Attachment A - Project Background

1. Agency Roles and Responsibilities

1.1 Office of the State Comptroller

Connecticut state law gives the State Comptroller, a separately elected official, the authority to determine State accounting policies and practices, to prepare all accounting statements relating to the financial condition of the State, to pay the wages and salaries of State employees, to process payments to vendors doing business with the State, and to administer State employee benefits and pension plans.

OSC's Accounts Payable Division (APD) is responsible for paying vendors for all State agencies except certain higher-education institutions. It processes some 592,000 checks and 6,700 electronic fund transfers annually, worth some $6.8 billion. APD manages the State's encumbrance and expenditure records, approves disbursements and charges them to an agency's appropriations, and generally enforces legal accounting requirements, among other duties. OSC's Budget and Financial Analysis Division (BFAD) performs the State's accounting and financial reporting functions, preparing monthly and annual financial reports including the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and an annual Comptroller's report. BFAD also performs cost accounting for all State programs and operations.

OSC's Payroll Services Division keeps all payroll records, processes taxes and deductions, and pays biweekly some 72,000 full-and part-time State employees in all divisions and branches of State government, including higher education, the legislature and the judicial branch. The division's own information technology staff maintains the State Payroll System to support the above-mentioned function.

OSC's Retirement and Benefit Services Division administers several employee benefit systems such as health insurance, deferred compensation, and group life insurance. It also administers the state employee retirement system.

1.2 Department of Administrative Services

As prescribed by State law, the Department of Administrative Services is responsible for establishment of human resource policy and for personnel administration, for administration of the State's worker's compensation program, for the purchase of goods and services for State agencies, and for collection of monies owed the State for services provided by a number of the State's social service agencies. The department's human resources business center administers the job classification system and provides staffing services to State agencies such as recruitment, examination, assessment and selection, and job placement.

1.3 Department of Information Technology

The Department of Information Technology (DOIT) is responsible for providing core computer, telecommunications, and networking services to State agencies, for procurement of IT-related goods and services, for statewide strategic technology planning, and for development of IT standards and policies. DOIT is in the process of centralizing the management of all executive branch information technology systems (which does not include the systems operated by the State Comptroller, State Treasurer, Secretary of the State, and State Attorney General). It also operates and supports three systems that fall into the core systems category. The State Agency Appropriations Accounting System (SAAAS), is used by many executive branch agencies for processing of financial transactions and to meet internal financial reporting requirements. This system is supported by DOIT's Business Office Systems Support group (BOSS), which also maintains the State's most commonly-used time and attendance system, known as TAS. Additionally, the Automated Personnel System (APS) used by DAS to support its statewide personnel functions, is under DOIT's direction.

1.4 Office of the Treasurer

The Office of the Treasurer (OTT), headed by the independently elected State Treasurer, handles cash management for the State, including cash accounting and reporting, cash forecasting, short term investing and bank account administration. The Treasurer also issues bonds to finance the State's capital projects, manages debt service payments and cash flow borrowing, and manages retirement funds for five retirement plans, including the State's employees, teachers, and municipal employees.

1.5 Office of Policy and Management

The State Office of Policy and Management (OPM) prepares the Governor's budget proposal and implements and monitors the execution of the budget as adopted by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor. OPM provides the Governor with the information and analysis he uses to formulate public policy goals for the State. OPM performs strategic business planning for the State and is responsible for collective bargaining with the State's 30 collective bargaining units.

2. Existing Systems and Technologies

Connecticut state government currently has separate statewide systems (and many other single-agency-based systems) for accounting/accounts payable, personnel, worker's compensation, payroll, and time and attendance. Together they form a hodge-podge of redundant databases and applications, which run on multiple, often incompatible, computer platforms. These systems utilize many different programming languages and database software products and are linked together by complex interfaces. This structure brings costly inefficiencies such as redundant keying, time-consuming paper flows, and substantial after-the-fact reconciliation of data. Furthermore, State managers and elected officials cannot obtain accurate, timely information needed to effectively manage programs and measure their level of success.

A table showing the various technologies utilized by the state's core systems is shown at the top of the next page.

