SITA fast-tracks IFMS tender

By Martin Czernowalow for SITA
Johannesburg, 16 May 2007

The State IT Agency (SITA) has fast-tracked the third phase of its multibillion-rand Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS), issuing a tender for the human resources (HR) module nearly two months ahead of schedule.

SITA spokesman Sifiso Ndlazi says the HR module is being fast-tracked to "help government remedy some of the problems that are hampering service delivery, such as resource allocation, elimination of 'ghost workers', and the provision of better planning information, among others".

The IFMS is an integration and migration of government finance, human resources, asset management, logistics and other line-of-business solutions, into a single distributed transversal system, across SA's provincial and national government structures.

SITA says government will spend no more than R4 billion in initial capital on the entire IFMS project, while the life cycle cost is estimated at R10 billion over 10 years.

Key objectives

Ndlazi says the fast-tracking of the third module will have a minimal impact on the project plan, but will give SITA a few more weeks for the development and testing phase of the HR solution.

SITA initially indicated that the tender for the HR module would be published at the end of June, and the agency now anticipates the development and testing of the HR module will be completed by the second quarter of 2008. During this period, the module will be deployed at the Department of Public Services and Administration and the Free State Department of Education, says Ndlazi.

He explains that the commercial off-the-shelf application (COTS) aims to replace government's existing transversal systems with a new, integrated set of applications. The key strategic objectives to be achieved through the HR solution include: improving the capacity of the state to manage its human capital, supporting government's HR development strategy, as well as harmonising and aligning implementation of public service human resource management processes.

"Other objectives include ensuring compliance with public service regulations, improving the quality of HR management information and, of course, integration with the larger IFMS. This is underscored by achieving the e-government objectives of interoperability of systems, enhanced IT security, economies of scale and elimination of duplication," Ndlazi says.

SITA already issued tenders for the integrated development environment (IDE) and procurement modules of the IFMS in January and February 2007, respectively. While the HR and procurement modules will be COTS, as they are solutions readily available in the market, SITA is undertaking a proof of concept on the IDE, which will entail an asset management module, Ndlazi notes.

Network modernisation

Following the completion of the HR module, SITA will focus on the development of the payroll functionality, inventory management, financial accounting, as well as the acquisition and development of integration and security infrastructures. "The network modernisation will also kick in towards the end of 2007," says Ndlazi.

"The payroll system will be developed in-house, with a view of integrating it into the COTS HR module. The rest of the IFMS system, comprising financial management, and the remaining supply chain management modules, will be developed in-house using the IDE toolset that is in the process of being acquired."

Ndlazi says the IFMS will eventually be implemented in some 34 national and 109 provincial government departments, with an estimated user base of 133 000, of which 13 000 are HR practitioners (primary users) and 120 000 are supervisors, as well as middle and senior managers.

"The system will also include self-service capability for 500 000 users. Once fully deployed, the system will be capable of storing and processing the personnel records of 1.1 million civil servants, together with the associated transactional data."