FST Update

Want to listen to this update instead of reading it?  Check out WFST Radio's July 9 broadcast!

What's happening now and what comes next

Workday Financials is set to go live in June 2022, a yearlong extension from our original timeline.  We are currently in the Architect stage of Phase 3.  The  detailed requirements that came from the architect sessions are being used to build the first instance of UVA’s Workday tenant – our instance of Workday financials.

In the mid to late fall, end-users will begin interactive walkthrough sessions with that the first tenant – this is an opportunity for people who will be using Workday Financials to “kick the tires” of the first system build.  End users will give feedback on any issues they see, and share opportunities to enhance the system.  You’ll hear this referred to often as “user validation.”

There will be at least two rounds of designing the system and validating the system – and maybe three rounds, if the timing works out – throughout late 2020 and all of 2021 as we head toward the June 2022 go-live date.

We’ll be posting updated timelines all over the FST communications channels in the coming days to keep you on track.   

Personas

In order to build the best initial version of our tenant of Workday Financials, one of the tasks the FST team is working through is developing personas that allow them to understand how staff in given roles might be impacted by the Workday Financials Implementation.  These personas will help the team anticipate and defuse problems and concerns, and also to identify opportunities for process improvement, as well as technology improvements, and messages that need to be communicated. When we talk about personas, we are NOT talking about security roles, but rather examples of representative users from all across Grounds that will help us see through their eyes as we build the first tenant.

Internal Service Providers

Another current area of work is focused on our Internal Service Providers, or ISPs.  UVA has internal billing activities for business units across Grounds, most of which are reassigning costs in Oracle.  This billing will have to be brought into Workday Financials.  Workday has dedicated functionality for Internal Service Provider activities with the revenue-generating area processing transactions to be routed through the workflow for approval before an expense posts to the applicable cost center or other FDM values.  

There are over 100 different potential revenue-generating activities that need to be considered as part of transitioning to Workday Financials.  A dedicated ISP team within the project team is beginning to meet with school and unit stakeholders to gather functional requirements for that first tenant build.  Their goal is to understand current state operations and ensure that Workday’s ISP functionality meets school and unit needs. See more in Community Hub.

Adaptive Planning (Adaptive Insights)

Workday’s recent decision to rename the Adaptive Insights budgeting tool “Adaptive Planning” means that you’ll hear our budget tool referred to by both names.  Adaptive is being used by UVA schools and units right now to revise their FY21 budgets.  The robust capabilities of Adaptive should provide everyone with improved tools to make informed decisions.

 If you’re working in Adaptive, the project team is here to support school and unit partners in this process by providing resources and holding office hours to help with the process.  Check the Adaptive Resources page on the FST website. 

New on the FST Website

We’ve pulled together a decision log that documents all project decisions, along with explanations of the decision-making structure and all the hows and whos of decision making.  They’re definitely worth a look so you can understand how things are happening on the project.

We’re also updating our WorkdayWords dictionary with new terms submitted by the UVA Community for definition.  If you have a term you think needs to be defined, whether it’s a workday term or a term we currently use, please shoot us a line.  If you think it needs defining, odds are good someone else does, too.

We’ve also updated our governance lookup feature on the web since there have been some changes to the governance structure lately.  You can use this feature to easily locate who in your area is representing you in project governance groups. 

Updates are ongoing on the Frequently Asked Questions page.  We have new questions from Fiscal Administrator's Meetings and other stakeholder groups, and we're steadily answering them.  

More updates in this blog article.