1.0 Overview
1.1 Purpose
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is embarking on a strategic effort to upgrade the department’s mission critical onpremises, integrated SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Central Component (ECC) system software with the SAP S/4 HANA version. The DWR is providing the opportunity for interested S/4 HANA implementers to participate in the Request for Information (RFI).
This RFI is the first step in researching solicitation alternatives for the required services. Once the RFI responses are received, they will be reviewed and analyzed by the DWR for comments and specific areas of concern.
1.2 Background
The DWR is planning the S/4 HANA Upgrade Project in accordance with the California Department of Technology’s (CDT) Project Approval Lifecycle (PAL). As part of the Stage 2 – Alternatives Analysis, this RFI is being utilized to conduct the market research that will allow DWR to assess and validate implementation services available in the market for upgrading organizations from SAP ECC to the S/4 HANA software version.
This RFI will allow DWR to gather information from experienced S/4 HANA implementation service vendors that include recommendations, strategies and/or methodologies for implementing S/4 HANA upgrades that include gap analysis, implementation planning, updating/establishing existing or new internal/external interfaces, maintenance and support, and organizational change management that ensures business continuity and compliance with the State of California’s Water Code policies and Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal) and California Information Technology policies. This stage of the PAL process is centered on understanding the full range of feasible solution alternatives and implementation methodologies/approaches available in the market, considered, and assessed before committing to a recommended alternative. In alignment with this goal, DWR is issuing this RFI to engage industry partners that are certified and experienced with implementing and transitioning California Departments and/or organizations with similar business needs from SAP ECC to the updated SAP S/4 HANA version and address FI$Cal system integration/interface needs.
Through this RFI, we are inviting experienced and certified S/4 HANA implementation vendors to share their experience, expertise, lessons learned, and recommendations on methodologies/approaches, tools, and team (state/vendor) structure(s) for upgrading SAP ECC to SAP S/4 HANA, transitioning existing business processes through the various phases, and to provide cost estimates for tools and recommended resources.
DWR’s S/4 HANA Upgrade Project aims to upgrade the existing SAP ECC software with the most current SAP software (S/4 HANA) that is secure, scalable, and responsive to the department’s evolving regulatory and operational business needs. Through this initiative, we are seeking to ensure continuity of streamlined enterprise resource management, financial management, materials management, procurement management, workload management, and internal collaboration across more than fifty (50) programs.
The Department of Water Resources has been using SAP as its ERP system for over 25 years. The DWR’s mission critical SAP ERP ECC system facilitates the integrated management of core business functions and processes in Financials, Controlling, Materials Management, Plant Maintenance, Project System, Portfolio and Project Management, and Human Resources which reaches end-of-life in 2030.
Additionally, DWR’s financial operations are dependent on and tightly integrated with core mission-critical business processes built within the existing SAP ECC system. DWR’s financial operations are required to adhere to California’s State Administrative and Water Code policies that drive the department’s mission, processes, and functions supported by the department’s SAP ECC system. The Department of FI$Cal’s financial system is designed to manage and support statewide budget, procurement, cash flow management, and accounting practices that DWR will be required to interface/integrate with.
In accordance with California Government Code, Statutes. 2022, Ch. 569, Section 11865, effective September 27, 2022, the Department of FI$Cal will onboard the remaining deferred departments by July 1, 2032, onto the FI$Cal system. DWR is considered a deferred department and will be collaborating with FI$Cal to assess financial business processes and functions that will need to interface/integrate with the FI$Cal system for compliance. The SAP S/4 HANA Upgrade Project will assess the FI$Cal impacts and needs that will be required to update and/or build interfaces required to achieve compliance.
DWR’s existing SAP ERP ECC system supports financial capabilities and is integrated with core business processes and system functions comprised of the following modules:
For more information, contact austin@provteam.com