Impact of the New Technology Solutions on the State
 
The NCAS has brought significant benefit to the State of North Carolina.  Today, the OSC is evaluating the technology options that will maintain its position as a leader among the States and will provide the support and capabilities that the State agencies require to do business in the 21st century.  The new options under consideration and the streamlined work practices will result in significant productivity enhancements in managing the NCAS system and reporting accounting data.  Productivity enhancements will also be evidenced by changes in the number of ad hoc OSC work requests.  End users (agencies) will also save time because they will be able to perform the functions directly with automated tools.

The proposed solutions have potential for reducing the complexity of managing and accessing historical data. The expanded data warehouse/DSS can provide additional detail with all of the necessary information about historical data residing in a single automated system, accessible through a single, easy-to-use user interface.  Working with historical data will cease to be an investigative process, enabling staff to redirect their efforts to analysis and understanding, instead of search and collection.  This benefit will accrue to the OSC and other State agencies.  The options under consideration will enable larger volumes of detailed information to be accessed without segregating the information into multiple regions or requiring a download or manual entry process to a PC based spreadsheet.  The new exporting environment will enable this more expansive analysis of detailed information on the client/server domain, thus providing increased capability at reduced costs.  The newer technology solutions will support the electronic business processes that can free staff resources from redundant data entry activities and can provide a seamless environment for the citizens of North Carolina.  The OSC and the other State agencies will benefit from these capabilities.

Improved data quality and improved access facilities will result in the data being used to provide better products and services, such as more in-depth analysis, trends, forecasts, and analyses.  These will provide a more integrated view, leading to more informed decision making by all State agencies.

Finally, strong system support for the NCAS will continue to be the hallmark of the OSC.  The quality of support will increase, as financial and technical staffs focus on the proactive replacement of technology, based on the business strategy requirements of the State of North Carolina.  As new systems are planned or anticipated, it is vital that all business processes required for the State's operations be viewed within a single consolidated system.  These include a fully integrated Human Resource System and Budget System that will seamlessly reside with the other business applications.  All responsible agencies must be committed to a cooperative effort that supports a business solution that is responsive to the user and the citizens of this state.