The Finance Department of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is participating for the first time at GITEX 2007. With the aim to demonstrate and share the success after implementing one of the largest fully integrated business information systems using Oracle Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) software. The department is the first government entity with a prominent stand hosted by Oracle, as part of its strategic relationship with the world’s largest enterprise software firm.
“The main role of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance is to provide superior financial services and activate the role of the private sector to contribute to the progress and the economic stability for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This goal is achieved through providing financial solutions, managing resources efficiently, and encouraging cooperation and creativity in order to reach high standards aimed at supporting the Emirate's development plans,” said H.E. Hamad Al-Hur Al-Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Finance Department in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
As part of the continued effort for improvement and meeting new challenges, the Finance Department recognised the need to introduce new projects and initiatives. These projects and initiatives reflect a bold move taken by the Finance Department to enhance government practices and better serve its key stakeholders. It is another step in the right direction towards better achieving a world class performance management.
The project included the implementation of Oracle Advanced Procurement Implementation – iProcurement; Oracle Sourcing Implementation; Oracle iSupplier Portal Implementation; Oracle Payroll Implementation; Oracle Business Intelligence Implementation; Oracle/Hyperion Planning Implementation (including Capital Expense Planning & Workforce planning).
The ERP implementation for major business functions was completed for more than 23 government entities, including all of the Executive Departments and some authorities under the Abu Dhabi government’s jurisdiction.
Since the beginning, the implementation was much more than a technology project. The ERP implementation continued with consistent top level executive support; eventually putting in place the technical infrastructure and enterprise standards for core functions with improved public value.
Immediate returns in the form of improved government operations were realized soon after implementation and continue today. This infrastructure also provides the Finance Department with capability that can be further leveraged to support additional improvements in government operations that go well beyond direct improvements in core functions. The Finance Department has recently taken steps to move in this direction by implementing the necessary institutional structures and policies to take fuller advantage of this enterprise-level asset.
His Excellency, added: “The Oracle E-Business Suite leverages the department’s existing knowledge, expertise and investments in IT. Oracle offered the best potential among ERP products for interoperability with other government entities. The Oracle FMS infrastructure is a perfect fit to our requirements and will provide us with capabilities that we can further leverage to support additional improvements in government operations in addition to the direct enhancement of our core functions.”
“The FMS project is considered to be one of the best and largest government enterprise resource planning projects in the region. We have invited delegates from various Middle Eastern and African countries as well as the region to visit the Finance Department to review its success story,” said Husam Dajani, Senior Vice President of Oracle fir the Middle East & Africa.
The Department has recently gone ‘live’ with the Advanced Procurement implementation. Moreover, the Finance Department has started replacing its modified Payroll system with Oracle Payroll to be integrated with the Oracle Human Resources Management (HRMS) system implemented at the Department of Civil Services. The Finance Department has taken the decision to introduce the next strategic layers of applications such as Business Intelligence subsequent to a successful proof-of-concept exercise.
