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January 2006
CMM Project works through testing stages
As the first month of 2006 wraps up the Contract Management Module (CMM) is busy conducting Mock 3 conversion exercises that will run through the first several days of February. Systems Integration testing (SIT), phases I and II, will also begin with the turn of the calendar. Once that work is completed, the team can begin preparations for a handful of reviews including the Operational Readiness Review, Final Review of To-Be processes, and Configuration Use Cases.
The IEMP Contract Management Module (CMM) will provide a comprehensive tool to support contract/grant writing, contract/grant administration, procurement workload management, and data reporting/management for NASA. The functionality provided by CMM will provide added efficiency to procurement processes, and will be integrated with existing IEMP components.
Important milestone dates for the CMM Project include:
- Blueprinting – December 2004 through August 2005
- Realization Phase – July 2005 through April 2006
- Final Preparation, go-live, and support Phases – March 2006 through December 2006
- Wave 1 Rollout (DFRC, GSFC, HQ, JPL/NMO, NSSC, and SSC) – May 2006
- Wave 2 Rollout (ARC, GRC, JSC, LaRC, KSC, and MSFC) – October 2006
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SVU Kicks off the New Year by Kicking off their project
The Integrated Enterprise Management Program’s (IEMP) SAP Version Update (SVU) Project team definitely has the ball rolling within NASA. The team kicked off the year with kick offs; unveiling the new project plan to SVU Core and Extended Process teams on January 9, 2006. Meanwhile, Center Implementation Project Managers held their own kick off the same day. The SVU team plans weekly teleconferences to keep everyone on the same page.
Following the kick offs, the SVU team wasted no time getting down to business. The day after kick offs were completed, Process Design Workshops got underway and will continue through the months of January and February.
The SVU team plans to be NASA’s first project to use i-View, the IEMP’s portal, as their primary source of communications. The SVU project is scheduled for implementation in October of 2006 and will provide a major upgrade to NASA’s Core Financial system. Some of the enhanced functionality provided by SVU to Core Financial will include a new Budgetary Ledger, a new Budget Control System, new Payment Updates, and new Year End Processing.
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Enhancements on the way for NASA’s Metadata Manager
Changes are on the way for NASA’s Metadata Manager (MdM) early this New Year. The MdM development team launched a maintenance release in mid-January. This upgrade comes just on the heels of the tool’s initial launch. MdM which the Integrated Enterprise Management Program (IEMP), in coordination with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), successfully implemented, went live throughout the Agency November 17th, 2005.
This new maintenance release will allow users to populate NASA Structure Management (NSM) code requests for work break down structure (WBS) 2 – WBS 7 in Excel spreadsheets, offline, so that Code Requestors can quickly import the request to MdM. Further benefits from this new upgrade include providing code reviewers the ability to see all key elements for the requested NSM codes, in order that they may clearly see which requests await reviews. The user will then be notified by email only when required to take action. Other changes will allow code requests, which have been approved for duration of two weeks, to be archived. The MdM team is confident that these changes will help improve system performance. Further, team members explain that when new NSM requests are created, attribute values will soon default to the more likely choice, an action which likely will give users a more intuitive synergy with the tool.
The Metadata Manager (MdM) is the new web-based tool that contains NASA’s official NSM data elements and associated codes. Lead by the OCFO, the MdM project consisted of establishing a methodology and workflow for aligning the Agency’s technical WBS with the finance coding structure. Additionally, the MdM project consists of the design, development, implementation, training, and operation of the MdM tool. Currently, representatives from all of NASA’s ten Centers and Mission Directorates, totaling more than 300 users, are accessing MdM in order to request new NSM codes.
MdM is the only tool on which NASA relies for identifying, creating, tracking, organizing and archiving of Appropriation, Mission, Theme, Program, Project and WBS 2 through WBS 7 NSM structural elements. MdM feeds NSM codes to budget formulation (N2), core financial (SAP), and project management systems that require coding structure data.
