Financial Reporting Solution for Momentum

We rapidly and cost-effectively provided customized financial reports to the FCC during their financial system modernization project.

Challenges:

In the midst of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) financial system modernization project, their business intelligence needs appeared to be quite extensive, with more than 200 reports requested from users across the agency and none of them developed.  The FCC knew from the start that they would need custom reports from Momentum, the new core financial system that they procured, so they allocated funding from the modernization project’s budget.  However, 6 months before going live, project leaders recognized that the planned funding was insufficient to provide the plethora of reports they needed.  Additionally, reporting needs continued to materialize as training occurred and users began to grasp the new system.  Increasing the amount of support from the system integrator was expensive and didn’t provide the response levels needed to meet the FCC’s business intelligence requirements.  Despite these challenges, the FCC set an aggressive goal to complete 30 reports in only 8-10 weeks.

Solution:

The Momentum implementation included a Business Objects universe – well-suited for developing the requested reports.  Computech dedicated a small team with extensive financial reporting experience to complete the reporting project.  From meeting with users and collecting and documenting reporting needs to consulting with FCC management to prioritize and plan for those needs, Computech’s expert knowledge of the financial organization and reporting requirements started showing results.  We consulted with the CFO, accounting staff, and other agency personnel to define clear requirements, earning accolades along the way.

To supplement Computech’s Business Objects developers who were already in place and available to develop reports for various systems across the FCC, Computech recognized and fulfilled the need for a dedicated Business Objects developer with financial reporting experience.  With all resources in place, Computech’s team was able to provide forward-thinking, long-term strategies to manage financial reporting needs.  This included not only run-of-the-mill development but also the reporting architecture and strategies and processes for configuration management, change request management, and administration.  For example, changes to the baseline universe may occur either based on changes to the baseline Momentum system or based on an FCC reporting need; Computech developed a procedure to ensure that all changes were coordinated through one channel.

Computech also provided value to the FCC by identifying risks in advance and taking action to avoid or resolve impediments along the way.  Types of risks successfully mitigated included issues due to lack of data, standing up a technology that was new to staff, and schedule concerns.

Notable Results:

Computech met the aggressive reporting deadline for 30 reports by the system go-live date.  Delivering a total of 67 reports, plus operational support and 31 change requests, provided a great value for the FCC.  Report owners and project leaders have effusively praised Computech’s work.  The results include not only the reports that Computech delivered, but also the processes and best practices that Computech established at the FCC.