E-Business Suite 1 | Jeannie Dobney | Oracle Project Management for Users of Project Costing Billing.pdf

Oracle Project Management
for Users of Project Costing / Billing

Jeannie Dobney and
Loretta Bayliss – Prescience Technology
(updated paper available from jdobney.com)

The most comprehensive Oracle applications & technology content under one roof

Objectives
This paper asks – and attempts to answer:
• If you already use Oracle Project Costing and
Billing, what value does Oracle Project
Management add?
• Are the HTML pages just another way of looking
at the same data?

With the author’s thanks to the
Ipswich City Council support team for the questions above.
Voltaire: “Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers”.


Agenda
• Brief history of the Oracle Projects Suite
• The value Oracle Project Management
proposition
• Implications of the introduction of Oracle
Project Management
• Overview of some of the available ‘similar’
functionality (including gotcha’s and irritations)


First, a little history
• Once upon a time…
– Oracle released the Project Accounting application c.1993
– Included the functionality we now know as Project
Foundation and Project Costing - with Billing added soon
– Those were the dim, dark ages of character based Apps, -
although Projects was converted to ‘GUI Forms’ fairly
quickly – so most early Projects adopters recall it as a
purely Forms based product
– Projects introduced the HTML interface when the Oracle
Projects Suite was introduced (c.2005)
– So just a short digression about ‘user interfaces’…


Oracle Projects chronology …
Oracle Projects suite milestones

2006 2005
2004 2004
2003 2003
2002 2002
2000 2000
1998
1996 1995 1996
1994
Costing

Project

Foundation

Management

Management

Collaboration

Intelligence

Planning
Project

Portfolio
Billing

Project
Resource
Project

Project
Project

Project

Project
Original Release Date

Slide is reproduced from http://www.cronininc.com

Character Based Apps

Note that this screen is from Oracle Cost Management,
not Project Accounting

GUI Forms Interface

Also known as the Professional User interface


HTML Interface

Also known as the Applications Framework Interface

Oracle Projects Apps Interfaces
• Some modules are primarily designed for
HTML others for Forms

Slide is from Oracle Projects Suite- Security Options by Timothy Cronin


Projects HTML vs.. Forms…
• Selected functionality by HTML or Forms

Slide is from
Oracle Projects Suite- Security Options by Timothy Cronin

So….
The initial answer to the HTML Pages question is:
• They were created to support the expanded
Oracle Projects Suite.
• You must use the HTML pages if you wish to use
specialised functionality such as that available
through Project Resource Management
• For most of us Oracle Project Management may
be the most relevant ‘new’ Application – and
coincidentally has led to some of the most
obvious ‘parallel’ and ‘shared’ functionality…


• Some of the apparently similar functionality
was introduced to support Oracle Project
Management, for example:
Forms HTML
Budgets Financial Plans
Project Status Inquiry Project Performance Reporting
Resource Lists Planning Resource Lists &
Resource Breakdown Structures

So let’s look at the value proposition for using
Oracle Project Management first and then
return to specific (shared) HTML functionality


The Project Manager’s Tools
(prior to Oracle Project Management )
Information Requirement Software / Tool (examples)
• Cost Vs. Budget ― Oracle Project Costing
• Work schedule (Gantt chart) ― MS Projects or Primavera
• Risk management ― Document
• Issue management ― Spread sheet
• Stakeholder comm’s ― Email
• Deliverables ― Intranet (for storage etc.)
• Change Requests ― Document
• Status Reporting ― Assembled laboriously from
all of the above


Imagine a Solution….
• Develop your work schedule in MS Projects
• Import it into Oracle Projects to generate a budget from the work
plan based on rates stored in Oracle
• Link changes in complex work plans to integrated (simpler) financial
plans (i.e. update once and replicated across systems in background)
• Link the budget variation process into new budget versions
• Publish updates automatically to the team’s homepages (no more
ignored emails or use of out-dated plan versions…)
• Tailor those team home pages to focus on key data – and automate
the display of current tasks
• Store issue lists in the same place and add the ability to assign and
track actions for them
• Workflow supported and semi-automated production and publication
of project status reports from this integrated project data

A Day in the Life of the PM
• The Project Status Report is due...
– Is the project within budget?
– What is the progress against schedule?
– What risks does the project face?
– What is the status of logged issues?
– What is the status of change requests?
– Where can deliverable documents be accessed for review?
– Where are other project documents stored?
(Project Management Plan etc.)
• Oracle Projects can provide a repository of all this
information and semi-automate the production of
status reports if required.


