On 25 June 2010, the United Nations and SAP Public Services, the German-based and world-leading provider of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, signed a contract for the provision of the core software for Umoja. This achievement was the result of the joint efforts of the Procurement Division (PD), Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), the Umoja team, and the Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT).
With the new process design effort nearly complete, the Umoja team will now be able to configure a software solution in line with the requirements and objectives of the Organization.
Umoja is an initiative that aims to transform the United Nations Secretariat to enable high-quality, cost-effective service delivery to support the execution of evolving mandates everywhere the Secretariat operates. Umoja, which means "unity" in Swahili, will integrate the many support and administrative entities throughout the Secretariat, including in peacekeeping and field missions, through re-designed and common processes for the management of all financial, human and physical resources.
SAP provides the software platform for Umoja and will take the form of a single, integrated information system, which will replace hundreds of disconnected legacy software applications on which the Organization currently relies.
Redesigned processes and revised policies, combined with this software, will enable faster processing of transactions and timely reporting on expenditure. This will allow staff to focus on more value-added tasks and provide services more efficiently. Ultimately, Umoja will transcend organizational, geographical and functional barriers, fostering a culture of transparency, accountability, empowerment, sharing and unity across the Secretariat.
The signing ceremony was attended by Under-Secretary-General for Management Angela Kane, Chief Information Technology Officer and Assistant Secretary-General Choi Soon-hong, Assistant Secretary-General Office of Central Support Services Warren Sach, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, Catherine Pollard, Assistant Secretary-General and Controller, Jun Yamazaki, representatives of SAP and other key members of the cross-departmental negotiation team.
Originally published on iSeek on Wednesday, 30 June 2010, New York
