Title
Chief Administrative Officer recommending the Board:
1) With the concurrence of the Human Resources Director, approve the new County-wide class specification, Enterprise Resource Planning Analyst job classification;
2) Approve the revised class specification for the Business Systems Analyst I/II classification;
3) Adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 187-2020 to approve the following:
a) The job class number, bargaining unit, and salary range for the Enterprise Resource Planning Analyst as recommended by the Human Resources Director;
b) The addition of 1.0 full time equivalent (FTE) Business Systems Analyst I/II position to the Information Technologies Department;
c) The addition of 1.0 FTE Enterprise Resource Planning Analyst position in the Auditor’s Office;
d) The addition of 1.0 FTE Enterprise Resource Planning Analyst position in the Chief Administrative Office; and
4) Approve a budget transfer increasing appropriations in the three departments and lowering general fund contingency by $247,800 (4/5th vote required).
FUNDING: General Fund with partial cost recovery through the A-87 cost plan.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
In 2018 the County implemented the FENIX financial system and in 2019 implemented the FENIX payroll system. The implementation of a new financial system was essential as the prior financial system was an outdated, mainframe program. Unlike other jurisdictions, El Dorado County did not hire additional staff to support the implementation and instead relied on existing staff. Due to the efforts and commitment of existing staff, the County was successful in implementing the FENIX system with the primary goal to transition from the mainframe environment. Since implementation in 2018, regular vendor updates to the software have required extensive internal testing which often results in software errors that need to be corrected, further impacting staffing resources. The impact has resulted in resource constraints which have prevented the implementation of many functions and features of the new enterprise resource system, many of these additions would benefit the County, including the elimination of many paper and manual processes.
During the FY 2020-21 Recommended Budget process, as well as during the Public Hearing, the Auditor-Controller recommended three additional positions be assigned to his office to support the FENIX system. After much discussion among the Executive Sponsors which include the CAO, Auditor, and IT Director, as well as discussions with the Department Head leadership team, it has been determined additional resources are needed to support the FENIX system and process improvements.
One of the priorities identified during discussions with the Department Head leadership team was to ensure the additional resources would be assigned solely to improving the functionality of FENIX, be accountable for demonstrated improvements, and if not successful the need for the positions would be re-evaluated.
Organization Structure/Reporting Structure
To assist in ensuring accountability and improvements to the FENIX system, the CAO is recommending a matrix reporting structure as summarized below.
Currently, the operational administration of the FENIX system is managed by Amanda Earnshaw in the IT Department, Laura Schwartz in the Chief Administrative Office and Melanie Young in the Auditor’s Office. All three of these individuals have workloads that exceed their capacity which results in delays to those priorities when they are addressing issues related to FENIX. In addition, due to these other, primary responsibilities, they do not have sufficient time to implement business process improvements.
By allocating one new position to each department, the three new positions will provide the staff support needed by Ms. Earnshaw, Ms. Schwartz and Ms. Young. While the appointing authority for each department has the ultimate hiring/firing decision, this model is intended that the three new positions will be interviewed, selected, assigned work and evaluated through a team approach with oversight from Ms. Earnshaw, Ms. Schwartz and Ms. Young.
As is done currently, policy issues will be raised to the FENIX Executive Sponsors which consists of the CAO, Auditor and IT Director. Moving forward, the Executive Sponsors will then report all progress, challenges and reasons for delays to the County’s Information Technology Steering Committee and if there are concerns that cannot be resolved, to the Board of Supervisors.
The following is a summary of the job duties within each department:
Information Technologies Department
The additional FENIX position assigned to the Information Technologies (IT) Department will report to the Project Manager responsible for Fenix implementation, focusing first on the five phase close items, then the implementation of the remaining modules. Upon completion, the Business Systems Analyst I/II (BA) will continue to support Fenix and any future planning to leverage the full capabilities of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System.
The Business Systems Analyst (BA) will be responsible for working with the Auditor’s Office, Chief Administrative Office, and all County departments to document business needs and correlating those needs to the business solutions offered within the ERP. The position will analyze the impact of patches, hot fixes, system upgrades and new development work. Due to the volume of changes implemented by the vendor, it is critical to manage these changes and communicate the impact to the end users and business customers, as well as coordinate the necessary testing required to successfully implement change. The BA will be responsible for setting up and maintaining automated testing to streamline the testing process within the IT Department prior to releasing to the business, minimizing impact to the business.
The BA will also be responsible for resolving issues and developing business solutions working with HR, Payroll, Fiscal, and other departments within the county. Due to the confidential nature of this data and work, is it recommended that the additional position be in the Confidential Employee unit. As this is the first time the Business Analyst position will be a Confidential Employee, a revised class specification is recommended for approval that only updates the bargaining units for the classification.
Upon establishment of the IT Governance model and IT Steering Committee (ITSC), the BA will develop information to assist the ITSC in prioritization of tasks within the ERP system to continue to benefit the county.
Auditor-Controller
Similar to the IT Department, at the time of implementation no additional resources were added to support the implementation of FENIX. However, in 2018 one position was transferred from Human Resources to the Auditor’s Payroll Division, and two additional positions were added to the Payroll Division to assist in managing the FENIX - Payroll system.
The addition of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Analyst position will provide essential, full time dedicated resource updating and enhancing the Fenix system. The vendor that provides El Dorado County with the Fenix software, Tyler Technologies, modifies the software a number of times each year. Each time the software is updated, it must be thoroughly reviewed and examined by Auditor staff (and staff from other departments) in a test environment before it can actually be used by the County, requiring an extensive amount of staff time which results in delays to other priority services provided by the Auditor’s office.
This position, in partnership with the ERP Analyst position in the CAO’s office will be dedicated solely to the FENIX system and will include functions such as working with the Business Systems Analyst in the IT Department and other County departments to identify and implement business process improvements, updating training guides and user manuals, and providing training and technical assistance to department staff on the use of the FENIX system.
Chief Administrative Office
The additional FENIX position assigned to the Chief Administrative Office will report to the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer responsible for Central Services. The position will be focused on the following three areas:
1) Procurement and Contracts: The position will provide support for the County’s centralized Procurement and Contracts with responsibility for testing all new service packs, researching and writing updates to guides and follow up with Tyler Technologies on system errors within the Procurement and Contracts modules.
2) Accounts Receivable/General Billing: Currently the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer is one of the leads for implementation of the Accounts Receivable/General Billing module of FENIX. This is a new module and the Community Development Finance division which provides budget and fiscal support for the Department of Transportation, Planning & Building and Environmental Management is responsible for testing the general billing functionality to determine if the County should move forward with implementation. The new FENIX position, with oversight from the Deputy CAO, will be responsible for working with the division, Information Technologies and the Auditor’s office to analyze the functionality of the new module and determine if modifications need to be written or business processes changed. If the determination is made to move forward, this position will be responsible for writing guides and providing countywide training on the new module.
3) Overall Improved FENIX functionality: There are still many areas of FENIX that are not used to the full potential, such as the project ledger which impacts departments throughout the County. The CAO’s office has the benefit of providing fiscal and administrative support to over 15 county departments. One of the core values of this model is to provide consistent accounting and reporting practices leading to opportunities for cross training, shared resources, greater efficiency and easier audit reviews. The new FENIX position will be a resource to analyze how the fiscal units are using FENIX and to provide recommendations for better reporting; identify areas where improved training is needed; update guides, and provide support for testing of new service packs. This position would not only focus on the 15 departments currently served by the CAO’s office, but would also reach out to all County departments to identify training needs and analyze requests for process improvements.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could choose not to adopt the new class specifications or approve the new allocations and direct staff to make revisions or conduct additional analysis.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
09/18/2020 Legistar Item 20-1269 - Budget Hearing
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
Auditor-Controller, Human Resources, Information Technology
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The maximum annual cost for the Business Systems Analyst position in IT is approximately $159,600 and for the remaining six months of FY 2020-21 approximately $79,800. The maximum annual cost for one ERP Analyst is $168,000 and for the remaining six months of FY 2020-21 $84,000. The estimated costs are maximum costs that allow for filling the positions at Step 5 with highest benefits in the event of internal candidates filling the positions. If the positions are filled at a lower step there may be salary savings at the end of FY 2020-21 with lower ongoing costs. Costs will be paid from the General Fund with partial cost recovery through the A-87 Cost Plan.
A budget transfer outlined in Attachment D increases appropriations in Information Technologies, the Auditor-Controller’s Office, and the Chief Administrative Office by $247,800 to fund the positions for the remaining half of Fiscal Year 2020-21. To offset the increase in appropriations, general fund contingency will be lowered by the same amount.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
Upon Board adoption and approval, please provide a copy of the fully executed Resolution to Katie Lee in Human Resources.
Upon Board approval, please have the chair sign the budget transfer and return it to the Chief Administrative Office for processing.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
This request works toward the good governance theme to implement systems that improve system-wide process, data-sharing, and departmental collaboration.
CONTACT
Don Ashton, MPA
Chief Administrative Officer