• Angela Blanton, Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer
• Stan Waddell, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer

The FDW Modernization Project includes the implementation of a modern data storage solution
that will provide a more robust and supported environment for the new financial data warehouse
(FINDW), as well as the implementation of new reporting and analytics tools for users. The new
FINDW is expected to accomplish the same goals as the existing system but in a more efficient
way and with minimum operational changes or disruption. Additionally, this enterprise data
storage solution can be leveraged for the university’s future data analytics needs. It is important
to note that the implementation of Power BI will provide an additional tool for users to leverage,
but is not intended to replace other data tools (e.g., Tableau, Excel4apps) already in use at the
university.

The project remains on schedule. Key items to note include:

• FIN - Power BI Financial Data Warehouse Training is underway and approximately 90
  new and current users have been trained and granted production access as of April 17.
  All new and current users must complete the training to get access to Power BI. If you
  haven’t done so already, visit FocusU to register. Sessions are offered twice weekly
  through June.
• Over 70 reports from various modules have been made available to users (with access)
  in the Power BI Financial Data Warehouse App. Additional reports will be released and
  added to the appropriate domains in the Power BI Financial Data Warehouse App in a
  phased approach as they are validated.
• The target date to train and enable access for all current DecisionCast Financial Data
  Warehouse users to Power BI is June 30.
• Current users will continue to have access to DecisionCast until the legacy system is
  decommissioned on August 31. This gives users several months to confirm that all the
  information they query in DecisionCast is available and working as expected in Power
  BI.
• The processes for migrating private queries from DecisionCast data warehouse to
  Power BI and for customizing reports in PowerBI have been developed and will be
  communicated directly to users as they migrate.
• The CMU Power BI User group will kick off on May 25. This group is open to all CMU
  Power BI users and is a great way to engage with other users, ask questions, and share
  knowledge. Email fdw-project@andrew.cmu.edu to request to be added to the group.

The Steering Committee met on March 21 and the UAC met on April 12. The key topics for
those meetings included updates on the overall project status, user acceptance testing
progress, PowerBI demo of PBIX files for report customization, and an update on training and
change management activities. The next Steering Committee meeting will be held on April 25
and the UAC will meet again on May 17.

A targeted email to current FDW users with detailed information about go-live plans, reminders
to register for Power BI training and resources that are available to help them migrate from the
current financial data warehouse (Decision Cast) to the new Power BI tool is forthcoming. FDW
users are also encouraged to connect with the Steering Committee and/or UAC members from
their area to obtain information or provide feedback on the project. A list of Steering Committee
and UAC members is available on the project web page. 

Regular updates will be also provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails,
stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and this webpage throughout the project.

Questions can be directed to fdw-project@andrew.cmu.edu.

The FDW Modernization Project includes the implementation of a modern data storage solution that will provide a more robust and supported environment for the new FDW, as well as the implementation of new reporting and analytics tools for users. The new FDW is expected to accomplish the same goals as the existing system but in a more efficient way and with minimum operational changes or disruption. Additionally, this enterprise data storage solution can be leveraged for the university's future data analytics needs. It is important to note that the implementation of Power BI will provide an additional tool for users to leverage, but is not intended to replace other data tools (e.g., Tableau, Excel4apps) already in use at the university.

The project remains on schedule. Key items to note include:

• Final data security validations are nearly complete
• User acceptance testing continues to make good progress and testing of reports from all modules is expected to be complete by the end of March. Thank you to all the testing volunteers!
• The process for migrating private queries from DecisionCast data warehouse to Power BI has been developed and will be communicated to users as they migrate
• Training for new and current FDW users is slated to begin on April 4 and run twice weekly through at least June. Current FDW users will receive a targeted email communication with additional training information and registration instructions.

The Steering Committee met last on March 1 and the UAC met on March 15. The key topics for those meetings included updates on the overall project status, user acceptance testing progress, Power BI demo, and training and change management activities. The next Steering Committee meeting was held on March 21 and the UAC will meet again on April 12.

A targeted email to current FDW users with detailed information about go-live plans, how to register for Power BI training and resources that are available to help them migrate from the current financial data warehouse (Decision Cast) to the new Power BI tool is forthcoming. FDW users are also encouraged to connect with the Steering Committee and/or UAC members from their area to obtain information or provide feedback on the project. A list of Steering Committee and UAC members is available on this page.

