The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) marks the start of a new era in the regulation, oversight, and accountability of the use of public funds. Agencies at all levels of government will be challenged to remain focused on developing programs that achieve long-term results for constituents, while simultaneously ensuring that these programs adhere to the complex requirements for stimulus funds.

One of the requirements of the ARRA is that organizations that receive funds for projects must report the outcome of the projects they invest in. The Aberdeen Group surveyed executives and managers in government and education to understand their preparation for reporting mandates. Read about ARRA funding requirements.

Read "Performance Matters Toward Transparent, Accountable and Effective Delivery of Public Services" (PDF) to understand why performance matters in public services, where objectives must be delivered in a transparent, accountable, and effective way.

Meet ARRA Objectives

Federal, state, and local government agencies with the visibility to act effectively and decisively will meet the ARRA objectives by being:

• Transparent and accountable – Improve insight to reflect performance and results and demonstrate compliance and sustainable business practices in accordance with the ARRA. Read "ARRA Management and Reporting: Enhancing Performance, Accountability, and Transparency" to learn how the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio can help your public sector organization provide transparency to stakeholders, comply with accountability requirements, and help align outcomes with policies.
• Strategic and responsive – Refocus economic recovery programs from output-oriented to outcome-based. Read "Performance and Risk Management for the Public Sector" to discover how your organization can manage performance and risk with SAP BusinessObjects solutions. You can improve your visibility into data and processes while reducing costs, improving efficiency, and aligning scarce resources with strategic goals to meet key objectives.
• Citizen-centric and collaborative – Drive outcomes within and beyond the organization that reflect the value of government to the public. Read "Maximizing the Value of Economic Stimulus Funds" to learn how to meet the challenges facing your agency with respect to the recent stimulus plan. Accept the government's challenge to maintain your focus on developing programs that achieve long-term results for constituents, while adhering to the complex requirements for stimulus funds.

Why SAP?

SAP solutions can help your organization meet the requirements for managing and reporting ARRA funds by enabling you to enhance transparency, reduce reporting-related costs, and increase efficiency. Watch the Webcast "Management and Reporting of ARRA Funds" to learn more.

The SAP for Public Sector solution portfolio delivers industry-specific and business intelligence solutions that help customers meet ARRA requirements via:

• Insight to improve performance, assess programs, identify initiatives with the most impact, and enable an outcome-based results approach to program management
• Efficiency to optimize resources (people, time, funds) and fulfill portfolio and program requirements
• Flexibility to respond quickly within and beyond your organization to ever-changing legislation, policies, regulations, and constituent expectations
• Compliance with ARRA funds reporting and transparency requirements