METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Blue River, Business & Technology, Longview, Maple Woods, Penn Valley
3200 Broadway Kansas City, MO 64111
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) # 15-7112-CP
Oracle Planning & Budgeting Cloud Services Consulting
Addendum #2 - Presentations
1. What are the ultimate goals of the project as we like to keep these in mind throughout the
implementation. What pain points are we solving for?
a. Implementation of the cloud based budging module to transition from Excel/Access
based budgeting
b. Integration with our PeopleSoft systems
c. Ease in annual budget creation
d. Ease in reporting
e. Ability to model/project budgets
2. Do you have a sense of the dimensionality of the application? For example, number of
accounts & statistics, employees, departments, periods (calendar or semesters), number of
years of history, scenarios? Often this information mirrors the General Ledger structure.
a. Our chartfields consist of Account, Fund, Department, Program and class as used in
PeopleSoft Financials.
b. We are not currently planning to load historical data
c. We would like to be able to mode/project/build scenarios for upcoming budget
periods – currently projecting 3 years out
3. Are you considering just an annual budget or will you be moving toward a rolling forecast?
a. Annual for initial roll-out with the potential for rolling forecasts
4. What other systems will PBCS need to integrate with? General Ledger? HR? Will extracts of
these systems be available as part of the implementation?
a. General Ledger
b. HR
c. Campus Solutions
d. We would like for assistance in determining extract needs
5. What will be the frequency of moving data in PBCS? Often times it is monthly once the
books are closed but can be more frequent if used for actual reporting.
a. We would like to look at a more frequent integration – daily or weekly
6. Will the data need to be exported out of the application to another system that requires
budget data? For example, back to the general ledger if variance reports are already built
there.
a. Yes, we currently run queries and reports out of PeopleSoft showing budgets to
actuals. We do not change approved budget without Board approval so the export
back to PS Financials would not be frequent
b. Potentially, we build monthly Board reports from this system but would like to
investigate reports out of PBCS
7. How much historical data will you need in the system? How many years and at what level of
detail?
a. We are not currently planning to load historical data
8. Are you able to provide examples of your current reporting process as it relates to the
budget? For example, reports in Excel that will need to be replaced. If not can we assume a
set number of reports (typically 10) will be needed and we will then train you on how to
build the rest? If not can you define the reports needed?
a. We currently run queries and reports out of PeopleSoft showing budgets to actuals.
We may not change this initially but we be open to other options.
9. How many users will be using the system? Will security be based on a specific dimension
such as accounts or departments?
a. We have 13 licenses but would like to publish reports
b. We would like to base security on roles – level of users
10. If there is a larger end user audience how will they be trained? Would you prefer for us to
train the administrators and users or should we take a “train the trainer” approach for end
user training?
a. We have 13 licenses
b. We would like training for end users but would like to tailor this to their specific
tasks – this may end up as a “train the trainer” approach.
11. Will you require support of the application for extended period post go-live or will you have
the resources in-house to maintain it? (Assume around 20 hours a month of support as an
average).
a. We may request support immediately after go-live but this would not be ongoing.
12. Will you have a dedicated individual on the project if not what percent of time can we
expect from MCCKC?
a. We have 4-6 resources that would be working on this part-time (ranging from 2050%). Examples of team members shown below.
i. Patricia Amick – Associate Vice Chancellor of Financial Services &
Administrative Systems
ii. Debbie Ball – Director of Budget & Planning
iii. Gary Schieber – Director of IT
iv. Patti Marriott – System Manager
v. Sherry Reece - Business Analyst
13. What roles will your team play on the project team?
a. Functional and some technical, depending on level needed
14. What level of experience do these project team members have with this type of
initiative and the technologies your organization expects to implement for this
initiative?
a. We implemented our current PeopleSoft system and are well versed in
software implementations
15. Where are these project team members located?
a. All centrally located at the Administrative Center in Kansas City, MO
16. What roles does your team expect consultants to play on the project team?
a. Knowledge experts and guidance in implementation of the system
17. What level of experience does your team expect consulting team members to have
with this type of initiative and the technologies you expect to implement for this
initiative?
a. high level of experience
18. Does your team expect that consulting project team members will be 100% allocated
to this project over the duration of the project?
a. We would like knowledgeable team members. If during the project planning it
is determined that individuals are not needed 100% of the time then that is
fine.
