IMM Financial Management System (FMS)

This project aims to provide maintenance and operational support for the Financial Systems (FS) within the Financial Services and the Document Management System (DMS) established under the Information Technology Branch Directorate. Additionally, the goal is to improve the municipal system both technically and functionally in order to enable Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality to produce more effective services and ensure compliance with regulations. The Municipal Revenue System, Budget Transactions, Tender Processes, Accounting Transactions, and Document Processes will be consolidated under the Financial and Administrative Management System (FMS) application.

Technological Forward Success: Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's digital transformation project has effectively improved its information system infrastructure, showcasing the capacity to meet future technological needs and serving as an inspiration for other institutions.

Efficiency and Cost Savings: The increased efficiency and cost savings achieved in the project have allowed for the more effective use of public resources and the delivery of more services. This can serve as an example of best practices in financial management for other local governments.

Corporate Improvements: The digital transformation leader has strengthened corporate governance, increased operational efficiency, and prevented duplicate data entries by ensuring inter-system integration. This has enabled Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality to operate more effectively and cohesively, potentially offering an exemplary governance model for other institutions.

Innovation and Adaptation Capability: Through this project, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has gained the ability to quickly scale its systems by providing flexibility. This emphasizes the ability to adapt rapidly to changing technology and service demands, inspiring other institutions on how to embrace such agility.

International Recognition and Reputation: The nomination of this project in an international competition highlights Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's leadership in information technologies, contributing to the institution's recognition worldwide. This could enhance opportunities for international collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Social Impact: The digital transformation of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has increased its capacity to provide better services to the public, offering citizens a better experience. This demonstrates the potential for local governments to increase their social impact and could serve as an example for other cities.

Oracle, Microstrategy, spagobi, gitlab, jaspersoft, Vaadin, Tomcat, jenkins, Intellij

The FMS project is a platform-independent main system written in the Java environment. It is an ecosystem with a .NET interface that interacts with the public and a multi-layered web service architecture. FMS integrates multiple systems and communicates with both internal and external stakeholders. This includes maintaining offline communication with seven leading banks in Türkiye and establishing online web services. Additionally, indirect communication with population administration services is maintained. The system also interacts with various internal projects within the institution, such as bus terminals, medical waste management, daycare centers, cemeteries, each having different expertise and applications within the web service architecture.

The FMS project has enabled citizens to instantly pay their debts without waiting for the upload of offline files, thanks to the online bank integration. In the past, it used to take one day for accrued amounts to appear in e-municipality or cashier offices, or for payments to be visible in the system. Additionally, Istanbul's main bus station, one of the largest in the world, has started online collection within the large FMS system. The cemeteries have been made capable of performing their transactions through this web-based application without any installation.

The systems of budget, finance, procurement, accounting, and revenue directorates within the institution have been consolidated under a single roof with the integration of external units into this ecosystem. Reporting can now be done through a single system. All Remi reports and statements within the accounting scope can be quickly provided from a single system without the need for IT support, especially Sayıştay audit reports. Bank integrations can be performed with overnight running jobs or can be triggered by users.

The institution's digital strategy aims to capture technological change with open-source code and integrated structures, providing sufficient competence in licenses and installations that ensure the existing middleware and security principles. The product adheres to these fundamental principles and works collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders through Java and Vaadin infrastructure and service architecture.

Throughout the project duration, the product, following the Scrum project logic, has undergone more than 26 revisions in the process leading up to the completion of the business module and going live. All forms and applications were evaluated within the principles of end-users, resulting in quickly adaptable forms and reports for the live application. Improvements were made in the design and corporate identity of the institution for screens and forms used by external users.

While the FMS project is an initiative of the Information Processing Directorate of IBB, it is also a modernization project for the IT infrastructure of the Financial Services Directorate. Before the project, the needs of the financial services directorate were analyzed, leading to the design of a more comprehensive, online, web-based structure developed over a development period of more than 2 years. To achieve the desired business outcomes, a main system running on Java Vaadin infrastructure was used in line with the scope determined by the IT department, utilizing a web service methodology. Some parts of the system operate in a cloud structure, tested by cybersecurity experts and secured through penetration and load tests. The product's open-source code aligns with the institution's forward-looking goals throughout its life cycle.

The applications run integratively on a total of 9 servers. Multiple application installations that perform the same task have been set up on an element-by-element basis (such as services, transitions, and cashiers). This ensures that other applications continue to operate actively even if there is a problem with any server or communication. Seamless service is provided with load balancing technology at the database and application levels. The application stores data both vertically with its internal audit structure and through big data models, and backup and rollback scenarios are available at the server level.

The entire existing system has been transformed and transferred to the new system in the project. Here, we are talking about a total data size of over 2 billion records. The project involves both the transformation of a program used by Istanbul, the world's 11th largest city, for over 20 years with new technology and the transfer of existing data with zero data loss.