Enterprise Reporting

Business Drivers and Solutions

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Ecology’s Reporting History

 During the 1980s Ecology Financial Managers were dissatisfied with the format of the standard AFRS reports  In the mid 80s Ecology had DIS create special reports (403/503) for us. These are still used today by our budget planners and management  In 93-95 Ecology partnered with OFM on the ADDS (AFRS Data Distribution System) project and have developed various standard reports from ADDS using Access 2

Benefits of ADDS/Access Tool

        Replaced the AFRS Disbursement Reporting System (DRS) Generate our own 1099’s OMWBE Tracking Ability to query all of our AFRS data Link financial data to internal databases Get only the financial data you need Can export data to Excel Ability to create queries which can be easily modified and used by non-financial users 3

Ten Years Later

 The DIS 403/503 reports were becoming obsolete and began failing  Need additional reports that are not currently available in FASTRACK or AFRS  Need a user-friendly tool for non-financial staff  Would like to have better access to statewide data as a “Fund Administrator” 4

Partner with OFM

 July 2004 we presented our request to OFM to expand our internal system  OFM suggested to partner with Ecology to understand our needs for a new Ad Hoc tool  January 2005 we began a 6 month project “Ad Hoc Service Pilot” (Ecology, OFM Statewide Financial Systems, Small Agency Client Services and Statewide Accounting) 5

Ad Hoc Service Pilot Group

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Ecology’s Vision

 OFM will develop a Statewide tool that is more intuitive for non-financial staff  OFM would maintain database and provide training  The new tool would do the same or more as our current ADDS/Access tool 7

Ecology’s Vision (continued)

 Management, Budget and Accounting staff could easily use new tool without extensive accounting and general ledger knowledge  Ecology could develop customized reports with only desired information for their users  The new tool would allow us to link financial data to our internal agency data/systems 8

What’s Next

 Designate Ecology staff to receive training on the new tool (Create Agency Experts)  Experts will replicate ADDS queries in the new tool  Agency Experts will develop training materials and provide training to Ecology staff  Experts will develop some standard queries/reports for use by non-financial staff  Ecology IT staff will determine how best to link AFRS data for use with our internal databases 9

Challenges

   Our ADDS Experts prefer to use the internal tool because it’s faster, they know how this tool functions and how the database is structured Ecology doesn’t have dedicated resources assigned:    Learn the new tool Train others on the new tool Develop standard reports We have internal systems that use the ADDS tables and we will need to create new ways to link the information 10

Challenges (continued)

    We need to crosswalk or rename fields in our internal databases to match naming convention used by OFM Users need to know differences between internal database structure and OFM database structure Report Definers (Agency Experts) need to know accounting and general ledgers Getting budget, accounting, non-financial and IT people to speak a common language 11

Benefits

     Ecology IT staff will be able to take advantage of knowledge already gained by OFM IT staff on the new tool OFM IT staff are very knowledgeable about the state’s financial data and databases Staff hired from other state agencies would have experience using the common tool Financial data would be available to broader audience Staff will have access to more timely financial data at the agency as well as the statewide level 12

Lessons Learned

     Management support is necessary to ensure that dedicated resources are available and stay involved with the project Full commitments from the project participants are essential to the success of the project There is never a good time to be involved in a project of this scope Team works much better with face-to-face meetings versus conference calls Better balance of team members would give a broader perspective 13

Ecology Contact Information

For more information, please contact: Gary Koshi (360) 407-7222 [email protected]

or Janis Moore (360) 407-7099 [email protected]

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