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The state of Florida has relied on the People First system to supply HR, payroll, and advantages options for over 20 years. The system is constructed on antiquated SAP software program. SAP is a German, multinational firm recognized extra for merchandise that assist manufacturing relatively than state governments.
There’s widespread consensus amongst state businesses that the system has outlived its helpful life and it’s time to maneuver to cloud computing to scale back prices, enhance HR course of effectivity and shield the state’s worker information with trendy cybersecurity controls.
A number of different states have both modernized within the cloud or are within the technique of doing so, equivalent to Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Washington. Division of Administration Companies Secretary Pedro Allende testified in December at a listening to of the Home Administration & Expertise Appropriations Subcommittee, {that a} “aggressive procurement will assist us supply the perfect worth to the state.”
Folks First helps greater than 220,000 customers throughout 33 state businesses and public universities. Some 1.3 million individuals per 12 months use it to use for state authorities jobs. As a result of the SAP system wasn’t designed for state authorities, Florida ended up with a patchwork, server-based system with 1000s of code modifications, making the system very costly to take care of. A small military of state IT employees and contractors are presently wanted to assist the system. Merely sustaining the present system prices roughly $32 million per 12 months.
In 2022, the Legislature funded $1.2 million to the Division of Administration Companies to fee a enterprise case to discover choices to modernize Folks First. DMS retained one of many world’s main IT consultancies, the Gartner Group, to look at choices. Gartner concluded that the State ought to pursue a aggressive course of to modernize Folks First and permit the incumbent and different cloud software program suppliers to bid to make sure that the State will get an answer that matches its enterprise necessities and Florida’s cloud first coverage at an inexpensive value.
In his 2024-25 budget recommendation, the Governor proposed $19.4 million to start this course of. Nevertheless, there’s a buzz across the capitol that the deep state within the Home of Representatives prefers the established order. Actually, within the Home proposed language that was not heard by a single committee in HB 5003 that may submit up towards the Governor, forestall modernization of the Folks First answer and legislatively direct DMS to resume the incumbent’s contract for a 5-year interval. This may imply state and public college workers and retirees would proceed to wrestle with the poor service offered by the present, antiquated Folks First system whereas SAP would proceed to invoice the state thousands and thousands for an answer that doesn’t adhere to Florida’s cloud first coverage or meet the wants of its workforce.
Individuals are by far the biggest value within the state funds. In a aggressive labor market, the worker expertise issues if the state is to recruit and retain the perfect and the brightest. The Folks First system is just too vital for politics to prevail and monopolistic practices to rule the day.
Florida is lengthy recognized for embracing market forces to find out the perfect consequence. A contemporary cloud-based alternative for Folks First will shield useful worker/retiree information by offering enhanced cybersecurity, enhance entry to badly wanted information to handle the workforce, introduce business HR finest practices to state authorities and cut back prices by scale economies related to cloud computing.
It’s time for the Legislature to place politics apart, vote down any effort to advertise uncompetitive practices and assist the Governor and Division of Administration Companies in a aggressive Folks First modernization course of.
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