Needs assessments, which are often included in projects aimed at implementing a new pension administration solution, typically involve the following areas of endeavor, with LRWL providing assistance, guidance, and direction as appropriate:

• Review and Documentation of Current Work Processes and Business Rules - The current environment must be reviewed and documented as the first step in defining the needs to be met by any new solution. At a high level, this task would include the following:
  
  • Identify a comprehensive list of all retirement business processes, grouped logically by business areas including, but not limited to: enrollment, membership maintenance, employer maintenance, wage and contribution reporting, purchase of service, refunds, refund paybacks, service credit tracking, payroll, disability, tax, benefits, healthcare, death, retirement, document management, etc.
  • Identify possible additional areas for consideration (service enablers) that are beyond traditional business areas, i.e., Web-based employer reporting, Web-based member services, automatic voice response, call center, contact management, customer relationship management (CRM), etc.
  • Develop a formal work processes and business rules document, encompassing all existing functionality (whether automated, semi-automated, or manual) and all desired new functionality.
    
• Technology Assessment - The current technology infrastructure must be reviewed and the applicability of new technologies explored, including the following:
  
• Review available technical information, e.g., previously completed IT inventories, IT plans, Disaster Recovery Plans (which usually contain substantial [but overlooked] information), etc., and then provide a comprehensive list of IT areas (hardware, software [operating systems, database management systems, languages, middleware, etc.], interfaces, staff size and strengths, etc.) for discussion; include mainframe, imaging, workflow, accounting system, servers, client PC’s local applications, etc. as applicable.
• Prepare a formal Technology Assessment document.
  
• Best Practices Assessment - Identify "best practice" concepts that other retirements systems are pursuing, as well as what the vendors / contractors in this marketplace are pursuing and incorporating into their solutions, i.e.:
  
  • Identify opportunities for improvement and those that LRWL has seen at other retirement systems for consideration.
  • Submit a complete and comprehensive listing of all applicable LRWL "Best Practices and Process Re-engineering" based on our experience with other public pension systems.
  • Schedule and take a best practice trip(s) to various state retirement systems (if desired / necessary).
  • Consolidate, prioritize, and formally document the process re-engineering recommendations into groupings based on relative benefits (high, medium, or low) to be achieved, resources needed (high, medium, or low), and time frame of implementation (short term [quick hits], longer term, or part of a new system implementation).
    
• Requirements Definition - Based on the above steps, develop a formal Requirements Definition Document for inclusion in the RFP.