Commerce Administrative Management System (CAMS) Program Management Plan (PMP)

1   Introduction/History

This Commerce Administrative Management System (CAMS) Program Management Plan (PMP) is a living document serving as a primary resource for communication, systems planning, and decision-making across the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Business Systems landscape. The PMP was developed and is maintained by the NIST Deputy Chief Financial Officer (DCFO) office, with participation from many other individuals throughout NIST. The information presented in the PMP is intended to provide background and understanding related to the CAMS implementation to senior managers, technical experts, finance personnel and end users.

The PMP is intended for two specific audiences: NIST Executive Management personnel and the NIST/CAMS user community. The first audience consists of NIST’s Operating Unit (OU) Directors and Deputy Directors. The PMP’s Executive Summary will be an effective communication vehicle for DCFO management answering, at a high-level, why CAMS is needed, how the current financial management system looks today (“As-is”) versus how the system will look after implementing CAMS (“To-be”), and the strategy to conduct the implementation. Personnel directly affected by CAMS comprise the second audience (e.g., DCFO personnel, Senior Management Advisors (SMAs) and Administrative Officers (AOs)). The high-level details of the PMP will provide enough information to allow a more thorough understanding of the CAMS functionality and Implementation strategy.

Updates to this document will be issued quarterly as the CAMS Program evolves. See Appendix B for the procedure to make suggested changes to the PMP.

Comments and suggestions are encouraged and should be addressed to the CAMS Project Manager Teresa Coppolino at 301-975-2290, or via electronic mail to teresa.coppolino@nist.gov.

1.1   CAMS Vision

Sound financial and administrative management must permeate throughout all the Department of Commerce’s (DOC) programs and operations. Financial managers, who understand all applicable financial management requirements and have ready access to all the data and information needed to satisfy these requirements, must guide the Department’s programs and operations. In addition, the programs and operations must be supported by sound financial systems, and related concepts of operation, that ensure the integrity, timeliness, and completeness of the data and information contained within the system.

• Paperless records (except as required by law),


• All stages of financial and administrative management processes including commitments, obligations, cost accruals, and disbursements,


• Electronically integrate the related activities of program managers and financial, budget, acquisition, and other administrative professionals,


• Make all the administrative management processes inter-operable, and


• Interface with other Government administrative systems.

The Department envisions a dynamic system that will grow, change, and remain current with available technology and the requirements of financial and administrative management. Administrative and financial management professionals, as well as program managers, will be well trained and knowledgeable about financial and administrative management requirements and automated systems supporting administrative management. They will have easy access to all data and information needed to satisfy their management needs. The envisioned CAMS will increase productivity and efficiency and at the same time empower administrative and financial management professionals to make better decisions, thus improving customer service through real-time communication.

1.2   Scope of Project

The original CAMS concept was envisioned to consist of the Core Financial System (CFS) and as many as ten functional and administrative systems. The original CAMS concept will be addressed in this document; however the scope of the initial NIST, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and Technology Administration (TA) implementation will be limited to “Core CAMS.”

The current CAMS strategy (“Core CAMS”) consists of the CFS and two major administrative system interfaces, the National Finance Center (NFC) Labor Distribution Module and the Commerce Purchase Card System (CPCS). Additionally, the NIST environment will require several interfaces to be developed to feed into the CFS environment including, but not limited to: Travel Manager, CSTARS, GMIS, etc. The interfaces will need to be analyzed in greater detail to determine the level of integration needed. The CFS will provide financial management and accounting services to NIST and consist of six integrated modules:

• General Ledger,
• Payment Management (Accounts Payable),


• Receipts Management (Accounts Receivable and Reimbursable Agreements),


• Cost Management (Cost Allocation),


• Funds Management (Budget Execution), and


• Work Flow Management.

The CAMS implementation at NIST also includes the development of the NIST CAMS Portal. The vision for the NIST CAMS Portal is to provide CAMS users with a user-friendly, central location to retrieve timely financial management and accounting information. In addition, the Portal will provide users with commitment tracking ability.

1.3   NIST-Customer Bureau Implementation

The Core CAMS Implementation efforts at NIST began with the six NIST Customer Bureaus (whose financial and accounting operations are performed by the NIST Financial Operations Division). These Bureaus include Office of the Secretary (OS and Office of Computer Services (OCS)), Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Economic Development Administration (EDA), Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA), Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA).

The NIST Customer Bureau Implementation effort consisted of two phases. The initial Implementation of CAMS (Phase I) was conducted for OS (including OCS) and OIG, with completion in October 2000. The Phase II Implementation, for EDA, ESA, BEA and MBDA went online in June 2001. The CFS is now the accounting system of record for these Bureaus and, as a result, Federal Accounting and Reporting System (FARS) went off-line in June 2001.

Following each Implementation, the CAMS Implementation Team met with key stakeholders to measure the implementation against pre-defined success factors. During this analysis, the team identified that the success of these implementation efforts was attributable primarily to:

1. Knowledgeable and committed support from Financial Services Group personnel,


2. Dedicated CAMS Implementation Team personnel with supporting contractors,


3. Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) support in database administration and computer systems administration, and


4. CFS software that has matured from earlier implementations at Census and NOAA.

• Current NIST financial management system and proposed CAMS system,


• Approach and activities that will support the NIST, TA, and NTIA CAMS Implementation,


• Information detailing the organization support and implementation of CAMS, and


• Legislative requirements driving CAMS.