Regular updates will be also provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails, stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and the project webpage throughout the project. Questions can be directed to fdw-project@andrew.cmu.edu .

The FDW Modernization Project includes the implementation of a modern data storage solution that will provide a more robust and supported environment for the new FDW, as well as the implementation of new reporting and analytics tools for users. The new FDW is expected to accomplish the same goals as the existing system but in a more efficient way and with minimum operational changes or disruption. Additionally, this enterprise data storage solution can be leveraged for the university’s future data analytics needs. It is important to note that the implementation of Power BI will provide an additional tool for users to leverage but is not intended to replace other data tools (e.g., Tableau, Excel4apps) already in use at the university. 

The project remains on schedule. Key items to note include:

• ‘Lift and shift’ of data from the current financial data warehouse to the new Snowflake back end storage for the new data warehouse is complete 

• Security around the data in the new data warehouse is being finalized

• Phase two of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with a subset of User Advisory Council (UAC) volunteers began on Jan. 23.  Currently testing on General Ledger (GL) and Accounts Payable (AP) queries is in progress, with the other domains to follow as those reports become available. 

• Automated report development to pull current key data warehouse reports into PowerBI continues

• Power BI training dry runs have been completed with the core project team, as well as a subset of UAC volunteers from across the university

• Training for new and current financial data warehouse (FDW) users is slated to begin in April and run twice weekly through at least June. Current FDW users will receive a targeted email communication with additional training information and registration instructions. Information is also provided in the Training News section on page six. 

The Steering Committee met last on Jan. 11, and the UAC met on Jan.18. The key topics for those meetings included updates on the overall project status, UAT plans, Power BI training framework, private query migration process, and change management activities. The next Steering Committee meeting will be held on March 1, and the UAC will meet again on March 15.

A targeted email to current FDW users with detailed information about go-live plans, how to register for Power BI training and resources that are available to help them migrate from the current financial data warehouse (Decision Cast) to the new Power BI tool is forthcoming.  FDW users are also encouraged to connect with the Steering Committee and/or UAC members from their area to obtain information or provide feedback on the project. A list of Steering Committee and UAC members is available on the project web page. 

Regular updates will also be provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails, stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and the project webpage throughout the project.

The FDW Modernization Project includes the implementation of a modern data storage solution that will provide a more robust and supported environment for the new FDW, as well as the implementation of new reporting and analytics tools for users. The new FDW is expected to accomplish the same goals as the existing system but in a more efficient way and with minimum operational changes or disruption. Additionally, this enterprise data storage solution can be leveraged for the university’s future data analytics needs. It is important to note that the implementation of PowerBI will provide an additional tool for users to leverage, but is not intended to replace other data tools (e.g. Tableau, Excel4apps) already in use at the university. 

The project remains on schedule. Key items to note include:

• ‘Lift and shift’ of data from the current financial data warehouse to the new Snowflake back end storage for the new data warehouse is about 85% complete.
• Security around the data in the new data warehouse is in the process of being rebuilt
• Unit and system testing is being conducted by the project team
• Phase one of user acceptance testing (UAT) is underway with internal team members. Phase two of UAT with a subset of UAC volunteers is tentatively slated to begin in January 2023 or upon completion of ‘lift and shift’, unit and system testing and the security rebuild.
• PowerBI front end interface architecture prototype has been developed and socialized
• Automated report prototyping is in progress to pull current key data warehouse reports into PowerBI
• In total almost 900 most used queries have been collected from UAC members across all domains
• PowerBI user training is tentatively slated to begin in February 2023 or upon completion of ‘lift and shift’, security rebuild, unit and system testing, and UAT

The UAC met on Nov. 15 and the Steering Committee met on Dec. 7. The key topics for those meetings included updates on the overall project status, overview of UAT framework and phases, and introduction of PowerBI terminology, front-end design prototype and high-level demonstration. The UAC will meet again on Dec. 14 and Jan. 18, 2023. The next Steering Committee meeting will be held on Jan. 11, 2023. 

Current FDW users are encouraged to connect with the Steering Committee and/or UAC members from their area to obtain information or provide feedback on the project. A list of Steering Committee and UAC members is available on the project web page. The next Steering Committee meeting will be held on Oct. 25 and the next UAC meeting is scheduled for Nov. 15. 

