Toronto, ON – OECM has reached a critical stage in our work toward delivering the highly anticipated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project, with multiple Master Agreements to meet the needs of our School Board customers. We are pleased to share that the project is now in the evaluation stage, with an anticipated launch date of December 2022.
The ERP Request for Proposals (RFP) represents School Board requirements developed collaboratively amongst the Advisors engaged in the project, employing lessons learned from OECM’s Student Information System (SIS) project. Based on the feedback gathered and the ERP Executive Steering Committee and School Board Advisory Committees’ direction, a key consideration for School Board Advisors was to ensure that the project results in “choice” of qualified ERP suppliers, supporting the sector needs.
Progress to date
OECM drafted the RFP based on School Board Finance and Human Resources/Payroll Solution requirements. Representatives approved the RFP strategy and content prior to posting. The RFP was posted on June 30, 2022, with a closing date of August 25, 2022. OECM received nine submissions, which are now under evaluation. Many School Board representatives are engaged in the various evaluation stages, which include:
- Technical Response
- Demonstration Sessions
- Commercial Response (pricing)
- Strategic Presentation Sessions
- Negotiations
- Master Agreement Finalization
Evaluations are expected to be completed by the end of November with negotiations and awarding of Master Agreements anticipated to take place in December 2022.
Multi-supplier awards and second stage process
The ERP RFP has been designed to have multi-supplier awards (Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers) to support the needs of all Ontario School Boards. Once Master Agreements are finalized, School Boards can conduct a second stage process where they select from the list of pre-qualified suppliers which are most appropriate for their organization (or a group of School Boards, should they choose to work together at a second stage). The value of a second stage versus this pre-qualification process is that School Boards can request other information and/or demonstrations specific to their organization’s business processes.
Governance
As part of the project delivery requirements, the ERP Executive Steering Committee, with OECM’s assistance, is developing an ERP Governance Structure and Framework to support School Boards. In addition to supporting collaboration amongst School Boards, Suppliers and OECM, the Governance Structure and Framework will provide strategic direction, collaborative planning for implementation consistency and additional oversight.
For more information about this project, please don’t hesitate to contact Perry Arzumanian, Director of Strategic Sourcing Solutions, at perry.arzumanian@oecm.ca.
