July Newsletter: Get a Sneak Peek into Grants Management in GA@WORK

The NextGen Project aims to modernize the state’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system by replacing PeopleSoft Financials and Human Capital Management with GA@WORK, a new cloud-based solution that will propel Georgia government into the forefront of technology and change the way we do business. Click here to learn more.

What's New

New Grants Management Sneak Peek video published 

A new GA@WORK video about Grants Management is now available! This video provides an overview of how to manage Grants in the GA@WORK system. In GA@WORK, Grants are driver Worktags that are available to be used on transactions and act as tools to pull in other Worktags to reflect the true nature of a financial transaction. The video gives insight into what the process will look like to create a Grant in GA@WORK.  

To view the Grants Management video along with the related change impact slide, click here. 

HCM and Finance Resources available on GA@WORK Resource Library 

New readiness resources are now available to help you and your team transition smoothly to GA@WORK. These resources include change impact materials for Finance, Security and Payroll groups, outlining the key changes, benefits and challenges you can expect with GA@WORK. You can also find crosswalk tools on the GA@WORK Resource Library, specifically in the HR/Payroll Professionals and Finance Professionals sections.  

To make the most of these resources, download and review them, share them with your colleagues, use the suggested language to draft your own communications and consider hosting webinars to walk through the materials with your team.

These tools are designed to support you and your employees throughout the transition to GA@WORK, so be sure to take advantage of them.  

New Training options rolling out soon! 

The NextGen Project Team is excited to announce that new training opportunities are on their way to help you grow and develop your GA@WORK skills! In the coming weeks, more eLearning options will be available.  

Flexible eLearning modules are accessible from June through September, allowing users to learn at their own pace and convenience.  

If you have any questions about these new training programs, complete the Learning Management System Learning Help form, and someone will get back to you in within 72 hours.

What’s Next 

Take the Change Readiness Assessment survey #4 

Thank you for your participation in the previous Change Readiness Survey in April! There were more than 6,200 participants across 114 agencies. The State of Georgia agencies overall scored a 3.4 out of 5 readiness score, indicating steady progress in preparing for the GA@WORK go-live. Your feedback highlighted areas for improvement, such as providing the necessary support, access and resources for GA@WORK.  

In response to the feedback, the NextGen Project Team launched the Training Support Center to share key training information. Additionally, the NextGen Project Team developed GA@WORK Toolkits across HCM, Payroll, Finance, Procurement, as well as resources for Employees and Managers to help prepare for go-live. To view these resources, please visit the GA@WORK Resource Library.   

The NextGen Project Team will deploy one final Change Readiness Assessment (CRA), and we need you to participate! This survey is open to all employees and will be available from July 22 – Aug. 12. It will be distributed through the NextGen Change Network (NCN) and internal agency communication teams. Please take the survey and encourage your colleagues to participate.  

Your perspective makes a difference! Share your voice when the survey launches later this month! 

You Oughta Know   

Security Verification exercise launching soon for Agency Security Partners 

Coming soon, the NextGen Security Team will work in collaboration with Agency Security Partners (ASPs) to align user access with job responsibilities, eliminate risks from outdated permissions and prevent conflicts where an individual can both submit and approve a request. This verification is a crucial step to ensuring access in GA@WORK and is essential to go-live success. During this verification activity ASPs will have the opportunity to:

• Verify security role assignments in GA@WORK.
• Review and resolve conflicts in the Separation of Duties.
• Learn about new role responsibilities related to the Security Request Form in GA@WORK.

ASPs will receive communication from the NextGen Security Team with timeline details and an invitation to the kick-off meeting on July 28.  

Find out what’s happening with PCT 3  

Payroll Compare Testing (PCT) 3 kicked off in June and is continuing through July. Agencies were invited to select Payroll testers for this activity, which involves pulling payroll registers from TeamWorks and GA@WORK, verifying their accuracy and submitting defects or providing confirmation that the calculations are accurate. 

Agency CFOs are being asked to submit an attestation at the end of the review cycle to indicate whether the results of the comparison presented any challenges that would keep the project from going live.

The NextGen Project Team would like to thank all participants for their time in assisting to make sure payroll is accurate and ready for go-live.    

Enterprise User Acceptance Testing still going strong 

Hundreds of testers have been gathering in-person and virtually since June 9 to conduct Enterprise User Acceptance Testing (UAT) across all the workstreams.  

Testers from across the state are logging into GA@WORK, completing their test scripts and logging any defects in the qTest platform. It’s all to help GA@WORK function as intended and identify any issues that need correcting.  

Many thanks to each and every tester for their hard work! Enterprise UAT continues until Aug. 8.  

Questions? Contact the NextGen Testing Team at [email protected]. 

June Procurement Huddle covers fiscal year-end duties 

The Department of Administrative Services State Purchasing Division (SPD) held its monthly Procurement Huddle on June 25. This meeting is designed to share critical information about the upcoming GA@WORK implementation with the procurement community.  

The presentation reviewed the preparation needed for the end of fiscal year 2025, focusing on pre-encumbrances, reporting and data cleansing. This information provided agencies insight and actions for data cleanup ahead of GA@WORK go-live.

The GA@WORK Procurement Huddles occur on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 1 – 2 p.m. and will continue even after GA@WORK goes live. Details about the upcoming meetings will be posted on the DOAS Events website and shared through the SPD Announcement newsletter. 

ICYMI: You can view the GA@WORK Procurement Huddle presentation and watch the meeting recording. 

Adaptive Planning goes live in December 

Adaptive Planning is a cloud-based planning and analysis solution designed to help state agencies streamline the annual budget development process. It enables automation of forecasting by leveraging personnel data and financial information from GA@WORK.

Adaptive Planning has several benefits, as it:

• Enables agencies to develop annual operating budgets efficiently  
• Supports personnel forecasting using GA@WORK HCM data and key forecast drivers
• Facilitates operational expenses and revenue projections based on historical trends
• Empowers agencies and the Office of Planning & Budget to enhance budget decision-making through scenario-based analysis
• Allows for ongoing monitoring and analysis of performance metrics
• Delivers comprehensive reporting capabilities for informed decision-making

Adaptive Planning will go live on Dec. 1. If your agency opted into Adaptive Planning, additional communications will be shared in the coming weeks.  

Related to: 

• NextGen