The University marked a major milestone in the Finance Strategic Transformation project in July 2022 with the launch of Workday Financials.
Facilities Management has been preparing for the project to improve UVA-wide financial and purchasing processes for more than two years, with the department’s largest efforts from January through July 2022.
About 30 team members from Finance, Programs & Informatics and Technology & Innovation spent six months focused on reviewing existing Facilities Management data and processes, identifying opportunities for streamlining and standardization, and converting existing systems to work with the new technology.
“A project with so many moving parts and competing goals for different teams can be a challenge,” said Informatics Program Manager Ken Moyers, who led the department’s project team. “Not for this group — we all worked together as one team with a common goal to make this project a success for FM. It was a pleasure working with everyone who participated in the transition. Way to go FM team!”
The launch of Workday Financials included the replacement of UVA-wide data sources that are used in multiple systems, including UVA’s internal billing codes known as PTAOs. Multiple applications used by the department were updated, including AiM work order management and the Customer Portal, e-Builder project management and utility billing systems. More than 100 existing reports were impacted.
In total, the project included the conversion of 4,261 purchase orders; 3,500 PTAOs; 597 projects and the funding on 72,225 data elements in AiM, including work orders, assets and buildings, according to Enterprise Architect Joey Tombs, who worked on the project team.
“There was tremendous collaboration and teamwork between the three groups,” said Assistant Director of Finance — Operations Jason Davis, another project team member who also coordinated with UVA Finance to provide training for FM staff. “There was a huge effort to get construction transactions out of AiM and into Workday. This really was a transformational activity; Facilities Management was able to transform a lot of operations and integrations.”