From running test transactions during three rounds of systems integration testing and reconciling payroll rosters, to refining the business process review process, the HR/P Transformation project team is taking action to ensure that the university’s HR and payroll systems successfully transition to Oracle Human Capital Management by the January 2, 2025 launch date.
The SITs, which began in April and run to October, are focused on ensuring the university’s HR and Payroll systems—which are transitioning from PeopleSoft to Oracle HCM (Human Capital Management)—work correctly together, and that changes to one system component do not negatively affect any others.
To that end, during the SIT sessions, one of which has been completed, the project team will be running test transactions. These include simulating transferring an employee to a new position, creating new positions, entering time and absences, and reviewing benefits enrollments. They’ll make sure any of these changes don’t cause problems.
During parallel testing, which will run from August to November, the project team will test a full payroll roster and reconcile it to the same roster in PeopleSoft, to the penny.
In October, we’ll begin user acceptance testing (UAT) sessions. UAT is carried out entirely by end users and focuses on requirements for readiness and functionality—especially those components that affect large numbers of employees. UAT also serves as an extra layer of troubleshooting for issues that may have been missed in earlier testing.
The HR/P team also has been completing system and process workflows before beginning the project’s future-state business process review, or BPR. The news here is that, going forward, the team is changing its approach.
Instead of reviewing all processes with one stakeholder group before moving to the next, the project team is adopting a rolling strategy that will involve reviewing each topic with each stakeholder group before moving to the next topic. This way, the project team will be able to collect and address all feedback on a particular element in a comprehensive manner.
The rolling strategy also will allow for timely review of each process as it’s approved and completed, and it will inform the development of tailored training for the Rutgers community.
Ultimately, the goal of the HR/P Transformation project team’s efforts is to reduce—or eliminate, to the extent that’s possible—obstacles and technical issues that could occur with HR and payroll matters when the new system goes live.
As always, the project team will continue communicating with you, every step of the way, through Cornerstone News, the project website, and targeted emails to stakeholder groups within the university. You may also hear from one or more of the 220-plus members of the universitywide Change Agent Network, which is an extension of the project and communications teams.