Regular updates will be also provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails, stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and the project webpage throughout the project.

The FDW Modernization Project includes the implementation of a modern data storage solution that will provide a more robust and supported environment for the new FDW, as well as the implementation of new reporting and analytics tools for users. The new FDW is expected to accomplish the same goals as the existing system but in a more efficient way and with minimum operational changes or disruption. Additionally, this enterprise data storage solution can be leveraged for the university's future data analytics needs. It is important to note that the implementation of PowerBI will provide an additional tool for users to leverage, but is not intended to replace other data tools (e.g. Tableau, Excel4apps) already in use at the university.

The User Advisory Council (UAC) met on Oct. 13 and key discussion items included:

Project Update

The project remains on schedule. The Infosemantics ‘lift and shift’ of general ledger (GL) is complete, accounts payable (AP) and purchase order (PO) are nearing completion and accounts receivable (AR) and Grants Accounting (GA) are over halfway complete. The project team is also determining the optimal architectural structure for PowerBI based on best practices and available options to ensure it will be as user-friendly as possible, continuing efforts related to report prototyping and validation, and conducting table-by-table unit testing to compare Oracle and Snowflake (back end).

Information Gathering Update

Following the successful efforts to gather most used GL and AP queries, UAC members were asked to gather most used PO queries for PO, which resulted in five folders containing about 15 queries being provided. Thank you to all Steering Committee members, UAC members and FDW users who contributed queries! The information provided will be used in conjunction with the results from the FDW Modernization Project User Survey conducted in Spring 2022 and usage information available from the FDW to provide as complete a picture as possible as to what queries are most critical to FDW users. This will help the project team ensure data informed report rationalization decision making as the new FDW is developed.

As a next action item, UAC members were asked to gather the most used AR, GA, and Labor Distribution (LD) queries.  UAC members from central finance will also provide most used Cash Management (CM) and Fixed Assets (FA) queries. UAC members can provide instructions to FDW users in their areas who are interested in contributing to these efforts. 

System and User Acceptance Testing Overview

The systems testing is being conducted by internal project team members and focuses on comparing DecisionCast, Snowflake, and PowerBI results. User acceptance testing will be a phased testing plan performed by volunteers from the UAC and will focus on tool functionality, data results, and user interface.

Current FDW users are encouraged to connect with the Steering Committee and/or UAC members from their area to obtain information or provide feedback on the project. A list of Steering Committee and UAC members is available on the project web page. The next Steering Committee meeting will be held on Oct. 25 and the next UAC meeting is scheduled for Nov. 15.

Regular updates will be also provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails, stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and the project web page throughout the project.

Questions can be directed to fdw-project@andrew.cmu.edu.

The FDW Modernization Project includes the implementation of a modern data storage solution that will provide a more robust and supported environment for the new FDW, as well as the implementation of new reporting and analytics tools for users. The new FDW is expected to accomplish the same goals as the existing system but in a more efficient way and with minimum operational changes or disruption. Additionally, this enterprise data storage solution can be leveraged for the university's future data analytics needs. It is important to note that the implementation of PowerBI will provide an additional tool for users to leverage but is not intended to replace other data tools (e.g., Tableau, Excel4apps) already in use at the university.

The User Advisory Council (UAC) met on Sept.1, and the Steering Committee met on Sept. 6. Key discussion items from those meetings included:

Project Update

The project remains on schedule. The Snowflake data validation (table by table comparison) is complete and the Infosemantics ‘lift and shift’ of general ledger (GL) and accounts payable (AP) data is in progress.  An external consultant has been engaged to assist the project team with identifying best practices for using PowerBi and report prototyping is underway.

Information Gathering Update

Information gathered from users regarding most used general ledger (GL) and accounts payable (AP) queries included 43 folders/312 queries for GL and 13 folders/49 queries for AP. Thank you to all Steering Committee members, UAC members and FDW users who contributed queries! The information provided will be used in conjunction with the results from the FDW Modernization Project User Survey conducted in Spring 2022 and usage information available from the FDW to provide as complete a picture as possible as to what queries are most critical to FDW users.  This will help the project team ensure data informed report rationalization decision making as the new FDW is developed.

