Oracle Federal Forum Session Highlights for Federal Financial Managers

6th Annual Oracle Federal Forum 

Wednesday, 14 November 2012
7:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Wardman Park Marriott
2660 Woodley Road NW
Washington, DC 20008

Forum Tracks
(Session 1 – 10:15 a.m., Session 2 – 11:25 a.m., Session 3 – 12:35 p.m.)

Financial, Budget and Resource Management

• Oracle Financial Management Product Update
  • Oracle continues to be a leading provider of enterprise application solutions to the federal government. Cliff Godwin, Senior Vice President for Oracle E-Business Suite Development, and John Webb, Vice President for PeopleSoft Product Strategy, will provide a product update of these two applications solutions. They will also discuss benefits and directions that impact Oracle federal customers as these product solutions continue to evolve.
    
    Cliff Godwin, Senior Vice President, E-Business Suite Development, Oracle
    John Webb, Vice President for PeopleSoft Product Strategy, Oracle
• Enterprise Performance Management and Business Intelligence Customer Success Stories
  • The requirement for federal agencies to translate layers of data into useful information has never been greater. The federal budget process is one example of this requirement; when setting budgets an agency needs to determine and justify the resources needed to deliver on programmatic goals and objectives. A number of federal agencies have implemented Oracle Enterprise Performance Management solutions to support the budget formulation, execution, and analysis phases of the spending cycle. This session will feature customers who have done just that and have achieved real value.
    
    Crissman Nichols, Budget Analyst for the United States Census Bureau, Budget Division, Systems and Reporting Staff
    Neeraj Sharma, Infrastructure Lead, Office of Finance and Accounting, Indian Health Service
• Deriving Benefits from Shared Services
• The federal government has adopted a “shared first” policy when it comes to implementing new financial management systems. As a number of agencies are evaluating how to upgrade or improve current systems they are examining how shared services can provide a positive return on investment for their agency. This session will share solutions from three agencies that have adopted a shared services approach and have achieved significant gains.
  
  Dennis Coleman, Chief Financial Officer, Office of the CFO, Office of Personnel Management
  Kristine Prael, Deputy Chief, Finance and Procurement Systems Division, U. S. Department of the Interior, Interior Business Center
  Paul E. Deuley, Director, ARC Division of Franchise Services, Department of the Treasury

Workshops and Afternoon Sessions: (These sessions all run from 1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.)

Oracle E-Business Suite Federal Financials Development Update

• Attend this session to hear the latest information on development's planned investment areas and regulatory changes we are tracking, including:
• Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System (GTAS)
• Intra-Governmental Payment and Collections (IPAC)
• Secure Payment System (SPS)
• Payment Application Manager (PAM)
• Payment Information Repository (PIR)
• System for Award Management (SAM)
  
  Mike Barker, Director, Federal Programs, Oracle

PeopleSoft Federal Financials Development Update

• Attend this session to hear the latest information on development's planned investment areas and regulatory changes we are tracking, including:
• Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System (GTAS)
• Intra-Governmental Payment and Collections (IPAC)
• Secure Payment System (SPS)
• Payment Application Manager (PAM)
• System for Award Management (SAM)
• Payment Information Repository (PIR)
• Do Not Pay Business Center
  This presentation will also include an overview of the new 9.2 general features and functionality that provide value for all markets.
  
  Terry Thomas, Director PeopleSoft Financials Product Management, Oracle  

View All Sessions Here

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Biggest ERP Failures of 2010

No year in the IT industry would be complete without a number of high-profile ERP (enterprise resource planning) project failures, ones that burn through mountains of cash, bring company operations to a standstill, generate bad publicity for vendors and toss careers in the trash.


There's no one reason why ERP projects run off the rails. In fact, you can equate a typical project to a three-legged stool, with the customer, vendor and systems integrator each serving as a leg.

Customers have to plan well, budget enough money for training and evolve their usual way of working. Vendors must deliver software that functions properly and matches up well with a customer's business processes. And implementation teams have to set the right expectations, meet project milestones and avoid waste.

If one or more of these "legs" doesn't hold up, things can get ugly.

