In order to leverage the new HRMS, the new account code structure introduced with the Financials system several years ago, and to continue Maricopa's plan to transition away from VAX based applications, a plan to develop a new Budget Development System was developed and approved. Several RFP attempts and other research into commercial products did not turn up any suitable, cost effective off-the-shelf applications. A development team was formed (Debra Thompson, John Taylor, Tom Gleason, and Jason Pociask), a Steering team with representation from the college and district Fiscal Officers and Administrative Services Group was formed, and Dr. Rufus Glasper accepted the role of executive sponsor.

An outside consultant was used to facilitate a series of meetings in which the specifications for the new system were refined and ratified.

Phase one of the new system is in testing, and the core reports are being completed. This application will use the same user interface as the HRMS system, and will be hosted on the same servers supporting the HRMS system. Phase one will have some negative impact since each user will now need to have client software loaded on their machine, but it is viewed as a temporary situation. Phase two, including use of the PeopleSoft web technology will allow a much larger group of people to provide budget input (especially department chairs and their support staff) via a web interface. It is anticipated that Tom Gleason will return to his job in Internal Audit and leverage his newly developed PeopleSoft and Oracle skills from his role as technology auditor.

The development team has been understaffed since the unexpected departure of John Taylor. A consultant has been retained to develop the core reports, and it is anticipated that an OYO will be hired during the 2000-2001 fiscal year to assist Jason with development of phase two and take over support of the application as the user base grows during phase two implementation.

Since the development team was made up of reassigned volunteers, continued development during the coming fiscal year will be a challenge. Significant upgrades in the supported technology are expected during the new year. The recently formed Quality Assurance team will be working closely with the BDS team to implement version control, testing standards, and web enabled documentation while Jason (hopefully with one additional individual, most likely an OYO) moves forward with the creation and implementation of the budget request and planning module. Effective completion of phase two will result in password access to the budget development system through a web browser for department chairs and their support staff.

Beyond the development of BDS, the Budget Office is also interested in the implementation of a Financial System Data Warehouse to assist with trend analysis.