FST: What's next as 2019 begins

This post is a condensed version of "FST 2019 New Year Update" by James Gorman. Visit the Online Finance Community to read Gorman's entire post.

FST Accomplishments

We crossed a few key hurdles in 2018's Finance Strategic Transformation Phase 1 Planning Stage.

Our biggest accomplishment is that we completed the current state review. Approximately 150 people from across UVA participated in a variety of workshops focused on gathering insight on our current processes, top areas for improvement, and a vision for how Finance should work in the future.

Part of this process included gathering the unique functional requirements that we would need from a financial system in order to serve our needs, and comparing those requirements with the capabilities of Workday Financials.

You can see the results from our workshops and associated activities in the Finance Online Community: 

BPMM Final Workshop Results 

Consolidated Requirements

Looking Ahead

Phase 1, the Assessment and Planning Phase, is on track to finish by the end of March.

During this time, we're planning to take the information we have gathered and develop a transformation roadmap that lays out the recommended path for Finance Strategic Transformation. We'll also prepare a Total Cost of Ownership for both the near and long term.

We will also pull a number of university leaders together for a Vision and Goals Alignment workshop. Before this workshop, we will survey and interview leaders from the schools, colleges, and units, then get this group together with a facilitator to solidify the group's aims and commitment to making the vision a reality.

Budgeting and Planning Pilots

During the summer of 2019, the College of Arts & Sciences and the Curry School of Education will do a pilot of Adaptive Insights, a budgeting and planning application that was recently acquired by Workday. As the School of Medicine has already implemented Anaplan, we will have solid experiences to compare and contrast between the applications to inform decisions for all of UVA. Watch for more on this!

Thank you to all who have contributed to Phase 1 -- we look forward to a continued partnership with you!