-Chris Kanaracus, PCWorld.com
READ MORE...

GAO: Pentagon is years from achieving clean financial books

The Defense Department is making progress toward the long-sought goal of putting its financial books in order, but it will take an extended commitment to get there, a top Government Accountability Office official told senators at a Wednesday hearing.

The Pentagon's business operations have long been on GAO's high-risk list. It is under orders from Congress to have its financial statements in auditable shape by 2017.

In the past, the Pentagon's efforts have been hindered by faulty requirements management, systems testing, and oversight, said Asif Khan, GAO's director of financial management and assurance.
Subcommittee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., said new military accounting systems are years behind schedule and at least $6.9 billion over their original budget.

Republican lawmakers were critical of the Pentagon's performance.

-Sean Reilly, FederalTimes.com
READ MORE...

HUD Re-awards HIFMIP Contract

After more than three years of proposal reviews, initial award, protests, re-submissions from vendors, re-evaluations, and re-protests, HUD's Contracting Office released an Award Notice on September 24, 2010 for the HUD INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (HIFMIP). Contract #C-OPC-23053 was awarded to IBM Global Business Services on September 23, 2010 for a maximum total value of $213,430,963.

Industry watchers see this award as a promising sign that OMB will allow additional departments and agencies to proceed with much needed financial management modernization programs.

HUD Re-Awards HIFMIP Contract to IBM

After more than three years of proposal evaluations, protests, re-submissions from vendors, and re-protests, HUD's Contracting Office released an Award Notice on September 24, 2010 for the HUD INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (HIFMIP). Contract #C-OPC-23053 was awarded to IBM Global Business Services on September 23, 2010 for a maximum total value of $213,430,963.

Industry watchers see this as a promising sign that OMB will allow additional departments and agencies to proceed with much needed financial management modernization programs despite the recent halt in activity due to OMB reviews.

Federal agencies cutting, revising $337 million worth of IT contracts

The Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday plans to announce the cancellation or restructuring of three multiyear information technology contracts totaling $337 million, according to senior administration officials.


The changes are part of the Obama administration's budgetary and management reforms designed to cut billions of dollars in wasteful and no-bid government programs and contracts.

According to the OMB, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to save $180 million and the Department of Housing and Urban Development will pocket about $44 million by restructuring two long-term IT contracts. The Small Business Administration should save $113 million by canceling a contract.

The Department of Veterans Affairs in July canceled a similar multiyear IT project slated to cost as much as $300 million. Other agencies may cancel or rewrite similar deals in the coming months, the OMB said.

The cuts announced Tuesday are "a classic outcome of what we expected when we looked more closely at these projects," said OMB Controller Danny Werfel. Though they amount to a small fraction of the $80 billion in annual federal IT costs, they are part of a series of reforms announced since the spring that administration officials hope demonstrate the White House's resolve to curtail government spending as deficit concerns dominate midterm election campaigns.

The cuts - and their impact on several Washington-area contracting firms - come as the Senate plans to pass a multibillion-dollar package of loans and tax relief for small businesses. They also add to growing fears that the Washington region could face significant layoffs as the government slashes billions in contracting deals.

In an interview Tuesday, OMB Deputy Director Jeffrey Zients said: "Our job is to focus on making sure every taxpayer dollar is well spent. There are plenty of opportunities for us to spend dollars on IT projects that have very high returns for taxpayers. We're going to make sure that the dollars are spent on high-return projects."

By Ed O'Keefe and Marjorie Censer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, September 14, 2010; 10:35 PM

ed.okeefe@washingtonpost.comcenserm@washpost.com Staff writer Dana Hedgpeth contributed to this report.

Find More:

Obama administration's IT Dashboard, a public Web site that compiles data on federal agencies' IT programs.

READ MORE...

Federal financial management system projects that have been frozen

The Office of Management and Budget made good on its promise to halt new spending on some federal agencies' financial management systems, last week releasing a list of 20 projects that cannot move forward until new plans are approved.

The programs span the agencies -- and more are likely to follow. In a statement, OMB said it expects about 30 financial system projects to be reviewed, but some systems are still being reviewed to see if they qualify.