As a next action item, UAC and/or Steering Committee members will gather most used purchase order (PO) queries and can provide instructions to FDW users in their areas who are interested in contributing to these efforts. 

PowerBI Training Plan Overview

The project team plans to do a phased PowerBI training approach for existing FDW users during the January-May 2023 timeframe. Completion of an instructor-led hands-on session (approximately 2.5 - 3 hours) will be required to obtain access to production data in PowerBI and online training resources will also be made available for reference. More information about training dates and format is forthcoming.

Current FDW users are encouraged to connect with the Steering Committee and/or UAC members from their area to obtain information or provide feedback on the project. A list of Steering Committee and UAC members is available on the project web page. The next UAC meeting is scheduled for Oct. 13 and the next Steering Committee meeting will be held on Oct. 25.

Regular updates will also be provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails, stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and the project web page throughout the project.

Questions can be directed to fdw-project@andrew.cmu.edu.

The FDW Modernization Project includes the implementation of a modern data storage solution that will provide a more robust and supported environment for the new FDW, as well as the implementation of new reporting and analytics tools for users. The new FDW is expected to accomplish the same goals as the existing system but in a more efficient way and with minimum operational changes or disruption. Additionally, this enterprise data storage solution can be leveraged for the university's future data analytics needs.

The User Advisory Council (UAC) met on July 28, and the Steering Committee met on Aug. 2. Agenda topics for those meetings included items such as:

• FDW Modernization Project update
• Recap of July PowerBI Deep Dive Session/Why PowerBI
• Questions and discussion
• Action items and next steps

Much of the discussion at these meetings focused on participants sharing current use-case scenarios and processes that are executed in the FDW today. As an action item, UAC members will continue to identify use-case scenarios and assist the project team in gathering the most used general ledger (GL) and accounts payable (AP) queries. UAC members may reach out to FDW users in their area(s) as part of the data collection process.

From a technology perspective, all needed financial warehouse data has been replicated to Snowflake (a new back-end data storage tool) and the ‘lift and shift’ of GL and AP data kicked off in July. All data from the domains in the current FDW will be ‘lifted’ and ‘shifted’ into Snowflake as the project progresses, so that users have access to the same data they do today when the new FDW goes live. The project team also worked to develop the data validation strategy and plans for report assessments, explored digital accessibility capabilities of PowerBI (proposed new front-end user tool), continued conversations regarding FDW security groups and profiles and completed the seamless authentication to Snowflake.

Current FDW users are encouraged to connect with the Steering Committee and/or UAC members from their area to obtain information or provide feedback on the project. A list of Steering Committee and UAC members is available on this project web page. The next UAC meeting is scheduled for Sept. 1 and the next Steering Committee meeting will be held on Sept. 12.

Regular updates will be also provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails, stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and this web page throughout the project.

The FDW Modernization Project includes the implementation of a modern data storage solution that will provide a more robust and supported environment for the new FDW, as well as the implementation of new reporting and analytics tools for users. The new FDW is expected to accomplish the same goals as the existing system but in a more efficient way and with minimum operational changes or disruption. Additionally, this enterprise data storage solution can be leveraged for the university's future data analytics needs.

The second Steering Committee meeting was held on June 28 and the agenda included a project update, including an adjusted project timeline, and a discussion on the proposed front end user tool recommendation, which is PowerBI. Steering Committee members were asked to connect with the User Advisory Council (UAC) member(s) and current financial data warehouse (FDW) users in their area(s) to gather any questions or concerns.

Members of the Steering Committee and the User Advisory Council (UAC) were invited to an optional PowerBI Deep Dive session on July 14 that included: 

• A brief walkthrough of the PowerBI user interface
• An example query
• A high level demonstration of some possible features
• The opportunity for attendees to ask questions and/or raise any concerns

Current FDW users are encouraged to connect with the Steering Committee and/or UAC members from their area to obtain information or provide feedback on the project. A list of Steering Committee and UAC members is available on the project web page. The next UAC meeting is scheduled for July 28, and the next Steering Committee meeting will be held on August 2.

Regular updates will also be provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails, stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and the project web page throughout the project.

Questions can be directed to fdw-project@andrew.cmu.edu.

