PeopleSoft selected by the French Government`s ACCORD project

PeopleSoft was selected by the French Government as part of a consortium to implement its new State Expenditure Management computer system, at the conclusion of a competitive tendering process which began at the end of 1998.

The consortium, which consists of PeopleSoft, Andersen Consulting, Sequent and Steria was appointed by the Ministry of the Economy, Finance, and Industry to carry out the first stage of the ACCORD project (Application Coordonn'ee de Comptabilisation, d`Ordonnancement et de R`eglement de la D'epense de l`Etat) (Co-ordinated Application for Government Accountancy, Payments, and Expenditure Control). A wide range of criteria was taken into consideration by the Government during the selection process, namely:

• The need to begin the project by upgrading the existing system

• The functions of the software packages in relation to the Government `s requirements

• The need for extreme robustness and flexibility of the entire solution (both with regard to software and the technology: central open systems by Sequent)

• The cost of implementation

The main objective of the ACCORD project is to upgrade all the Government` s accounting and expenditure management systems. This application will provide a common tool for all the different departments linking the mainframe computer, the Financial Controller, and the Fund-holder.

Jan Coetzee, MD of PeopleSoft South Africa, attributes ACCORD`s use of PeopleSoft software, including standard accounting, budgeting, and analysis, supplier and purchase accounting modules, to the fact that it is a tool that simplifies the public expenditure management process. "It will also enable a certain number of improvements to be incorporated, such as the progressive development of the capital accounting process, the ability to handle various analytical methods - by policy, by program, and by management unit - and the phasing out of internal equipment, and later - during a second stage - of external equipment," he adds.

Coetzee explains that in January 1999 Andersen Consulting and PeopleSoft formed a strategic global alliance, enabling it to provide specific services to governments and educational establishments and universities in 35 countries in the following regions: North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. According to Coetzee, Peoplesoft and Andersen Consulting will be developing a new version of PeopleSoft`s Public Sector solution, For the ACCORD project, that will be available at the end of the year 2000.

"In addition to standard public sector functionality, the new version of the solution will contain specific elements relating to French public expenditure accounting, meaning that it can be used by a large number of public sector employees," he states.

On the French market, Andersen Consulting and PeopleSoft have decided to join forces with Steria, who will be providing set-up support and in-depth knowledge of French Government administrative procedures. In addition to the aspect of integrating the information systems, the three partners have decided to utilise their skills and knowledge in order to take on a driving role as partner in the State`s modernisation process, by working within every dimension of the organisations - strategy, the procedures, the new technologies, and staff.