OMB Director Peter Orszag called for the freeze on new task orders and procurements for selected systems' development or modernization, citing the typical sluggishness and high cost of the projects. To move forward, agencies must prepare plans that divide the projects into short-term tasks and include active monitoring of their progress.

Below is a list of the 20 projects, the total value of the contracts awarded thus far and the top identified contractor -- by contract value -- working on each one, according to the government's database.

-- Financial Management Modernization Initiative [FMMI]: $118.7 million - Accenture ($96 million)
Modernizes the Agriculture Department's outdated financial system technology.

-- Commerce Business Systems[CBS]: $48.6 million - MIL Corp. ($15.6 million)
An integrated financial management system that has been implemented in 12 of the 14 Commerce Department bureaus.
[DOC modernization remains in the planning stages]

-- Financial Management Support System: $68.6 million -- no contractor identified
The financial management system for the Education Department.
[EDCAPS]

-- CF iManage: $174.4 million -- IBM ($132.2 million)
Used by the Energy Department to improve financial and business efficiencies and integrate budget with performance.

-- Financial Replacement System: $109.8 million - CGI Federal ($83.1 million)
Modernizes the Environmental Protection Agency's financial systems to integrate systems.
[Financial System Replacement Project FSMP]

-- NIH Business System: $128.9 million - IAE Solutions ($20 million)
Standardizes financial data for the Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health.

-- Healthcare Integrated General Ledger Accounting System: not available - EDS (now HP Enterprise Services) ($4.7 million)
Allows the Department of Health and Human Services' Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to account for payments.
[IBM is the incumbent contractor]

-- Transformation and System Consolidation: Information not available.
[TASC - Proposals submitted, award pending]

-- Integrated Financial Management Improvement Project: Information not available.

-- Financial and Business Management System: $165.3 million - IBM ($116 million)
Integrates financial management, acquisition, property management, travel and more for the Interior Department.
[FBMS]

-- Unified Financial Management System: $174.3 million - IBM ($150 million)
Brings together existing and future financial management and procurement operations across the Justice Department.
[UFMS]

-- New Core Financial Management System: $63 million - GCE ($50.6 million)
Reduces duplicate processes and provides real-time transactions for the Labor Department.

-- Joint Financial Management System: $267.8 million - Haynes Inc. ($199.5 million)
A financial system collaboration between the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
[CGI recently awarded 10 yr, $400M consolidation and O&M contract]

-- Delphi - $153.3 million - no contractor identified
The Transportation Department's financial management and accounting system.
[Tantus-Onpoint, SRA]

-- Integrated Financial System/CORE Financial System: $24.4 million - CSC ($24.4 million)
Used by the Treasury Department's Internal Revenue Service for budget, payroll and all financial reporting, among other tasks.

-- Oracle e-Business Suite: $102.4 million - immixTechnology ($100.5 million)
Handles accounting, budgeting and reporting for the Treasury Department's Bureau of the Public Debt.

-- Financial and Logistics Integrated Technology Enterprise: $98.7 million -- no contractor identified
An initiative to replace existing financial and asset management systems with integrated systems at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FLITE - rumored to be cancelled]

-- Financial Accounting System: not available - Booz Allen Hamilton ($122.2 million)
Used by the National Science Foundation to monitor and execute about 20,000 active awards to more than 1,500 awardees.

-- Consolidated Business Information System: $97.4 million - Accenture ($79.9 million)
A new financial management system for the Office of Personnel Management.

-- Oracle Administrative Accounting: $22.5 million - SRA International ($22.1 million)
Serves as the system of record for the funding and expenditure of the Small Business Administration's dollars.

-Marjorie Censer, washingtonpost.com
READ MORE...

CFOC Posts updates to the Master Agency Financial System Inventory

Download the latest inventory document here.

Deloitte Sues To Block IBM's $193 Million HUD Contract

Tech and business services contractor Deloitte Consulting has filed a lawsuit against the United States in an effort to block the government's award of a lucrative IT contract to rival IBM (NYSE: IBM).

