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May 2006
CMM strives to achieve fall implementation
The Integrated Enterprise Management Program’s (IEMP) Contract Management Module has spent the past month reworking schedules and reassigning their implementation plans, after the project’s Wave One implementation date was delayed. The original June 8th, 2006 date has been rescheduled for at least October of this fall.
In anticipation of getting the IEMP center teams up to speed for that implementation, the CMM team has been focused on getting their Center Implementation Process Leads (CIPM) prepped. This month the CIPMs are meeting for a second workshop in Alabama.
Meanwhile, the CMM team has experienced success conducting some testing requirements. SIT Pass 1 ran until early March, and SIT Pass 2 also concluded recently. All of NASA’s ten centers were included in the participation plans, and entrance and exit criteria were established for each test pass. Testing includes a good examination of all CMM functionality excluding: information delivery, simultaneous actions against a contract line item, performance testing, full security testing, and Single Sign On (SSO.) June 1, 2006 the team is set to conduct the Delta Test Readiness Review (TRR.)
Once implemented, 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.
Updated key milestone dates include:
- TRR: 5/10
- Δ TRR: 6/1
- Release 7.1 Mock 2: 6/12 – 6/30
- Release 7.1 Mock 3: 8/14 – 9/1
- Release 7.1 SIT Pass 1: 6/12 – 7/14
- Release 7.1 SIT Pass 2: 7/24 – 9/1
- Release 7.1 SIT Pass 3: 9/11 – 9/22
- Functional System Administrator Training: 8/7 – 8/18
- Release 7.1 Go-Live: 10/30
For more information on the CMM visit http://procurement.nasa.gov/cmm.
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eTravel readies to navigate major milestone reviews
This month, the eTravel team looks ahead to two major milestone reviews. The project’s Preliminary Design Review (PDR) is set for the week of June 3, 2006. The process provides a mechanism for the project team to review the eTravel’s system architecture and any NASA process design requirements that will be the common basis for all NASA Centers. This close look enables the review team to determine if both the system architecture and the Agency process design are technically sound, if any requirement or process gaps exist, and if the system can support the module requirements. The PDR also provides an opportunity to verify that the Agency process design is ready to move into the verification stage.
The Non-Advocate (NAR) Review is also set to start June 5, 2006. A NAR is an independent review of projects conducted at the end of a formulation phase. This important look at the project gives NASA management an assessment of the readiness status for the project. This ok must be gained before the project team can proceed into the implementation phase. (The corresponding IEMP phase is the blueprinting phase.) Once the review process is successfully completed, a recommended project baseline can be established.
The eTravel team is becoming accustomed to such close scrutiny. On May 16, 2006 the team held their Steer Committee Review (SCR). This meeting conducted to review and obtain a decision / approval on the eTravel project recommendations for business process reengineering changes and to resolve issues with current relationships between NASA’s travel service contracts.
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 excessive 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.
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i-View team shift gears towards major upgrade
The i-View tech team has its first major upgrade in some time schedule do next month. All the system’s four thousand plus users are enthusiastic waiting to catch a glimpse of the new changes which are on the way. The i-View team has also been busy finalizing a program events calendar. This piece will be a deliverable for the i-View community. Many users have been clamoring to see a program calendar since i-View’s debut. Users are hoping for a better, more centralized way to track of the programs’ events within the Integrated Enterprise Management Community.
The i-View team is still working to bring as many NASA people into the portal community. The team recently conducted user workshops with the IV&V Fairmont NASA facility, as well as Glenn Research Center and Goddard Space Flight Center.
i-View was also used to support IEMP FY07 and FY08 Budget Submissions.
i-View allows the ease of 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 lend added support to the Contract Management Module Project (CMM), and i-View plans to play host to the SMRT reports which will soon be moved to a production environment.
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MdM makes “Structure Reports” available online
Last month we announced that the Metadata Manager (MdM) is now on the Integrated Enterprise Management Program’s portal, the i-View which features a new virtual page on the portal which affords users the ability to view MdM related documents and presentations. Now, a Reports Release has been made which allows for several minor reporting enhancements for MdM. The end users can see the documents without a pass word, and the release delivered one piece of new key functionality for the non-user community. The Structure reports for 2006 and 2007 Formulation (both programmatic and institutional hierarchies) are now available. These reports can be found at https://budget.nasa.gov and do not require an MdM user name or a password.
Currently, the MdM team is preparing for another maintenance release. As part of their usual upkeep, regular Super user Teleconferences are held every other week to keep the project team and users aligned on any outstanding questions or issues. Several MdM team representatives also plan to share updates and status reports at the 2006 Center Business Process Lead (CBPL) Summit in June at NASA Ames Research Center.
The MdM team delivered their first maintenance release on January 13, 2006. The upgrade contained a few minor enhancements, defect fixes and one piece of exciting functionality. Early February saw the team launch the MdM to SAP interface. The enhancement provides a real time synchronous interface which updates SAP instantaneously as code requests are approved in MdM. This new process replaces the much antiquated and slower procedure of a two day turn around as codes were manually entered into SAP at the Competency Center. Later in the month, the MdM provided a structure rollover from the 2007 Formulation structure to the 2008 Formulation structure. Both releases help to streamline the speed and overall ease of the tool.
MdM is the new web-based tool which 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. 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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SVU moves forward with project milestone reviews
The SAP Version Upgrade (SVU) is set to hold a Test Readiness Review (TRR) this week (5/10/06) as the team prepares for a closer look at the system’s technical capability. The team also plans to conduct a Delta Critical Design Review (CDR) in conjunction with 7.1 Pass 1 Delta Test Readiness Review on Thursday, June 1, 2006. The Delta CDR, which examines all aspects of the project, and the Delta TRR, which focuses on the project’s technical qualities are both critical project reviews. The close look gives the SVU governance body the ability to determine the forward movement of project activity.
Next month, the Delta CDR will discuss resolution and actions taken to resolve yellow and red Readiness indicators across the Integrated Product Teams. The team says they will focus on areas of concern including Data Migration and Process. The SVU team’s initial Critical Design Review was held in late April. During that meeting, the CDR presented the updated Agency Business Process design and requirements and included additional updates from each of the Project’s Integrated Product teams (IPTs). Members from the Financial Executive Round Table, the Financial Steering Group, IEMP Office and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer were all in attendance. Representatives from the Program Assessment and Evaluation Group (PA&E), Office of Chief Engineer (OCE), and Center Implementation Project Managers also participated in the CDR. Some outstanding items remained opened for discussion at the Financial Steering Group meeting which was held just last week (5/02/06).
The Systems, Applications, and Product (SAP) Version Update Project has been established to update Core Financial to mySAP ERP 2005 (the 2005 SAP software upgrade for Enterprise Resource Planning). The SAP Version Update (SVU) will contribute to improvements in NASA’s financial recording and reporting, support the goal of achieving financial management integrity, and expand Core Financial functionality to better meet the needs of the project management community. SVU will expand Core Financial functionality to better meet the needs of the project management community, contribute to improvements in NASA’s financial recording and reporting, and improve financial management.
For any additional updates on SVU visit the team’s project page located on i-View.
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