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eTravel team holds NASA wide kickoff
NASA’s IEMP eTravel project team has been busy “formulating.” Together the team has been working on project documentation and training for Fedtravler.com, the future eTravel tool. Electronic Data Systems (EDS Corp.) the company which was awarded the NASA task order for the implementation and maintenance of the service has been on hand to meet with the eTravel team in order to provide them a better understanding of how Fedtravler.com will merge with NASA’s current Travel Management Center (TMC).
eTravel recently held a kick off meeting. The debut, held via video teleconferencing technology was the project’s first chance to reach out to all of NASA’s ten Centers. The meeting held January 13, 2006 gave the team a forum in which they communicated their plans and progress for their project to all the Centers.
Additionally, the eTravel project team reported that they had an excellent reception of their call letter which was issued Agency wide, December 2, 2005, by NASA’s Chief Financial Officer, and Assistant Administrator for Infrastructure and Administration, on behalf of the eTravel Project. Those who answered the call to join the Agency Process team were included in the kick off audience and learned how they could be more integrated with the project’s development. After the week of January 23-27, 2006, team members will be needed, again, the week February 20-23, 2006 to assist with the project formulation/blueprinting phase, including BPR activities and defining the functional requirements.
eTravel is one of the original 24 eGovernment initiatives outlined by President Bush in July of 2001. The effort was designed to make better use of information technology and to eliminate billions of dollars in federal spending, reduce paperwork and improve government response time to citizens. As a result, FedTraveler.com, an integrated application, will be implemented to give NASA online booking, travel authorization, and travel vouchering capabilities. NASA’s scheduled migration is March 2007.
NASA awarded the task order for the implementation and maintenance of the FedTraveler.com on March 31st, 2005. The eTravel Project team plans to manage the implementation of the system from their designated location at the IEMP Project site in Huntsville, Alabama.
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i-View Continues to Expand
As 2006 began, the IEMP i-View portal team continued helping the Program reach their stakeholders and users. For example, the i-View team recently provided a handful of new enhancements including a collaboration area for HR users at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Collaboration areas have been set up within i-View to help foster communication and sharing across the Agency, as well as within NASA Centers. SVU is also the first IEMP Project to build all of their communication efforts around i-View, and consequently, pioneer new ways to reach out to the NASA community.
The i-View team has long been interested in learning more about the habits of the site’s users now that the tool has been in use for about a year. As a result, a variety of focus groups are underway within the IEMP neighborhood, which are scheduled to conclude at the end of January. Groups of frequent i-View users, along with change mangers, and individuals who access the portal as little as once a month, have all been recruited to voice their experiences with the tool and make recommendations for improvements.
i-View allows single sign on access (SSO) to all IEM applications and many other applications employees need to use, such as Employee Express, WebTADS, USA Jobs, and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). SSO will simplify and reduce, but not totally eliminate, user ID and password management requirements. i-View also provides the means for the IEM Program Office to communicate effectively to all IEM users without relying on email. In the coming months, the i-View team will continue to focus on adding new users and additional functionality. Looking ahead, the team will continue to support to the Contract Management Module Project (CMM), and i-View plans to play host to the OCFO standard financial reports for the Agency.
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ROS adds several new upgrades
NASA’s Recruitment One Stop (ROS) Project has provided some recent enhancements which were delivered on January 5, 2005. These upgrades include the Application Satisfaction Survey which will survey applicants to determine their satisfaction with the new processes. The survey will be offered to all first-time applicants, as well as a random sampling of ten percent of returning applicants. ROS’s reporting capabilities will allow the team to analyze the findings.
Another value added service recently introduced is the Applicant Status Messages. Applicants will soon be able to use a link on USAJOBS to obtain real time information about the status announcements for which they have applied. Applicants will also be able to use this capability to view the announcements, and double check the resume they have submitted. ROS was implemented Agency-wide in September 2005.
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