19. What is your team’s expectation about the location where consulting partner team
members will perform project work (for example, on-site, remote team participation,
other)?
a. This is available for discussion
20. Does your team have any expectation regarding consulting rates (minimums and
maximums) for roles on this project?
a. We are a not-for-profit and price is one factor in evaluating the RFP
21. Does your organization use a standard project management methodology (e.g.,
Agile, Waterfall, etc.) that a consulting partner is expected to employ for the initiative
outlined in the RFP documentation?
a. No
22. For this kind of initiative, we often build in-person workshops and meetings into the
project plan to help achieve team consensus and to more efficiently develop project
deliverables. Is your team open to this kind of approach, or do geographical or other
constraints preventing us from using this approach?
We are open to this approach and geography is not an issue
23. Based on the projected project timeline, there will be significant overlap with the
completion of the budget and the project. Is there a resource plan that will all for
MCC resources to be allocated away from the budget to assist with the project?
a. We would like these done in parallel to ensure correct implementation. We
do plan to work on both.
24. Will all of the listed PeopleSoft systems be required to integrate with PBCS in some
manner?
a. If possible
25. What type of functionality should exist for the “Budget Document Publishing” phase?
a. A budget book that can be taken to the Board for approval and/or monthly
reports
26. What type of functionality should exist for the “Budget Monitoring” phase?
a. Monitoring of budgets vs actuals – reports, queries, and/or dashboards
27. Is there currently a requirement to perform Budget Adjustments or Amendments? If
so, where is this currently performed? How many PeopleSoft systems does it affect?
a. Yes, we bring budget adjustments to our Board for approval mid-year. these
are then entered into PeopleSoft Commitment Control.
b. We would like this to occur more frequently, possibly each quarter.
28. Are the following processes currently being performed or will they be new along with
PBCS?
a. Historical & Multi-Year Budgeting – currently done and would like to continue
b. Strategic Planning – We would like for this to be done on a more consistent
and efficient manner in our budgeting process
29. What types of Scenarios are currently utilized and is there a desire to explore
additional types of models?
a. Changes driving our revenue streams (enrollment, state aid, local taxes)
b. Salary and Benefit increases driving expenses
30. How many dimensions/segments are currently used for Actuals? Does the number
differ for Planning/Budgeting?
a. We have a single scenario that is uploaded to PeopleSoft Commitment
Control once the annual budget is approved.
31. Are hierarchies/trees used for reporting and/or budgeting? How many are being
used?
a. We have trees for our annual audit reporting – for GASB classifications
32. How automated/manual is your current Budget entry process? What
changes/similarities are expected during the implementation of PBCS?
a. Upload of annual budget in June
b. Manual entry of budget changes throughout the year. We would like for
campuses to enter these and have them flow through for approval.
33. Are salary components factored using grades, steps, or any other standardized
approach?
a. We currently process annual salary increases using component interface to
PeopleSoft HCM (Job Data) based on a single increase per employee salary
range.
34. Are benefits option-based or are combined fringe rates used?
a. Rates are set per option chosen
35. What is currently expected of end users during the budgeting process? Will these
expectations change once PBCS is implemented?
a. Campuses/Dept budget owners submit their budget requests and these are
reviewed by the budget office
36. Do you have multi-currency and foreign exchange requirements?
a. No
37. Do you plan at different levels than you collect actuals?
a. No
38. Are budgets segmented by year, month, week, or some other time period?
a. Annual
39. What is the current process for populating budget spreadsheets?
a. Access database
40. If allocations are performed in your plan, what kind are done (for example, do you
allocate MIS based on computer usage, etc.)?
a. None
41. Do you have a fixed asset system that keeps track of all the assets you own today? If
yes, does the system forecast depreciation on currently owned assets, and if so, can
you obtain a download from that system?
a. We have PeopleSoft Asset Management which does forecast depreciation
42. Is the expectation that hierarchies would be fed from source, or maintained in
Hyperion?
a. This is an item to be discussed based on complexity.