icegov2012 proceedings

Implementation of Integrated Tax System COTS product
Uyanga Sambuu
Department of Information System,
National University of Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
976-99114369
uyanga@num.edu.mn
ABSTRACT
This paper tries to address a number of issues, problems and
challenges currently facing while implementing ITS COTS
solution in the Mongolian Tax Administration (MTA). The paper
describes the gap between expectation of MTA towards positive
impact of improved Tax Information system through COTS
product and the real situation of the implementation of the product
as well as serious risks confronting the new Tax Information
System that is currently under replacement.
Categories and Subject Descriptors
H.4.0 [Information Systems Application]: General –
Information System, Data processing and exchange.
General Terms
Management
Keywords
Tax Information System, e-Government Service, Integrated Tax
System Commercial Off-The-Shelf, COTS, Tax Administration
Information System, Mongolian Tax Administration
1. IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS OF ITS
COTS IN MONGOLIA
The use of the Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) to implement
technical solutions is becoming increasingly popular in
government such as education, defense, taxation, customs,
healthcare and others, as well as in commercial sectors such as
telecommunication, insurance, banking and financial services.
Selecting and implementing a COTS product represents a
significant investment and partnership with a software vendor. To
realize return on this investment, IT managers must consider at
least four criteria in selecting a product [1]:
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ICEGOV '12, October 22 - 25 2012, Albany, NY, USA
Copyright 2012 ACM 978-1-4503-1200-4/12/10...$15.00
Zolbayar Chuluunbat
Governance Assistance Project,
General Department of Taxation,
Ulaanbaatar-210646, Mongolia
976-91019908
zolbayar@mta.mn
483
Esbold Unurkhaan
Computer Science and Management
School
Mongolian State Technical University
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
976-99091335
esbold@mstu.edu.mn
• Functionality. How well do the COTS products meet the
business and user requirements as defined in the requirements
phase?
• Architecture. How closely do the COTS products meet the
technical requirements and align with the organization’s
technical architecture and policy?
• Lifecycle costs. What are the complete lifecycle costs of
implementing and operating the COTS product?
• Vendor. How stable are the vendor and product line?
The Government of Mongolia also has made significant progress
in implementing e-governance programs specifically encourages
the enhancement of MTA’s operational processes and information
technology. To this end the MTA started replacing current inhouse
developed tax information system with COTS Solution
within “Supply, Customization, Installation, Commissioning and
Support of Tax Administration Information System” sub-project
of the World Bank funded Governance Assistance Project since
April 2011.
The selected system is a Tax ITS COTS solution and therefore all
functionality is provided out-of-the-box and ready for
configuration. It allows the Client to have a total taxpayercentered
view, improve services to taxpayers and the efficiency of
administrations. Configuration can therefore be linked to a
specific module or function in a layer with minimal impact on
other areas of the system [3].
Hence the decision to select the Tax ITS COTS was made as such
based on assumption that new Tax Administration Information
System (TAIS) can improve the effectiveness of the MTA through
the availability of more accurate and timely information and the
use of risk management tools to select taxpayers for audit
purposes, and increase the quality of the services provided to
taxpayers’ thus facilitating the taxpayers’ voluntary compliance.
It has been over a year now, but to date the expected results have
not been reached, for which explanation are provided in following
sections.
2. FINDINGS AND LESSONS LEARNED
The contract period with the Supplier of COTS Product is for 16
months, unfortunately the contract now has fallen much behind
the schedule and TAIS now remains at risk of failure in spite of
repeated actions of the MTA, the Client to mitigate the risks. As
an organization, which intended to acquire COTS Product, the
Client clearly defined its business needs and requirements