The lawsuit, filed in December in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, aims to overturn the Department of Housing and Urban Development's award of a 10-year, $193 million contract to Big Blue. Under the contract, IBM has been tasked with modernizing HUD's computerized financial systems.

Deloitte, however, calls HUD's decision in December to tap IBM for the work a "stunning outcome" and says it wasn't fairly treated in the bidding process, which began in 2006.

"Deloitte alleges that HUD violated law and regulation by failing to follow the stated evaluation criteria, and also by engaging Deloitte in nonmeaningful and misleading discussions," Deloitte says in a highly redacted court filing. Most of the other filings related to the case are under seal.

Deloitte is seeking an injunction that would halt work on the contract until the dispute is settled.

According to Deloitte's filing, the contract is to support HUD's Integrated Financial Management Improvements Project, under which the agency is looking to transform "core financial management processes and systems to improve financial accounting support for the Department and improve financial information accuracy and availability to HUD decision makers."

-Paul McDougal, InformationWeek.com

READ MORE...

HUD picks IBM for financial system upgrade

The Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded IBM a $193 million contract to overhaul its financial management system.

Under the 10-year contract, IBM will replace several legacy financial management systems with one using Peoplesoft software. HUD expects the new system to be implemented in two years.

A HUD spokeswoman confirmed the agency selected IBM Nov. 26.

According to the solicitation, the end result of the new system will be the production of fully auditable financial statements throughout HUD, and potentially the Federal Housing Administration, Ginnie Mae, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

For information: FedBizOpps.gov award notice

HUD seeks modernized financial-management system

The Housing and Urban Development Department seeks proposals to modernize its accounting and financial-management functions by moving its core legacy systems to the PeopleSoft suite of financial-management applications to create an integrated system.

HUD is conducting a public-private competition for system integration and hosting at a shared-services center for the HUD Integrated Financial Management Improvement Project. The goal is to reduce disparate legacy systems and data and to be able to generate accurate and timely financial information so managers can make informed decisions.

The end result will be the production of fully auditable financial statements throughout the department, and potentially the Federal Housing Administration, Ginnie Mae, and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, HUD said in its posting yesterday on FedBizOpps.

The ensuing contract will be for a base period of 18 months, with eight 12-month options and one six-month option period. HUD will award the contract within the second quarter of 2007. Proposals are due Jan. 8.

During the base period, the contractor will provide project management, hosting, migration and system integration.

Oversight agencies, such as the department’s Office of the Inspector General and the Government Accounting Office, have identified financial-management system deficiencies in the current core accounting system and general ledger, the HUD Centralized Accounting and Program System (HUDCAPS), introduced in 1994. The system also must comply with other federal financial and security requirements, HUD said.

HUD Issues Integrated Financial Management Program Solicitation

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has released the final version of their request for proposals to support HUD's Integrated Financial Management Improvement Program (HIFMIP).

The integration of the PeopleSoft COTS financial management modules will support HUD’s planned enterprise architecture and provide for “integrated financial management” for the Department. Offerors must demonstrate in their proposals that they will specifically transition HUD's legacy financial functions and data to the PeopleSoft COTS modules.

Proposals are due January 8, 2007

The Solicitation can be found at:

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpo/contract/opc23053final.cfm

Additional information about financial management at HUD can be found on the Office of the CFO page on HUD's website at:

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cfo/

Oracle closes book on PeopleSoft overcharging

Oracle Corp. has agreed to pay the U.S. government $98.5 million to settle allegations that PeopleSoft Inc., which it acquired last year, overcharged federal buyers under the General Services Administration’s multiple-award schedule program.

When Oracle acquired PeopleSoft Inc. of Pleasanton, Calif., for $10.3 billion in January 2005, it inherited its liability under the GSA contract. Former PeopleSoft employee James Hicks told government officials that PeopleSoft did not give federal buyers discounts for purchases of multiple goods and services that commercial customers received. The false pricing is alleged to have taken place over a period of eight and one-half years.

The settlement is the largest payment ever obtained by the United States in a civil settlement under the False Claims Act involving the GSA’s multiple-award schedule program, the Justice Department said Tuesday in a printed statement.

