Enterprise financial systems have been implemented by several state agencies. Because this type solution is a fairly new concept to state agencies, we thought it pertinent to obtain the opinion of representatives of several of those organizations relating to their enterprise solution lessons learned. We selected five state agencies that have implemented financial enterprise solutions and interviewed representatives of their Accounting Office, Budget Office and Information Office for financial systems. We have summarized their common concerns and issues below.

• Do not underestimate the project—without previous experience, enterprise project efforts and resources are underestimated.
• Learn and understand the software before you begin the project. The project team cannot configure the system to maximize the ability of the software without this knowledge. Business users must become intimate with the software and data; do not rely on technical staff.
• Reengineer the department as part of the project. The department must be supportive of the change.
• Do not customize the system, reengineer processes or make other business changes. Many customizations were control agency requirements or formats. To avoid customizations, the control agencies must participate in the reengineering process.
• Configure the system to meet the departments “new” business needs versus the old processes.
• Accounting and business knowledge and analytical skills are critical. Differentiate between staff that may be good at the existing processes versus accounting and business knowledge. Additional training may be required.
• User participation, dedication, and business drivers are critical.
• Validate cost estimates.
• Avoid overly aggressive schedules; for a department-wide implementation a schedule of less than a year is not realistic.
• Anticipate employee turnover; all employees will not embrace the new technology or the changes in business processes.
• Anticipate new business needs and possible new functions, for example: continuous software upgrades and patches are a significant workload; comprehensive and integrated testing must always be performed; establish a dedicated functional unit that can maintain the system. Existing state classifications should be reviewed.
• Prepare and recognize changes in duties, responsibilities, and relationships in all areas involving the software.
• The system integrates data and as a result integrates staff; actions affect multiple organizational areas.
• The learning curve is very steep; it can take two years to become proficient on the system. Training requirements are greater than anticipated because complexity is greater than anticipated.
• Train users in new processes at the same time you train in the new software.
• Keep all validations turned-on; these are the controls that affect data integrity.
• Map data and functions; “clean” existing data before any conversion.
• Run parallel with the old and the new system; it is additional workload but worth the effort.
• Consultants and state employees have a different frame of reference. Transfer of knowledge is two directional. Select a good consultant partner, but don’t exclusively rely on consultants.
• Implement all the modules—not just some—they really do integrate.

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