Key Questions

Is the project on track to satisfy the customer's business objectives?Yes

Is the project on track to achieve the objectives in the approved timeframe?Yes

Is the project on track to achieve the objectives within the approved budget?Yes

Project Overall Health

Comments

Green

The overall project health rating is green for the October 2025 reporting period. • The inaugural SCO Town Hall for State Government Executives is targeted for November 7, 2025. The project plans to provide an update on the current project status and upcoming activities. Agency Secretaries, Directors, and Executives from all state entities are expected to attend in person. • The project team continues to make progress on Execution Design, Development, Configuration, and Implementation (DDCI) Phase 1 activities and is preparing for the P1 DDCI Develop/Full Test Prep Subphase.

Focus Area/Rating	Comments
Governance Green	• Project leadership, executives, workstream teams, and stakeholders remain engaged in the project activities and decisions. • The project follows a regular cadence for Executive Steering Committee (ESC) meetings. The most recent ESC meeting was held on October 23, 2025. During the meeting, the team reviewed the analysis of deduction frequency. No escalations or issues were discussed during this meeting. • The project holds a bimonthly collaborative meeting with the California State University (CSU) project team to prepare for their transition to biweekly pay; the most recent meeting was held on October 15, 2025.
Time Management Green	• The project continued to work on several key deliverables during this period. • The Solution Integrator (SI) Deliverable (DLV) 2.1 SDLC Methodology Plan was approved on October 6, 2025. With the approval of this deliverable, the project completed the Design Planning subphase and the Planning Phase on October 13, 2025. • The Planning Phase was completed with a variance of 10% due to the delays in the completion of the SDLC Methodology Plan; however, no impact was noted on the overall schedule. • The SI submitted the October 2025 status report on November 10, 2025. The report noted one risk related to the development environment data setup. A mitigation plan has been provided, and the task is estimated to be completed in January 2026, before the development activities are estimated to begin.
Cost & Contract Management Green	• In agreement with the cost reporting timeline, all reported costs are for the September 2025 reporting period. • The project incurred actual total costs (project + planning) of $137 M or 99% of the allocated budget of $139 M through September 2025, and $49.4 M or 5.3% of the total project costs of $ 938 M. • The project completed and published the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) report for FY 2024-25 on October 1, 2025. • The proposed DART funding allocation plan was delivered to DOF in October 2025; it is pending their review and approval. • The project has eight (8) active contracts. The contract costs are within budget.
Scope Management Green	• No change in scope was observed for this reporting period. CalHR/Policy Updates: -- The team finalized the Additional Appointments Policy for statewide implementation.
Resources Green	• The project filled two key vacant positions this reporting period: the Functional Chief was onboarded on October 20, 2025, and the CSPS Project Manager is expected to onboard on November 17, 2025. • Recruitment effort for the remaining key project resource, CSPS Technical Chief, is in progress. • The project filled five (5.0) of the twenty (20.0) new positions authorized in the 2025-26 budget. Recruitment efforts for the remaining vacancies are in progress. The IPO will continue to monitor the vacancies as the project progresses. • The overall resource variance decreased to 16%. The project reported that twenty-two (22.0) of the one hundred (100.0) SCO-authorized positions, and three (3.0) of the twenty-five (25.0) CalHR-authorized positions remain vacant.
Quality Green	• The project incorporated feedback received from legal in the Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) and submitted to CalHR for review. • The project continued to update ELM with Agile Work Items, which are estimated to be completed in December 2025. As of October 2025, the project has created 139 Epics, 538 Features, and 378 draft User Stories. • IPO observed that the team currently has only a SI technical architect and no state counterpart. IPO recommends that a state technical architect participate in the design sessions and development of Agile Work Items. • The Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) team submitted the Monthly Activity Report (MAR) on November 7, 2025. The MAR continues to monitor findings related to HCM Implementation and updates required within the planning documents. The IV&V team identified two new risks associated with the timing of Security Plan updates and Wave Assignment changes. The observations shared in the MAR are consistent with the IPO's overall assessment of the project's health.
Risk And Issues Green	• The project is actively managing, monitoring, and tracking the risks and issues. • The project reviews risks and issues with IPO, IV&V, project team members, and other stakeholders in status meetings held during the month. • The project identified six (6.0) new risks and no new issues this assessment period. Mitigation strategies are in progress. • Below are the top risks in each category being tracked by the project. (Refer to Risks & Issues focus area for further details) Short-term/Near-Term risks (less than three (3) months): -- Risk# 5 - Project Resource Availability -- Risk# 18857- Deliverable Quality Issues Leading to Rework. -- Risk# 18867- Insufficient Resource Allocation for 3rd Party Vendor Interface Communication Long-term risks (greater than three (3) months): -- Risk# 3- Implementation of other new Human Capital Management (HCM) systems by Agencies/Departments. -- Risk# 18814 – Payroll File Creation Timing -- Risk# 48 – SCO Operations Backlog Impact to the CSPS Project.
Transition Readiness Green	• The Organizational Change Management (OCM) team was engaged in the following activities during this reporting period: -- Agency Change Experts (ACEs) continue to meet with the DART liaisons within their respective departments to discuss implementation methodology and timelines. -- The first quarterly DART meeting with the State Department liaisons was held on October 23, 2025. IPO observed extensive outreach efforts by the OCM team to all state departments and noted active engagement from participants during the meeting. -- The annual CalHR Conference for the State HR community was held on October 29, 2025. The team provided a presentation on the CSPS objectives, current progress, implementation timeline, and phase and wave assignments.
Conditions For Approval Green	The project has the following conditions of approval as per the superseded Stage 4 Approval Letter issued on May 15, 2025. The project is working on meeting these conditions by the specified due date. 1) Within 90 days of this letter, the SCO shall submit to the CDT a detailed, fully resource-loaded CSPS Integrated Master Schedule (IMS), which includes both State and System Integrator (SI) activities, deliverables, milestones, and tasks -- The project submitted the approved IMS/MPS to CDT on August 12, 2025. 2) Within 90 days of this letter, the CSPS Project Management Team shall review, and the SCO shall approve and submit updated Project Management Plans to the CDT. -- The CDT approved the CSPS request for a thirty-day extension to September 15, 2025. -- The project submitted approved plans to the CDT on September 2, 2025 and has met this condition of approval. 3) Following the start of project implementation, the SCO shall submit to the CDT the Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) Monthly Status Report. -- The project is meeting this condition of approval with the monthly submission of the IV&V report. 4) No later than 60 days prior to the initiation of testing activities by the SI, the SCO shall submit the approved CSPS Project Test Management Plan to the CDT. -- The project is on track to complete the Test Plan in November 2025 and subsequently submit it to CDT. 5) In accordance with the State Administrative Manual (SAM) Section 4946 and the State Information Management Manual Section 160, the project shall submit a Transition to Maintenance and Operations Plan, including the plan for any transition of services from the SI vendor to the State, to the CDT for review and approval six months before the approved project end date.
Corrective Action Green	N/A

• Stage 4 Project Readiness and Approval (pdf)
• Stage 3 Solutions Development Part B (pdf)
• Stage 3 Solutions Development Part A (pdf)
• Stage 2 Alternative Analysis (pdf)
• Stage 1 Business Analysis (pdf)