The FDW Modernization Project includes the implementation of a modern data storage solution that will provide a more robust and supported environment for the new FDW, as well as the implementation of new reporting and analytics tools for users. The new FDW is expected to accomplish the same goals as the existing system but in a more efficient way and with minimum operational changes or disruption. Additionally, this enterprise data storage solution can be leveraged for the university’s future data analytics needs.

A kick-off meeting was held with the User Advisory Council (UAC) on June 13 with an agenda that included the following:

• FDW Modernization Project Overview
• University Data Integration, Reporting, and Analytics Overview
• Project Team
• FDW Modernization Project Approach
• Propose Front End User Tool
• Next Steps
• Resources

The UAC members will represent the business needs of all FDW users, provide functional feedback before, during and after implementation of the new FDW, act as champions of the project and liaisons for sharing information with other FDW users, participate in user acceptance testing, help identify user training needs and necessary resources for the phased transition stage and post-implementation, and provide input on migration schedule to minimize potential business-calendar conflicts.

The project team also visited key stakeholder groups such as the Administrative Leadership Group (ALG) and Academic Business Managers Council (ABMC) in May to introduce to the FDW Modernization project and have discussions to collect their initial feedback.

Current FDW users are encouraged to connect with the Steering Committee and/or UAC members from their area to obtain information or provide feedback on the project. Regular updates will be also provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails, stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and the project web page throughout the project.

Questions can be directed to fdw-project@andrew.cmu.edu.

A kickoff meeting was held with the Project Steering Committee members on April 27 with an agenda that included the following:

• FDW Modernization Project Overview
• University Data Integration, Reporting, and Analytics Overview
• FDW Modernization Project Approach

The Steering Committee members will champion the project purpose and objectives, provide timely and valuable guidance to the project team, assist with resolving any escalated project-related challenges and encourage stakeholders from their areas to participate in the project.

Thank you again to the nearly 70 FDW users who indicated an interest to participate in this project on the FDW Project Modernization survey. Approximately 30 User Advisory Council (UAC) representatives have been contacted and asked to confirm their UAC participation by May 20. The UAC is expected to kick off in early June and calendar invitations for confirmed participants are forthcoming. While the UAC members will formally represent their business units, the project team will also identify opportunities to connect and engage with all users at key points during the project.

The project team is also planning to visit key stakeholder groups such as the Administrative Leadership Group (ALG) and Academic Business Managers Council (ABMC) in May to introduce the FDW Modernization project and have discussions to collect their initial feedback.

Regular updates will be provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails, stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and this web page throughout the project.

Questions can be directed to fdw-project@andrew.cmu.edu.

Current FDW users were invited to participate in the FDW Modernization Project User Survey, which ran from March 29 – April 8, to gather actionable information to understand the user experience with the current FDW tool, what improvements users might like to see and how the FDW query data is currently used. There were 162 completed responses received, for a 39% survey completion rate. Thank you to everyone who participated and took the time to provide your valuable feedback! The FDW Modernization Project team will leverage the survey results to help inform decision making as the project progresses.

Survey respondents were also asked to indicate if they are interested in participating on a User Advisory Council (UAC) for the project and many users responded positively. The project team will be reaching out to selected users in the coming weeks with additional information.

Thank you in advance for your participation and collaboration! General questions about the survey or FDW Modernization Project can be directed to fdw-project@andrew.cmu.edu.

The FDW Modernization Project includes the implementation of a modern data storage solution that will provide a more robust and supported environment for the new FDW, as well as the implementation of new reporting and analytics tools for users. The new FDW is expected to accomplish the same goals as the existing system but in a more efficient way and with minimum operational changes or disruption. Additionally, this enterprise data storage solution can be leveraged for the university's future data analytics needs.

The project steering committee is expected to kick off in the next month and includes representation from areas across the university, and FDW users will have opportunities to engage in this project and provide feedback through surveys, user advisory groups, user acceptance testing, and training opportunities. The first user survey will be distributed in late March and will include an opportunity for users to volunteer to participate in the User Advisory Council for the project.

Regular updates will be provided to users and key stakeholders through targeted emails, stakeholder meetings, the Finance Bulletin, and this web page throughout the project.

Questions can be directed to fdw-project@andrew.cmu.edu.