WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the largest expansion of its Financial and Business Management System (FBMS) to date, the Department of the Interior today introduced FBMS to more than 7,000 additional users by deploying the system to the Bureau of Land Management and delivering more of its functions to the Minerals Management Service and the Office of Surface Mining.
When deployed across the entire Department by 2014, the FBMS suite of software applications will replace and integrate 160 of Interior's 162 legacy business systems and subsystems.
"I'm very pleased with the progress we're making deploying FBMS in the Department," said Jim Cason, Interior's Associate Deputy Secretary. "With each deployment, we're enhancing our ability to manage more efficiently the business processes that support Interior's missions and carry out our responsibilities to the American people, including management of public lands, natural and cultural resources and recreational sites."
The FBMS will enhance Interior's management of a variety of business functions, including core financials, acquisition, budget formulation, personal property and fleet management, real property, travel, financial assistance, and enterprise management information and reporting. Once fully operational, FBMS will provide Interior with standard business practices supported by a single, integrated financial and administrative system for all bureaus. Since the program began in 2005, FBMS implementations have decommissioned 28 of Interior's legacy business systems and subsystems.
In April 2005, FBMS's financial assistance functions were deployed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MMS and OSM. In 2006 and 2007, MMS and OSM received additional functions.
Personal property and fleet management are the newest FBMS modules, both of which have now been deployed to BLM, MMS, and OSM. The BLM also received the financial assistance, core financial, and acquisition modules, which were deployed previously to MMS and OSM.
"FBMS has changed the way BLM does business, by giving us a single integrated tool for financial transactions. I'm very proud of all the BLM employees who worked tirelessly to support the deployment process and achieve this important milestone," said Mike Ferguson, BLM's Assistant Director of Business and Fiscal Resources. "I'm also very appreciative of the leadership and support we received from the FBMS program office, the advice we received from MMS and OSM and the personnel provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, FWS, OSM, MMS, and the Department's National Business Center to help prepare the huge volume of BLM's business data for the initial loading of the new system."
FBMS will enable the Department to realize the benefits of standardized processes, a common technology platform, integrated real-time business information, and enhanced business decision-making. Interior is working in partnership with IBM Global Business Services to implement the SAP® Corporation's Enterprise Resource Planning System software that integrates cross-functional business processes.
"Teamwork was the key to our success in this deployment," said Pam Haze, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget and Business Management and the FBMS Sponsor. "The FBMS program office, the National Business Center, BLM, MMS, OSM, and Departmental policy offices worked very hard to develop, test, and implement the FBMS business processing functions.
"We are another step closer to achieving our goal of decommissioning the Department's legacy business systems and using one integrated business management system to support the department's mission," Haze said.
The point of contact for additional information in the FBMS Program Office is Melvin Hunter at 703-793-5546 or Melvin_Hunter@fbms.doi.gov.