The False Claims Act is a federal law that imposes liabilities for damages and fines for knowingly submitting to the federal government a false or fraudulent claim for payment.

Those with insider knowledge of false claims in government spending programs can receive a percentage of the settlement. Hicks will receive $17.7 million, the Justice Department said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland and GSA’s Inspector General Office investigated the allegations along with the Justice Department. The lawsuit alleged that PeopleSoft gave GSA inaccurate pricing disclosures and incomplete information about the sales of software licenses and related maintenance services.

As a result, the federal agencies that made purchases under the contract overpaid PeopleSoft for software and related maintenance services between March 17, 1997, and Sept. 30, 2005, the Justice Department said.

READ MORE...

Oracle Delivers PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 9

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oracle(Nasdaq: ORCL) today announced the general availability of Oracle'sPeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 9, which features enhancements to core financial accounting, asset lifecycle management and enterprises ervice automation applications. Additionally, new features will be introduced in PeopleSoft Enterprise Internal Controls Enforcer, a keyproduct designed to enable users to automate and enforce internal controls required under Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley. These features include enhanced reporting capabilities and enhanced software license tracking to reduce audit risk and penalties. These releases are yet another example of Oracle providing enhancements to its current application products under its"Applications Unlimited" initiative.

Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management and PeopleSoft Internal Controls Enforcer help companies gain visibility into business-critical information, strengthen financial discipline, manage governance and compliance requirements, implement project management practices and realize efficiencies by automating and standardizing key business processes. The latest release has been enhanced to extend the value of current PeopleSoft investments using next generation technologies, deliver best-in-class business processes and drive a superior ownership experience.

Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 9 includes new capabilities enabled by innovative technologies -- including an expansion of Web services, integration with Oracle Fusion Middleware including Oracle Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) Process Manager, and Oracle XML Publisher -- to help customers maximize existing software investments.

In the latest release, Oracle continues to deliver comprehensive support for all financial, project management, asset lifecycle management business processes, as well as new functionality for the staffing industry.

New enhancements have been made in the following areas:

-- Compliance -- Expanded support for International Financial ReportingStandards (IFRS), functionality for Partial 224 Incremental Requirementsfor federal government customers and enhanced reporting capabilities,including extensive reports, facilitate financial statement certification and external auditor assessment.

-- Grants Management -- PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 9 includes out-of-the-box integration with http://www.grants.gov for organizationsto obtain and view their opportunities list, preview grant applicationsonline, electronically submit applications via XML-based Web services,review submitted applications and check application status.

READ MORE...

HUD plans integrated financial-management system

The Housing and Urban Development plans to seek enterprisewide implementation and integration of the PeopleSoft financial-management system as part of the agency’s accounting and financial modernization.

HUD aims to reduce the number of disparate legacy systems and transition its core systems to PeopleSoft to implement an integrated system that can produce auditable financial statements throughout the agency. PeopleSoft is one of several financial-management systems that the Financial Systems Integration Office, formerly Joint Financial Management Improvement Program, has approved.

The eventual contract would have an 18-month base period and options that could lengthen it to 10 years. Interested sources can comment on the draft solicitation until Sept. 5, HUD said in its recent posting on FedBizOpps.

The contractor would have to implement the financial-management system at a shared-services provider or other federal or private hosting site as defined by the Office of Management and Budget under the Financial Management Line of Business consolidation initiative.

Among the terms, the contractor would:

• manage and migrate financial requirements for budget execution, funds control, commitments/reservations, obligations, accounts payable, accounts receivable, costs and financial reporting
  
• install, operate and support the application, patches and service packs
  
• put in place a business management process to manage the total work effort associated with deploying the integrated financial-management system.

Oracle con-Fusion?

"GCN hadn't really caught up with Oracle Corp. since it finished consuming PeopleSoft, JD Edwards and, most recently, Siebel Systems - companies that may have developed the business systems you're either running now or thought you were migrating to in the near future. So after getting the state of affairs from Oracle senior VP of public sector Mark Johnson, we were interested in two main things: What's up with Project Fusion, Oracle's all-encompassing, services-oriented architecture; and what should agencies expect Oracle to do with the PeopleSoft, JD Edwards and Siebel applications?


