Indian affairs takes 'big bang' approach to financial solution

When the federal government issued an edict to all of its ministries last year that it was moving to a more universal financial system, the Ministry of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada turned to an Edmonton-based firm to help it with its ERP solution.

Paramount was the ability to make the switch happen quickly and with as little disruption as possible, according to the Ministry.

By April 1, 2001, the federal government's 82 departments and agencies will have to commence operating under the new Financial Information Strategy (FIS). The first step in this strategy involves a move towards accrual accounting, a method - most commonly used in the private sector - that gives a better accounting of the value of capital assets. This will lead to the delegating of much of the detailed accounting work to individual departments, with only summary accounting performed centrally.

"The thrust of the government of Canada's policy is to produce financial statements comparable to what industry uses," explains Wally Draper, director of financial policy systems and accounting with the Ministry of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada (INAC).

What would be a huge undertaking required expertise that could accomplish the task in a short time frame. After reviewing a number of firms, INAC chose Montage eintegration Inc. The Edmonton company has a 15year history helping companies build their systems and experience with clients such as Human Resources Development Canada and the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans.

That experience was something that attracted INAC, says Draper. "Our timelines were very tight. We're into a big bang implementation and Montage has worked out extremely well," he says. "With a `big bang' implementation the knowledge transfer we have to go through is dramatic."

The 16-month project will involve more than 20 Montage consultants working directly with INAC. A key task for Montage will be helping INAC employees adapt to the new system in a way that would not greatly interfere with their work day.

"Their existing systems were not very well integrated, so based on the technology they were using and the users in general, this is a big leap for them. Change management is a very big issue," said Mark Sylvester, Montage's Oracle financial practice manager for the capital region.

"Our challenge is to go in there, understand their business, the department needs and try and understand the impact of change to their employees."

The project is now one-third of the way into completion. Once all the work is done, Sylvester says INAC will be able to share and track information with other departments more easily. "What's paramount for INAC is that their payments happen in a timely manner. They need a large robust system. The cost savings to them will be largely from an information perspective and from a cost per transaction basis," said Sylvester.

Montage has assisted in developing the interfaces required to smooth the flow of information between the individual departments where the detailed accounting is done, and Public Works and Government Services Canada where the summary ledgers reside.

"What we're looking at with Oracle solutions is an integrated approach to procurement and accounting and that's something we didn't have in the past," says Draper. "We used a common system throughout the department before, but what the Oracle package does is integrate the functions - the material management and accounting functions, and that's certainly one of the strengths of an enterprise resource planning system."

By Jennifer Brown

Special to Technology in Government

Copyright Plesman Publications Ltd. Sep 2000
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved