Approximately 110 representatives from all eight campuses, NSHE, and Business Center North (BCN) and Business Center South (BCS) participated in the inaugural three days of Prototype 1, Phase 2 Testing last week at SCS Reno and SCS Las Vegas. Phase 2 Testing continues this week and next, ending March 2.
It marks the first time the Project’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from all campuses are seeing our Workday configuration in action. Testers saw demonstrations of the Business Processesthat the Project Team, Designees, SMEs and our implementation consultant Sierra-Cedar, Inc. (SCI) spent the past several months designing as part of NSHE’s Workday configuration. (Business Processes are the sequence of tasks employees complete to accomplish a business objective, such as hiring an employee or paying an invoice.) The testers are using Test Scenarios –previously developed, pre-defined scripts that test our configuration and show which processes are working as designed and which processes need adjustment – to further exercise the system.
Both week’s testing exercised many Business Processes. Functional areas tested included: recruiting, hiring and re-hiring in Human Capital Management (HCM); procurement in Finance; and authorizations and basic expense reporting in Grants.
SMEs Offer Their Perspectives
“I think Workday will be great for my campus,” said Al Hardimon, Post-Award Manager, Budget Analyst and a Project/Cost Accounting SME at Nevada State College. “This system is going to be a one-stop shop. We’re going to be able to eliminate a lot of [Microsoft] Excel spreadsheets and Access databases.”
College of Southern Nevada Controller and Project/Cost Accounting SME Melody Deng found value in SMEs being together to see and test the configuration. “Our SMEs are very busy with their regular day-to-day tasks, which made it difficult to set aside time to do testing,” she said. “Having all the SMEs together for testing helps our discussion, brainstorming, and getting everyone on the same page. It was also helpful to be able to discuss issues with Nevada State and UNLV colleagues.”
Representatives of NSHE’s northern campuses are gathering together at SCS Reno. “I’m excited for Workday to roll out,” said Brenda Yenkole, HR Analyst and an HCM SME for Western Nevada College. “I’ll finally be able to pull needed reports with ease, and view benefit elections, deductions and history when employees come to me with questions. I’m also thrilled with the employee self-service option and the ability to complete the on-boarding process online. Employees will be able to see all benefit options available to them. The system provides much more information to everyone, all in one system.”
Team members representing Desert Research Institute (DRI) also reported a productive beginning to Phase 2. “Seeing these processes in Workday is giving us the opportunity to assess the future approach against our current paper and manual processes, which will equip us to streamline how we all work better together at DRI,” said Mark Bowers, Director of HR and a SME. “The feedback mechanism has been simplified significantly, which has sped up testing and improved the focus on learning and testing the system. We appreciate all the effort of those who have worked so hard to set up and configure this system for NSHE. We also appreciate the patience of our employees while significant HR resources are dedicated to this testing process.”
Other Activities
In addition to Phase 2 Testing, other work continues, including:
- Human Capital Management
The Team continues to review the process of converting “period activity pay” information into the P1 Tenant (our online testing platform). Period activity pay is flat-rate compensation paid for completion of a specific job or task that isn’t based on the number of hours an employee works. Within our institutions, it’s paid primarily to part-time instructors and graduate assistants.
- Finance
Phase 2 testers are reviewing the structure of the Financial Data Model (FDM). The FDM is the multi-dimensional structure of Workday accounting and financial reporting. It includes what we today refer to as the “Chart of Accounts.”One of the “to-dos” out of Prototype 1 Unit testing that concluded almost three weeks ago was to update the FDM based on the campus testers’ experiences as they executed their Test Scenarios. The Finance Team also continues to work on the FDM Crosswalk. “Crosswalks” are files and programs that ensure our legacy data maps (or links) correctly to the corresponding values in our Workday configuration.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Phase 2 Testing continues at both SCS locations Monday-Wednesday, Feb. 29-March 2, 2016, 8 AM-5 PM.