October 2, 1998
Ms. Betty Henderson, Budget Committee Secretariat
North York City Centre
5100 Yonge Street
North York, Ontario
M2N 5V7
Dear Ms. Henderson:
At its meeting of September 15, 1998, the Budget Committee advised the Toronto Police
Services Board on the importance of and the urgent need to coordinate with City staff on an
integrated financial management system, and that a report be submitted to the Budget
Committee on October 13, 1998.
Since Council's decision to enter into contractual arrangements with SAP, Service staff have
had several meetings with City and SAP staff, including a recent meeting with Mr. Stephen
Wong, the City's Implementation Team Lead. Given our need to have our current system
Year 2000 compliant, and the superiority of the SAP financial management system, it would
be in the best interest of the Service to utilize the City's SAP financial management system.
At this time, the Service will commit to implementing the SAP financial management system
unless SAP is unable to meet some of the Service's key requirements. A detailed
demonstration to be presented by SAP to City and Service staff, incorporating our
documented needs, is scheduled for October 15th and 16th.
The majority of the Service's technical staff is dedicated until late 1999 to ensure that all
systems are Year 2000 compliant. As a result, there are no available resources to undertake
the implementation of this system, unless additional funding can be provided. City staff have
informed us that funds identified in the budget are only for the City's portion of the
implementation. In cooperation with City staff, a full cost impact will be identified once an
implementation plan is in place, and will be forwarded to the Budget Committee. I understand
the City's Implementation Team is continuing discussions with SAP on an implementation
timetable and how the Service's implementation of the financial management system can be
incorporated without undue risk. In the meantime, the Service's 1999-2003 Capital Budget
includes $100,000 for the conversion of the current financial management system to Year
2000 compliant. This will be further assessed once the Service's implementation plan is
adopted.
As for the HR/Payroll/Time & Attendance module, City staff agree that due to the complexity
of our requirements, it would not be prudent to concurrently implement this module. The
Service currently utilizes the PeopleSoft HR/Payroll system, which is Year 2000 compliant.
The DECS or Time & Attendance system, on the other hand, is not Year 2000 compliant;
however, due to the critical nature of our business, the conversion work was started much
earlier this year and is close to 50% complete. In this regard, discussions will continue with
City and SAP staff.
Yours truly,
Norman Gardner
Chairman
c. -Wanda A. Liczyk - Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer
Hugh Moore - Chief Administrative Officer
Frank Chen - Director, Finance & Administration
Larry Stinson - Director, Computing & Telecommunication
