Target Financial Management Systems Structure
The primary goal of financial management system modernization at USAID is a single, integrated financial management system (IFMS). The IFMS architecture is intended to support the mission of the Agency, comply with federal requirements and standards, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Agency operations, and deliver electronic government solutions. The goal will be achieved by adherence to the disciplines of architecture planning, capital investment planning, business process re-engineering, and systems engineering. This will ensure that plans are business-focused rather than technology-driven, results-oriented rather than process-driven, and developed by business managers rather than technology specialists alone.
USAID has made transformation of the Agency to a world class, 21st century international development and humanitarian assistance organization, one of its highest priorities. Management reform is a key element of this transformation. Specifically, the vision for USAID consists of a new direction in modernizing Agency business systems and a comprehensive business transformation agenda.
USAID senior managers will lead this business systems transformation in a three-staged approach. Stage one involves modernizing the Agency's business systems worldwide by standardizing and integrating processes and systems, and aligning the Agency business model with the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA). In stage two, the Agency will adapt business processes to anticipate and respond to changing requirements such as expanded use of federal government cross-servicing and outsourcing key administrative services.
By stage three, the Agency will deploy adaptive capabilities to the community of development and humanitarian assistance providers. The following are examples of stage three capabilities: suppliers can electronically submit invoices; vendors can determine their expenditures via the internet; and Congress will have ready access to information related to program objectives, results, and approaches.
The target financial management system will:
- Provide complete, reliable, timely, and consistent information.
- Apply consistent internal controls to ensure the integrity and security of information and resources.
- Utilize a common data classification structure to support collection, storage, retrieval, and reporting of information.
- Provide an information portal to the Agency's financial management data resources with a similar look and feel accessible wherever USAID operates.
- Utilize an open framework and industry standards for data interchange and interoperability.
- Provide, on demand, value-added information products and services.
- Ensure that standardized processes are utilized for similar kinds of transactions.
- Remain flexible and modifiable to business changes.
- Support timely, accurate, and cost-effective electronic exchange of information with customers and external partners.
USAID and the State Department recently upgraded their respective versions of the Momentum software, and are currently operating the same version. Both Agencies plan to run from a common infrastructure from State's facility in Charleston, South Carolina, by November 2005. Both USAID and State will maintain separate financial systems. During FY 2005, the USAID and State joint planning group conducted analyses and evaluations of systems requirements to achieve the target level of cooperation.
The two agencies can expect to achieve savings and efficiencies by integrating infrastructure and coordinating deployment efforts. USAID and State submitted a joint business case for FY 2005 – FY 2007 that provides a general outline of the integration.
In 2004, they conducted a study to determine the requirements, and in FY 2005, they conducted testing for mutual deployment. The interagency working group recommendations and the subsequent interagency service level agreements will dictate the future planning and acquisition strategy for USAID's financial systems in Washington, as well as overseas.
To achieve this vision, the data, systems, services, and technical infrastructure will be engineered, configured, and optimized to operate in an integrated fashion to deliver Agency-wide financial management support. This target financial management system architecture will be implemented in a modular fashion, and is guided by, and is consistent with, the Agency's target enterprise architecture.
Overseas deployment plans detail a centralized architecture to allow easier maintenance, security, and operational efficiency. To provide around the clock support required for mission operations, the telecommunications and technical architecture will be upgraded. The specific configuration was determined as overseas rollout plans were implemented. The infrastructure business cases detail the telecommunications upgrades. In addition, one Phoenix Regional Solution Center (PRSC) was implemented in Cairo, Egypt. A second PRSC will be established in Manila, Philippines, in early FY 2006.
The business functions of the Agency will increasingly be supported by a combination of commercial software products and third party service providers. Public sector and private sector third party service providers will provide essential feeder systems to the Agency's core financial system.
The increasing reliance of foreign affairs agencies on shared telecommunications infrastructure, co-located facilities overseas, and common financial transaction processing services may suggest alternative implementation strategies for the IFMS. An interoperability framework consisting of policies, standards, practices, hardware, and software will enable the Agency to more effectively utilize commercial software products and third party service providers to develop the IFMS as both technologies and service providers evolve.
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