NSW DET SAP roll-out to hit schools soon
The NSW Department of Education has completed rolling out SAP financial systems to offices and TAFEs under the department's Learning Management and Business Reform (LMBR) program, which started in 2006.
The program intended to adopt SAP Financial, Human Resources and Payroll systems to meet government reporting requirements. The existing systems were over 15 years old, expensive and lacking in integration, according to the department.
Design of the SAP systems started in 2008 and the build phase started in January 2009. The finalised SAP program was delivered in November 2009.
State and regional offices went live in March this year, while TAFE NSW's moved over in October, according to a NSW audit report. The next stage to be completed is the roll-out to public schools.
The software build for the school is expected to be completed this year, with the implementation of the products intended for 2011. The phase is expected to cost $153 million.
Also said to be included in the phase was TAFE's move to SAP payroll and HR systems, which the audit report did not mention if that had occurred. An older timeline released by the Department of Education placed the TAFE payroll roll-out after the schools' Financial roll-out.
When the schools and the TAFE HR and payroll roll-outs have been completed, the first phase of the LMBR will be over, allowing the second phase to begin. Phase two includes the development of a student administration system for schools and TAFE NSW, as well as the implementation of a human resources and payroll system in schools and offices are expected to launch in 2014 and 2012 respectively.
The second phase is expected to cost $218 million.
The budget has seen a $47.2 million increase, according to the audit report, because the original business case hadn't identified how much training software maintenance and support would be required.
A large chunk of the additional funding ($12.4 million) will go to training, while $9.2 million will go to software maintenance, $10.6 million will go to salaries and on-costs, and $7.2 million will go to computer support.
The total costs incurred up to 30 June 2010 for the program have been $119 million, according to the audit report.