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COMPAS NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2024
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Calling All Cars
We are recruiting stakeholders to participate in a fun, cool way and provide valuable feedback to the project.
The Trailblazer team will get an early look at the new payroll system and offer feedback to help us clear the path for other, future users. There is no prerequisite to participating – we just want your curiosity and a willingness to participate in building a top-notch product you and your teammates want to use.
All that is needed from you is a desire to explore the system independently, following guidance and exploring the system naturally. The time commitment for this exploration will be minimal and is designed to fit around your already busy schedules.
The intent of this group is to get diverse and differing perspectives from folks outside of the implementation team, allowing us to learn from each other and incorporate applicable feedback as we go rather than all at the end before go-live.
Please consider answering the call to be a COMPAS Trailblazer and contributing to the success of this critical and important project. Please email SoC_COMPAS@state.co.us with your interest. We cannot have too many participants from all work units - payroll, HR and finance/budget, so please share your excitement and enthusiasm with your colleagues.
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Surprise, Surprise
If you have been in meetings or presentations with us over the past year, you have heard us speak about the complexities of accessing payroll data on the mainframe and liberating it in a way to transform it from a 40-year-old format into a usable format for a modern system.
The data used by CPPS is recorded in segments on the mainframe and we have been, until now, relying on data extracts to get this data. After a rigorous process to obtain security permissions with OIT, we have recently been able to directly access the data on the mainframe. SURPRISE, SURPRISE - there are additional data elements hiding in nooks and crannies in segments that we weren’t able to access until now.
We are working to assess the quality, necessity, and potential future use of this data and will keep our agency partners and other stakeholders apprised of our progress. We continue to be mindful and purposeful in what data we bring back to our agency partners to evaluate and validate.
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Agency Tour
We have wrapped up our Spring Agency Tour meetings. Spring? We know autumn is approaching, however, some of the meetings were eclipsed by fiscal year end restrictions and had been rescheduled to the last several weeks. Some key topics covered included:
- project status and progress
- opportunities for the project to support agency teams
- feedback on current system operations and support
- agency specific concerns and feedback
Even with the overlap of fiscal year end obligations, 11 agencies and offices from all three branches of government met with us. These meetings included almost 75 representatives from agency payroll, HR and finance units and the discussion and feedback provided has been invaluable.
We embarked on a payroll specific tour last autumn and met with about 115 payroll professionals in all 37 departments, agencies and offices that use CPPS for at least some functionality. Topics we covered in that tour included: agency team resources; assessment of data and system use; and building communication and feedback channels.
A listening tour was conducted in fall 2022 with the Product Owner, Director of Central Payroll and the State Controller. Information gathered on this tour helped craft system requirements and other key elements of the procurement process.
We embarked on a payroll specific tour last autumn and met with about 115 payroll professionals in 37 departments, agencies and offices that us CPPS. Topics we covered in that tour included: agency team resources; assessment of data and system use; and building communication and feedback channels.
A fall tour will take place in the coming weeks – be on the lookout for additional communications. Stakeholder engagement continues to be critical to the success of this project. We will present them here and via other communication channels. Please message SoC_COMPAS@state.co.us with requests or feedback at any time.
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Payroll Modernization Update:
Advancing Efficiency for Colorado's State Workforce
We are committed to delivering a cutting-edge payroll system that will enhance the work of payroll, HR, and finance professionals, enabling them to better and more efficiently serve the 36,000 state employees who provide essential services to nearly 6 million Coloradans.
Key Milestones:
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January 2023: Department of Personnel & Administration (DPA) publishes procurement (ITN)
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March 2023: Vendor evaluation process begins
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August 2023: Colorado Digital Service concludes Vendor Bake-Off with user testing and feedback
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September 2023: Vendor reference checks conducted by DPA
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October 2023: Contracting and negotiations kick-off
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October 2023: Critical project roles filled within DPA and Office of Information Technology (OIT)
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February 2024: Colorado Digital Service team joins DPA Product team
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April 2024: DPA and OIT sign contract with CGI
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May 2024: Vendor resources onboarded; teams and workstreams established; CGI delivers access to prototype environment
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June 2024: Disposition of 164 CPPS interfaces and integrations completed
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July 2024: Agile ceremonies begin; design and configuration for position control and management initiated
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August 2024: Testing of 200 business scenarios confirms no need for custom configuration; successful data load of 8,500+ position elements; training needs assessment completed
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September 2024: Template for design and configuration decisions finalized; OIT Gate 1 passed
What’s Next:
- Finalize position-related functionality for stakeholder validation and review
- Implement user security roles in COMPAS
- Load additional position-related data
- Begin work on Human Resource Management (HRM) functionality
- Fill Department of Personnel & Administration (DPA) Organizational Change Management (OCM) Manager role
We look forward to continuing this critical work to modernize our systems and support the state's workforce.
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Riddle
The first five correct responses will receive a prize! Riddle me this:
What five letter english word sounds the same when the first letter is removed, the third letter is removed, the last letter is removed, and when the first, third and last letter are all removed?
Please email SoC_COMPAS@state.co.us with your answers. The correct answer and winners list will be published in next month’s newsletter.
August Riddle
Question: This question is asked all day long and always receives completely different answers, yet all the answers are correct.
Answer: What time is it?
Congratulations to the Gift Card Winners: Kelly Brooks - DPA, Wendy Silcox - CDOT, Sarah Stoner - DPA, Ann Mantooth - DOR, Brad Duca - DOC
Honorable Mentions: Deb Haglund - OIT, Suman Batra - OIT, Dave Thomas - DPA, Debra Alban - OIT, Mandy Wingfield - DEC, Dave Haglund - OIT, Terri Sidebottom - CDPS
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