Oracle, to its credit, wants to be all things to all people, but that raises some questions. Project Fusion is a large undertaking to create an SOA and a centralized data model that works across Oracle's stable of systems. So far, the focus has been on middleware and business process management, but in a couple of years, Oracle will release individual Fusion applications. What are those, exactly? They're 'the best of the best' from Oracle's homegrown and acquired solutions, Johnson said. 'Fusion is an upgrade.'


'Upgrade from which?' we asked. Whichever you've got. Oracle last month rolled out Applications Unlimited, the company's program to continue enhancing and supporting PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Siebel and Oracle software beyond the 2008 launch of Fusion apps. In other words, Johnson said, PeopleSoft users could continue using PeopleSoft and getting updates (plus lifetime support) or they could 'upgrade' to Fusion. Over the next year, Oracle plans to release PeopleSoft Enterprise 9.0, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 8.12, Siebel 8.0 and Oracle EBS 12. The product road map even includes EnterpriseOne 9.0 a couple of years out.

Our questions: Who decides what’s the “best of the best?” And how does Oracle decide where to focus its development efforts if one app is the best and another, well, isn’t? Johnson said Oracle has a Fusion strategic council that includes public-sector customers to help make these decisions, but admitted, “there will be differing viewpoints.” Get in your two cents now. "

Oracle(R) Applications Secure Federal Certification and Comply with the Federal Systems Integration Office (FSIO)

"Oracle today announced that the Oracle E-Business Suite 11i.10 and Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise 8.9 financial management applications passed the Federal Systems Integration Office (FSIO) incremental test to retain federal certification. FSIO certification tested software capabilities to meet requirements related to configuration and generation of the Partial 224 (P224) report in accordance with the Department of Treasury's Governmentwide Accounting and Reporting Modernization (GWA) Project. Oracle first passed the Federal Financial Management Systems Software (FMSS) certification test in 1996. Since that time, Oracle continually reinforces its longstanding commitment to the federal financial management user community by retaining full federal compliance for its financial management applications and maintaining Core Financial System Requirements certification. Over 100 federal government organizations run Oracle Applications."

HUD's move to a center of excellence for human resources sets a template for other agencies to follow

"On the surface, it seemed an easy decision for officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development: Migrate to a shared-services provider for human resources instead of spending $15 million to $18 million over a six-year period to build their own system.

The reasons were obvious. Considering time required to implement a new system, its total cost and the unspoken pressure from the Office of Management and Budget to use shared services, it clearly made more sense to outsource instead of going ahead with the PeopleSoft HR system they were six months into. But as many agencies will find out over the next few years, it's not that simple. No matter how many times you draw the line down the middle of the paper and list the pros on one side, cons on the other - and fill up the pros side - the path from paper to reality is full of hidden pitfalls.

But with OMB expecting more agencies to migrate over the next few years to shared-services providers - otherwise known as centers of excellence - for HR and financial management, HUD's successful migration to the Treasury Department's HR Connect presents a valuable case study. "

Oracle Rolls Out PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 8.9

Oracle has nnounced general availability of Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 8.9, delivering on its commitment to PeopleSoft customers to support and enhance the functionality of PeopleSoft Enterprise applications.

ERP system provides value for U.N. organization

Officials from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are adding functionality to a 2-year-old enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which has reportedly improved integration, collaboration and transparency among offices worldwide.

UNDP employees already had secure Internet access to 17 modules - such as project management, finances, human resources and others - within the system. An e-procurement module was added in September, and an e-recruit one, which will help the organization better sift through job applications, is planned for next year.

In partnership with the U.N. Population Fund and the U.N. Office for Project Services, UNDP officials implemented an integrated Oracle PeopleSoft system in January 2004 through a "big bang approach" across offices in 145 countries. About 8,000 people use the ERP system - which replaced nearly two-dozen existing systems - and the plan is to expand access to thousands more.