Summer 07
Vol. 12 No. 3

Q. The second phase of the new enterprise resource planning system was supposed to go live in early January. But it didn’t. What happened? When will it go live?

A. SAP, the new ERP system, will automate many functions and streamline many of our old payroll processes. It helps us achieve my goal of making City Hall the most efficient and effective operation in the country. Also, this new system provides a solution that can support our operation for the next 15-20 years.

With the next phase of SAP’s implementation, our objective is to ensure that 13,000 municipal employees, 5,000 police officers, and 4,000 firefighters are paid correctly. Over the past four months, the project team has conducted extensive testing of our new human resources and payroll systems. This testing included a comparison of two complete payroll cycles. Our testing demonstrated the capabilities of the new system, helped identify bugs, and highlighted gaps in business requirements. These problems have been fixed, and the system is ready for the next round of testing.

The testing process required the review of pay calculations for more than 44,000 paychecks. This tedious comparison was productive, but it slowed up the project schedule, which delayed the training of more than 1,000 employees. The delay also kept departments from preparing their personnel to use the new system. Therefore, we are pushing back the implementation date to around April.

Q. What are the benefits of delaying the go-live date?

A. Ensuring that all city workers are paid properly and on time is the most important aspect of this implementation. During the next three months, city employees on the project will conduct two additional test cycles that will allow employees to practice their new roles and help reduce the risk of employees being paid incorrectly.

Q. How will the delay affect employees?

A. City business will continue as normal. The Advantage AMS payroll system will produce your paychecks until SAP is fully implemented. For those learning to use SAP, the delay will give them more time to be trained.

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Do you have a question for Mayor Bill White? Send it to City Savvy, 611 Walker, 4A or hrenewsletter
@cityofhouston.net with your name and work phone number, which will not be used in Savvy. They are necessary in case of a question.