Study of HRMS

implementation as part
of ERP implementation
at Smithsonian Institute
PRESENTED BYABHAS VYAS
GAURAV DAWRANI
HIMANSHU NEGI
PARMANAND NAGDEV
VIKAS KUMAR SINHA

HR Function

The function of the human resources department involves

tracking employee histories, skills, abilities, salary and their
accomplishments

When an organization wantsto reduce its manual

workload and tedious processes, they choose to replace
certain processes with various levels of HRMS systems.

Executives within a HR department either rely on internal IT

experts or third-party vendors to develop and implement an
integrated system

Background of the
Smithsonian Institute

The Smithsonian Institute located in Washington DC employs more than 6,000 employees and volunteers.

The Smithsonian manages museums, research centres and offices seen by millions of people ranging from visitors
to scientists.

Owing to its substantial growth it has outgrown its current IT environment. The existing systems were
based on older technology that had become difficult to change and to adapt to the increasing sophistication of
the Institution.

In the past, the heterogeneous nature of the Institution's IT infrastructure constrained its ability to infuse
new technology to meet growing workload demands and to provide responsive service. infrastructure
consisted of incompatible hardware and software products. It was costly to operate, hard to manage and
maintain, and contained parts that had become technologically obsolete.

Hence, the institute adopted a vision: The Smithsonian will leverage information technology to help: Modernize
financial, human resources, collections, and facilities management; Enhance scientific research; Enhance public
outreach through the World Wide Web."

IT infrastructure demanded that the Institution focus on creating a more homogeneous, standards-based,
open-system environment.

This included the modernization of the Smithsonian's financial, HR, and facilities management systems.

The HR management system will be the focus of this case study

Implementation Structure

A governance structure was created to manage the direction and modernization

of the IT infrastructure. It included:-

The Information Technology Management Committee (ITMC) advise and

assists in establishing and implementing IT management policies, procedures,
and practices.

The Change Control Board (CCB) reviews requests for hardware and software
changes to the IT infrastructure.

The Technical Review Board (TRB) evaluates the progress of each major IT
project and assesses the quality of project deliverables.

The Capital Planning Board (CPB) outlines strategic direction for the
Smithsonian. It sets priorities for all capital programs, including major IT projects.

This framework allows the evolutionary application of new technology and

fosters consistency throughout the Institution by standardizing hardware,
software, and data

Implementation strategy

There were four governing strategies developed for managing IT

resources and meeting the information needs of the Smithsonian
Institute:

Project management

Application software

Data management

I T infrastructure: hardware, network, and system software

Project management strategy

strategies address overall management, control, and resource
allocation for IT projects by:

Managing major IT projects as investments.

Emphasizing incremental delivery of products and services.

Providing IT products and services in a timely manner.

Staffing highly skilled IT personnel.

Monitoring scheduled performance.

Acquiring IT resources competitively and adhering to standards.

Evaluating the costs, benefits, and feasibility of alternative

Application software
strategies
strategies embrace analysis, design, development, implementation,
operation, and maintenance of application software in order to
improve business processes. They require:

Re-engineering business processes

Proto typing when appropriate.

Emphasizing t he use of commercial software products.

Applying appropriate security mechanisms

Data management strategies

Strategies cover the standardization, control, and integrity of data
stored and manipulated by:

Standardizing data elements.

Migrating to a standard database management system for all

applications.

Providing for the integrity, confidentiality, reliability, and overall

security of data by limiting access

Information technology
infrastructure strategies
strategies include operations, modifications,
replacement and maintenance of computer and
communications equipment. They require:

Migrating the IT infrastructure to standards- based environment

Using standard applications and system.

Migrating to a Web-based, distributed computing architecture.

Providing IT infrastructure security services for external and

internal access

Trust

concern between the Sponsor (program management) of

Smithsonian institute and the Project Management Team to
implement the HRMS project by chalking out correct
implementation structure and strategy.

This SD diagram below models dependency between

1. The Sponsor (program management team of Smithsonian

institute) which is entrusted to take policy decisions at
management level .
2. The Project Management Team responsible for
implementation of HRMS system.

The SD diagram below addresses mutual trust concerns between the

Sponsor (Program management team of Smithsonian institute) and
Communicator (Project Management Team) for working out an
implementation structure and strategy for overall ERP implementation
including HRMS implementation.

The Project management team works under this framework of

implementation structure and strategy and work out various
implementation teams and plans for successful and timely HRMS
implementation.

SD DIAGRAM FOR TRUST CONCERN

BETWEEN ACTORS - SMITHSONIAN
INSTITUTE (SPONSOR) AND PROJECT
MANAGEMENT TEAM
(COMMUNICATOR)