Following is a list of existing major financial and human resource systems, listed by agency. Note that it is yet to be determined whether all these are within the scope of this project.

2.1 OSC Systems

• The Central Accounting System (CAS) is a vendor-developed custom system with approximately 1,100 users in more than 100 locations. Implemented in 1986, with a significant upgrade in 1991, the system's functions include accounts payable (vendor file, commitments and obligations), a vendor offset system, electronic payments, appropriation accounting, general and subsidiary ledger including ledger reporting, and agency accounting (less than five agencies). Written in 1974 COBOL with DMS-1100 networked databases, the system operates on a Unisys 5600 mainframe at a data center at 55 Elm St., Hartford. The system is accessed by several methods: BCS 3270, direct 3270 SNA, 3270 gateway, TCP/IP, SNA cross-domain, and Unisys UTS via inter-FEP link. Approximately 40 interfaces that accept and/or provide information to other State agencies, federal agencies, banks, and other entities are used and considered part of the system.

• The State Payroll System (SPS) is a customized version of the GEAC (formerly Dun and Bradstreet, formerly MSA) HR Series E payroll system serving approximately 485 users. Implemented in the early 1980's, the system functions include payroll and payroll reporting, payroll vendor processing, on-line and remote job entry processing, time entry, audit, and on-line error correction. The Payroll system is written in COBOL II with VSAM data base access and handles its on-line interface via CICS. The system runs at the state data center (CATER, a Department of Information Technology facility currently housed at 340 Capitol Ave. in Hartford) on an IBM 3090. Four major inputs (TAS, APS, Office of the Treasurer systems, and remote job entry for agencies using separate front ends) exist, while the system has eight major outputs (SERS for retirement data, APS for gross pay and reconciliation, vendors for vendor checks, employees for paychecks and deposit advice statements, banks for direct deposit EFT, SAAAS for expenditure information, CAS for expenditure information, OTT for payroll register and expenditure checks).

• State Employees Retirement System (SERS) is an in-house developed system implemented in 1980. It handles retirement payroll, retirement record keeping (database), actuarial reporting, benefit calculation estimating (including contribution and earnings accounting). The system's primary batch programming language is COBOL. It uses an IMS database and facilitates on-line access through CICS and DMS on-line. Like the state payroll system, SERS runs in the IBM 3090 environment at CATER. Eight input interfaces exist: from APS, SPS, the Connecticut State Education Information System for certain education employee information, Newington Children's Medical Center, ALEXIS for workers' compensation information, University of Connecticut, the Department of Transportation, and Social Security Administration. Outputs are by five other interfaces, to Benefacts (for retirement benefit statements), actuaries (for benefits information), IRS, the Alternative Retirement plan, and the Social Security Administration.
  

2.2 DAS Systems

• Automated Personnel System (APS): APS is an in-house developed system implemented in 1993. There are approximately 1600 users. The Automated Personnel System supports many aspects of personnel administration. Its functions include person/position accounting, worker's compensation, pay plan processing, and job classification processing. It also maintains databases of state employees, positions, salary grades and transactions. APS runs at the State Data Center on an IBM 3090. It utilizes CICS as the primary on-line interface, COBOL II, and DB2 as its database. Interfaces to other core systems: SPS, SERS, TAS, ABS and APSpc downloads.
  
• Applicant Tracking and Certification (ATC): ATC is an in-house system developed in 1993 to work in tandem with APS. It performs Civil Service exam administration. It processes applications for exams, notifies candidates of acceptance, rejection, time and place of exam, and keeps records of candidates' performance and scores. It also notifies candidates of test performance and generates employment lists and certification lists. ATC runs at the State Data Center and is an IBM mainframe-based system developed using DB2 databases, COBOL,CICS, COBOL II, and MS Word. Interfaces to other core systems: SPS

• Automated Workers Compensation System (AWCS); AWCS is an in-house system developed in 1994 to work in tandem with APS. It gives State agencies the ability to electronically process first reports of injury, wage audits, exemption information, workers' compensation rates, and disability date information to a Third Party Administrator. Agencies can also submit reoccurrence claims on-line and retrieve specific claim information. DAS utilizes the system to audit the performance of the Third Party Administrator. AWCS runs at the State Data Center and is an IBM mainframe-based system developed using DB2 databases, COBOL, and CICS, Interfaces to other core systems: SPS, SERS, TAS.
  

