March 27, 2023

As the program continues through the configure & prototype phase, the Financial Management Modernization team performed in-system demos for 300+ user stories and updated design and business process configurations based on feedback received. Significant progress was made in converting data from legacy systems to Oracle Financials Cloud (OFC), which allows the team to observe how UCSB data and business processes will operate within OFC.

Additionally, the implementation team gathered on campus from March 6-10 for the first ever FMM team campus visit after over a year of working together on Zoom. Between in-person meetings and on-campus activities and tours, this weeklong event provided a variety of engagement and networking opportunities for 90+ UCSB staff and contractors. Colleagues reported feeling more productive and able to make decisions quickly when they were gathered together in the same room.

Learn more about what we accomplished throughout the past month:

Deliverables completed

  • Team members completed the risks & controls strategy and approach earlier this month, which outlines a scalable and sustainable security model for Oracle Financials Cloud, defines how and when it will be implemented, and states who is responsible for each component of the implementation.

Milestones completed

  • The project team completed build sprint 2 of 4, reviewing and validating fields and reporting requirements in the OFC environment.
  • In early March, the change, communications, & training (CCT) team held the first of two training needs focus groups with representatives from various divisions on campus. This was the first of multiple activities planned to support the development of the FMM training plan.
  • Project leadership recently onboarded a Director of Training, Sandra Featherson, and a Director of Learning and Organizational Development, Heather Heyerdahl. These two roles will serve on the CCT team and lead the development and execution of the FMM training plan.
  • Members of the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) workstream, OFC’s planning and budgeting module, met with ten budget owners across all divisions to capture design needs and requirements for their workforce planning processes.

Completed events

  • The project team hosted a virtual Oracle Financials Cloud (OFC) Introductory Town Hall on February 15, which provided a high-level overview of the new OFC system and introduced some of the modules that system users will work with in the future state. Click here to watch the recording.

Upcoming events

  • All GUS users, PGM conversion participants, and others impacted by the transition from GUS to OFC are invited to attend a virtual deep dive session for the OFC Projects & Grants Management (PGM) module on Thursday, April 6 from 2-3 p.m. This session will introduce PGM within Oracle Financials Cloud, including an overview of how awards, projects, funding sources, and expenditures will relate to each other in the future. Click here to register.
  • On Monday, April 10 at 3 p.m., project leadership will host the first virtual FMM Coffee Chat, informal sessions with predetermined topics to be held on a monthly basis. The topic of this session will be Projects & Grants Management, and members of the PGM team will be available to answer questions and clarify information that has been shared up to this point. Zoom invitation coming soon.

Staying engaged

  • Please note that the PGM team has revised the original conversion wave timeline and workshop schedule. PGM leads will contact Assistant Deans in the coming weeks to provide more information and new workshop dates.
  • We highly recommend watching the “Introduction to OFC” video that was shared last month to supplement the town hall, as it provides a summarized overview of some of the Oracle Financials Cloud modules discussed in that session.
  • Last week, the CCT team sent out a training needs survey to understand training preferences across campus and identify areas where support is needed. If you haven’t already, please complete this survey by Friday, April 7. Inputs from this survey will aid the development of the FMM training plan.

Thank you for your continued support in modernizing our campus financial system.