Mini Case Study - Requirements gathering for Core Systems replacement

• To meet the ongoing needs of the organisation, replacement of the core systems was identified to achieve integration, better outcomes for Council leveraging data to inform business decisions • A Request for Tender process was determined to engage the market for an ERP. • An ERP was determined to provide organisational view of individual departments of Risk Management, Workplace, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Regulatory Management and Development Planning through integration and functional alignment. • Josh Keegan was engaged to conduct workshops across key functional areas of the organisation to understand and establish process maps and functional requirements across the business be utilised within the RFT . © Josh Keegan 2016

What were the underlying issues?

What changes were required?

• Lack of system integration: The initial approach of a core system replacement was strongly resisted by key stakeholders due to change fatigue and previous history of ‘bestfit’ departmental solutions. • Lack of understanding of the operating environment: A comprehensive overview of the organisation, financial income and expenditure, asset base, human resource etc. was able to be obtained • Pre-existing cultural and behavioural barriers: Functional misalignment across the organisation, creating functional silos, leading to the purchase of individual systems without consideration of integration or compatibility requirements. • Limited understanding a system and process would provide a complete solution: Establishing a system to would not incorporate the organisation as a whole, leading to ‘best-fit’ software for parts of the organisation without integration.

• Create alignment of stakeholders at all levels: Manage stakeholder expectations at all levels by providing consistent message that ‘one-size fits all’ leads to further system and staff disparity as it only caters for a limited part of the organisation and not the business a whole. • Extend beyond technical requirements to include ‘soft factors’: Working with the Project Manager, governance and direction, skills and culture-change needed to be incorporated into project activity to ensure sustainability and create value. • Utilise a singular approach whilst documenting for different operating needs and derive explicit requirements: To comprehensively identify requirements, workshops were conducted under a standardised format eliciting Council process information, data and work volumes, vital for the RFT process.

What was achieved?

• Developed 29 process maps across the business describing the functions of Risk Management, Workplace, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Regulatory Management and Development Planning as it relates to an ERP. • Completed analysis of the above process models, documenting the functional requirements for Request for Tender (RFT) for the ERP, meeting and exceeding client expectations. • Established business process modelling conventions for the organisation.