The Commonwealth must modernize its applications to ensure vital functions will continue to be supported and improved in the future.
The BEST Program will replace two 20-year-old Financial and Human Resource applications used by all state agencies:
- Massachusetts Management Accounting and Reporting System (MMARS)
- Human Resources/Compensation Management System (HR/CMS)
The introduction of Software as a service (SaaS) solution and modern technology stressing configuration over customizations will allow the Commonwealth’s investment in BEST to maximize the benefits of efficiency, process improvement, risk controls, data analytics, management tools, employee and resident experience, and other quantifiable and qualitative benefits.
MMARS & HR/CMS
- Built on aging software that is more than 20 years old and which is highly customized and not easily upgraded to a newer software version. MMARS is several versions out of compliance with its vendor support agreement and reaching end of life.
- Highly complex from a data architecture perspective (over 200 data interfaces, use of 3rd party tools).
- Not keeping pace with modern improvements in functionality, usability, and cyber-security.
- In a state of deferred maintenance, leaving the Commonwealth with aged and underperforming technology that is lacking in both functionality, usability and security.