurement | Y |
D1 | Document data interfaces relating to stated business requirements and the relevant corporate systems, e.g, authorised signatories and procurement |
|
| Stage 2 | ||
| O3 | Produce an Options Appraisal analysis to determine if defined business requirements can be accommodated within existing University of Edinburgh systems such as; Archibus WebCentral or eFinancials | N |
| D1 | Prepare a gap analysis with regards Archibus WebCentral and the stated business requirements | |
| D2 | Prepare a gap analysis with regards eFinancial and the stated business requirements | |
| O4 | Establish the Estates and Buildings strategy for the on-going financial management activity | |
| D1 | Identify preferred solution to meet both current and future requirements | |
| D2 | Produce a business case based on the findings of the Options Appraisal Analysis | |
Success Criteria
- The production of an approved business requirements document outlining all aspects of Estates and Buildings financial management activities
- A full understanding of the dependencies between Estates and Building financial related processing and related University of Edinburgh corporate systems
- Documentary evidence of a full transparent gap analysis process
- Approval of the business case outlining Estates and Buildings strategy regarding financial management system
Scope
- Determine existing and future requirements from each departmental area within Estates and Buildings
- Consult and review business processes / requirements with named representatives of University of Edinburgh corporate systems such as Facilities Management, Finance and Procurement
- The gap analysis process should only be undertaken against existing University of Edinburgh systems
- Engage with suppliers of existing University of Edinburgh corporate systems to assist with the Options Appraisal phase of the project
Category
This project has been classified as a compliance project.
Priority 2 project