December 17, 2001 [Number 221]     Printable version (379k PDF)     Download Adobe Reader

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Update on NBRSS—Configuration Phase to Begin

The NIH Business and Research Support System (NBRSS) now encompasses both the NIH Business System (NBS) and the Enterprise Human Resources and Payroll (EHRP) project.

NBS—Configuration Phase

The NBS is concluding the design phase of the project, which encompasses the development of models for business processes in the functional areas of financial management, travel, service and supply fund, research and development contracts, acquisition and supply, and property. After months of weekly meetings, the NBS Functional Teams, in conjunction with their respective advisory groups, are finishing up the design, review, and approval of the future processes so they can forge ahead into the next phase of the project, configuration.

The configuration phase of the NBS comprises two Conference Room Pilots (CRP), which are controlled environments where the Oracle Application software and NIH workflow procedures will be configured and tested.

• Conference Room Pilot—CRP1 (begun in November 2001)

  The Functional Teams and Systems Integrator will work together, configuring the Oracle Application software to be consistent with the work processes developed in the Design Phase. The configured software will then be tested within each functional area. As configuration and testing proceed, the work processes may require modifications, and customization issues may emerge requiring review, evaluation, and decisions by the Administrative Management Systems Steering Committee.

• Conference Room Pilot—CRP2 (scheduled to begin in February 2002)

  The software will be further tested to ensure that all NBS functions are integrated. Interfaces between the various functions and between the Administrative Data Base (ADB) and NBS will be tested to verify their effectiveness, and system administration will be tested to evaluate cross-functional integration of workflow. Finally, data conversion and NBS and ADB interfaces will be fully tested using live data whenever feasible.

  Financial Management will be the first module to go live with the new NBS system, and its rollout is scheduled for September of 2002.

EHRP

The EHRP team has been actively engaged in activities to implement the EHRP at NIH. The team has focused on

• collaborating with DHHS to implement the NIH component of the EHRP
• developing a project implementation plan
• working with CIT and the Human Resources (HR) and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) communities to prepare for the data migration to the new EHRP system
• developing an approach for supporting the HR data requirements for the NIH HR Database (HRDB) and the NBS.

The team has recently installed the DHHS’s development version of the PeopleSoft product and is formulating plans for conducting a functional-fit analysis with participation from NIH EHRP stakeholders. The purpose of the functional-fit analysis is to evaluate where the DHHS-configured version of PeopleSoft meets ("fits") and does not meet ("gaps") NIH’s business requirements. Where gaps are identified, solutions for addressing them will be proposed for consideration by the NIH EHRP stakeholders.

More Information

A convenient way to learn more about the NBRSS project is via the Web page, NBS Matters—look for the latest edition of NBRSS Today, the newsletter established to keep the NIH community abreast of NBRSS project activities.

The NBRSS team encourages you to share the publication and Web address with your colleagues, staffs, and others who may be impacted by, or interested in, the NBRSS implementation. This is an opportunity to help ensure that your organizational needs are met.

Your questions and comments are most welcome. Please send them to Marina Gregory at gregorym@mail.nih.gov.