Treasury finalises contract with Oracle

Cape Town - The National Treasury has concluded the contract with Oracle Corporation to purchase software licenses, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The software licenses relate to the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) programme. It brings government closer to fully implementing a 2005 Cabinet decision to replace legacy systems for managing supply chain, human resource and finance functions with a modern integrated system that will improve service delivery.

"The successful purchase of the software licenses paves the way for the next steps in the process, which will include completing the centralised design of the IFMS solution, planning and procuring the hardware (including hosting infrastructure) as well as software implementation services."

Treasury said primarily the IFMS solution is expected to overcome policy implementation constraints experienced due to ageing legacy systems which are now reaching obsolescence.

In addition to replacing the current technology with a modern system the IFMS will, at a minimum, support the Public Service in the following:

- Financial accountability framework – directing the way government finances are to be governed, controlled and managed;
- Budgeting framework – directing the way government activity is to be resourced;
- Appropriation framework – authorising expenditure from the consolidated revenue fund;
- Cash management framework – controlling and managing the funding required to enable government business to operate;
- Financial reporting framework – reporting on financial results;
- Performance reporting framework – evaluating performance; and
- Human resource management framework – regulating how human resources in the Public Service are managed.

The IFMS will transform management practices by providing centrally hosted and integrated financial, supply chain management and human resource management systems. The IFMS will:

- accommodate ongoing management reforms and legislation such as the Public Finance Management Act and the Public Service Act;
- improve decision making through improved information and knowledge management;
- achieve interoperability, security, economies of scale and elimination of duplicated IT
systems;
- be instrumental in modernising government’s resource management;
- improve productivity and service delivery by standardising and automating
operational processes; and
- enhance government’s effectiveness by improving quality of data (timely, accurate
and complete) and making it available for use and sharing.