2.3 DOIT Systems

• State Agency Appropriations Accounting System (SAAAS): SAAAS is a custom developed application used by approximately 90 state agencies, 1,079 customers in 120 locations throughout the State. It was implemented in 1981 with many major enhancements in 1985 and 1991. SAAAS is an on-line data entry and retrieval system used as a compliment and extension to CAS. It enables agencies to account for funds and record revenues, expenditures, encumbrances, appropriations, and allotments. The system provides management information through batch reporting and on-line inquiry. SAAAS has reports that allow state agencies to reconcile with the Central Accounting System (CAS) reports. SAAAS uses VAX BASIC code with RMS files and operates on a VAX VMS cluster located at the DOIT/CATER data center. Agencies are using PC's with Attachmate's KEA terminal emulation products to connect to SAAAS; some customers attach directly via VT220 terminals. SAAAS has interfaces to the State's core financial systems and provides system interfaces to approximately 15 line agency systems.

• Time and Attendance (TAS): is used by over 900 users in 45 state agencies, spread geographically throughout the State. It was first implemented in 1983 to track employee attendance. Currently, TAS tracks attendance for approximately 29,267 employees. Functionality was later added to calculate and transmit payroll transactions to the Office of the State Comptroller's Payroll System. Of the 45 agencies using TAS, 25 are using the payroll interface to calculate earnings for approximately 23,901 employees. Other major enhancements are the automation of longevity payments, daily attendance processing, and the scheduling system features. TAS resides on the VAX VMS Cluster located at DOIT/CATER. The programs are written in VAX Basic; the data is stored in RMS files. Access is primarily through terminal emulation products such as Attachmate's KEA; some users connect directly via VT220 terminals. TAS has 7 interfaces with other State applications for attendance data, salary updates, accounting string validation, and Payroll calculations.

2.4 OTT Systems

The Office of the Treasurer employs a variety of PC/LAN based systems to support its operations. Some of the functions performed using these systems are debt management, environmental grant tracking, and short-term investment tracking. The Receipts and Disbursements System (RDS) is the only OTT system with automated interfaces to the State's core financial systems. RDS tracks checks, deposits, and transfers. It also provides the mechanism for balancing the books with the OSC at the end of the fiscal year.

RDS handles two basic types of transactions - cash transactions between OTT and the banks and fund transactions between OTT and OSC. On the cash side it receives files from the banks reflecting funds transfers, deposits, and withdrawals. On the fund side, the disbursement information is combined with the receipt information (interfaced into RDS from SAAAS) and is fed to the central accounting system.

2.5 OPM System

Automated Budget System (ABS): The State's Office of Policy and Management (OPM) utilizes the ABS for agency spending plan management, biennial budgeting, mid-term adjustment management, analytical review for budget preparation, and monthly analysis. It was developed in-house and implemented in 1992. ABS has approximately 40 users within the Office and approximately 150 line agency users. It is written in Visual Basic.

2.6 Other Agency Systems

Many state agencies operate human resource, payroll and financial systems with agency-specific rules, content, or processes. These are estimated to number 135 and operate in a wide variety of technical environments.

 

Attachment B - Vendor Proposal Validation and Authentication Statement

The person responsible for the validation of your proposal must complete and sign this statement where indicated and attach it to your company's response to RFP OSC-001-2000. By so doing, the signer attests that the given proposal represents:

1. Full and unconditional acceptance of all the stipulated administrative requirements of RFP;
2. Acknowledgement that the vendor agrees that the State's decision on the awarding of the contract is final;
3. Complete and valid information as of the proposal due date;
4. Price offerings that are valid until such date as the State is specifically notified otherwise, but not less than 90 days from the proposal due date;
5. A "best effort" by the company to comply with all State requirements regarding proposal content and format.

Return to Table of Contents
Return to Index of Current RFPs
Return to Comptroller's Home Page