NIH ES NIH Business System (NBS)
Investment ID: 009-000001413
Overview
Program Title
NIH ES NIH Business System (NBS)
Description
The NIH Business System (NBS) is a comprehensive enterprise resource planning system that meets the NIH's unique needs. It is composed of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and custom applications for standard financial management, acquisitions and property; and agency-specific needs such as animal procurement, fellowship payments, and patient travel. The foundation of the NBS Enterprise System is the Oracle E-Business Suite, a COTS product used for Financial Management and Supply. Additional COTS products include Unison PRISM, used for standard procurement management, and Sunflower, used for property management.
Type of Program
Major IT Investments
Multi-Agency Category
Financial Management, Procurement, Travel / Transportation, Other
Investment Detail
The NBS Program's strategic objectives consist of 1) Eliminate redundant and outdated financial systems by implementing a modern integrated NIH-wide system; 2) Produce accurate, timely, reliable and relevant financial information to help NIH and HHS managers make fact-based operational decisions; 3) Comply with applicable federal financial management system requirements; 4) Strengthen internal controls by instituting standard business rules, data requirements, and accounting policies across NIH and 5) Streamline operational activities to achieve more efficient and cost-effective business performance.
NBS has successfully implemented the Funds Control Initiative (FCI) which enhanced tracking and utilization of prior year unobligated funds. The NIH Budget Application (NBA) tool was also enhanced. This tool provided the NIH Budget Community the ability to create their budget distribution data for the new year with ease. The capability reduced manual steps involved in the uploading of budget distribution. NBS also implemented an integrated and secure tool to support the Office of Financial Management.
NBS successfully provided support to COVID-19 initiatives. NBS provided support to the NIH Office of Budget (OB) and the ICs in setting up COVID-19 supplemental Funds and Task structure to facilitate HHS reporting. Additionally, NBS expedited the implementation of the standard Oracle Data Act solution to meet COVID-19 reporting requirements. NBS also implemented Phase 1 of the NBS Tech Refresh Project in the middle of COVID-19 and collaborated with the NIH Office of Financial Management (OFM)'s implementation of timely payment of vendor invoices using a Robotic Process automation (RPA) tool.
Based on the current state of the NBS Program, and an effort to move the program forward, NBS Leadership has developed the following modernization roadmap. The NBS is currently in the process of updating its current Technology Stack. In FY2021, NBS plans to execute the following activities: 1) Mature Access Controls/SOD; 2) Mature configurations controls; 3) Expand ServiceNow; 4) Upgrade the Oracle EBS to v12.2.9 Upgrade; 5) Upgrade the current PRISM environment to 7.4.x; 6) Implement the PRISM Alternative Method of Payment (AMP) and; 7) continue working on the Corrective Action Plan remediation initiative.
The ultimate goal of the above initiatives is to achieve the following outcomes to reduce operational risk, increase reliability and security, create performance efficiencies, and maintain compliance.
NBS has successfully implemented the Funds Control Initiative (FCI) which enhanced tracking and utilization of prior year unobligated funds. The NIH Budget Application (NBA) tool was also enhanced. This tool provided the NIH Budget Community the ability to create their budget distribution data for the new year with ease. The capability reduced manual steps involved in the uploading of budget distribution. NBS also implemented an integrated and secure tool to support the Office of Financial Management.
NBS successfully provided support to COVID-19 initiatives. NBS provided support to the NIH Office of Budget (OB) and the ICs in setting up COVID-19 supplemental Funds and Task structure to facilitate HHS reporting. Additionally, NBS expedited the implementation of the standard Oracle Data Act solution to meet COVID-19 reporting requirements. NBS also implemented Phase 1 of the NBS Tech Refresh Project in the middle of COVID-19 and collaborated with the NIH Office of Financial Management (OFM)'s implementation of timely payment of vendor invoices using a Robotic Process automation (RPA) tool.
Based on the current state of the NBS Program, and an effort to move the program forward, NBS Leadership has developed the following modernization roadmap. The NBS is currently in the process of updating its current Technology Stack. In FY2021, NBS plans to execute the following activities: 1) Mature Access Controls/SOD; 2) Mature configurations controls; 3) Expand ServiceNow; 4) Upgrade the Oracle EBS to v12.2.9 Upgrade; 5) Upgrade the current PRISM environment to 7.4.x; 6) Implement the PRISM Alternative Method of Payment (AMP) and; 7) continue working on the Corrective Action Plan remediation initiative.
The ultimate goal of the above initiatives is to achieve the following outcomes to reduce operational risk, increase reliability and security, create performance efficiencies, and maintain compliance.