A Day in the Life of the PM, cont...
• Time for a project team meeting, need to:
– Review the schedule for upcoming milestones etc.
– Focus the team on those upcoming tasks
– Identify any roadblocks, tasks which have not been completed
– Review progress on issues assigned to the team
– Gather input about potential risks etc.
• Oracle Projects can provide:
– A team member home page which ‘pushes’ specifically relevant
upcoming tasks (and actions required for issue resolution) to
each team member
– Allow decentralised updating of issues assigned to team
members
– Allow decentralised percentage complete entry for tasks


Checklist for an Integrated PM Solution
• Workplans / progress tracking 
• Cost against budget tracking 
• Status reporting – (multiple audiences?):
detail and / or traffic light status 
• Sharing / repository of deliverables 
• Repository of other project documentation 
• Issue tracking 
• Risk Register ?
• Change Requests / Orders 
• Stakeholder communications (push / pull?) 
• Team member home page / communication method 


Available functionality includes:
• Parallel integrated WBS structures
i.e. Workplan, Financial (and Deliverables)
• Integration with Project Management tools such as MS Projects and
PrimaVera
• Budget generation from work-plans
• Configurable HTML pages for reporting and project communication
(using page layout functionality and Framework personalisations)
• Includes performance and exception reporting (incl. traffic lights)
• Attachment functionality for storage of project documents
• Sophisticated access control by project role
• Progress reporting: Workflow supported and semi-automated
production of project status reports
• Change orders that can be linked to budget changes
• Issue lists etc.


A Quick Tour of Oracle Project Management

• Gantt Chart / work plans
• Cost against budget tracking
• Status reporting
• Repository of project documents
• Issue tracking and change orders
• Team member and stakeholder
communication


Workplans – Gantt Chart View 


Workplans – Dependencies 


Workplans – Resource Assignment 


Integration: Oracle Proj Mgmt and
Schedule Management Software


Structure Mapping

Workplans may be integrated with specialised project
management tools e.g. MS projects.
(If you do not use workplans, some HTML page functionality
may not be applicable e.g. Earned Value Management)

Project Performance Reporting
• Uses the same basic cost data as the project
status inquiry (PSI) window, however…
• It includes:
– Periodic and QTD display
– An ability to report in multiple currencies or
calendars – useful for multi-nationals
– It also displays earned value analysis and progress
against plan in effort terms
– Users can personalise their own views
– Requires additional update processes


Analysis of Costs by Task


Analysis of Cost by Resource


Budgeting and Forecasting


Standard Earned Value Reporting


Earned Value Management (EVM)
• A key advantage of combining work tracking
and cost tracking in one system is the ability to
do EVM reporting
• EVM is a project management practice that
integrates:
– Schedule
– Scope
– Cost
• EVM measures the value of work performed
From an Open World Presentation:
Oracle Project & Portfolio Management
for DoD Earned Value Compliance

Oracle Status Reporting
Management
Create Status Reports
• Different reports for different
Team audiences
• Automatic reminders for due reports
Project
Task One 80%
• Existing project info automatically
Project
Task Two 24% included
Task One 80%
Project
Task Three 50%
Task Two 24%
Task One 80%
• Exec. summary with status indicator
Task Three 50%
Task Two 24% • Enter additional textual details
Task Three 50%

Publish Status Report
Customer • Send to stakeholders
• Online or email access
• Track history

These slides from Carl Morley’s OpenWorld 2010 presentation

Attachments
(Project Documentation Repository)


Issue Lists and Change Control


Team Member Home Page

Slide is from a 2004 Oracle presentation

Project List View


Exception Reporting - KPIs
Key Performance Areas
Exception

Financial Cost Variance %

Single Project Status
Overall Cost Variance %
Schedule Exceptions
Project 10 % and more
Status
0 to 10%
-1% and less
Execute


So Why Would You Not Use It?
• Does it fit with your organisations project management (PMO)
practice and project development process?
• What are the preferred tools already in use by your PMO, e.g.
substantial investment in the use of an Intranet?
• Who’s running the implementation and can they ‘sell’ an
integrated business process to the PMO?
• How much of your project management work is outsourced
and what impact will that have?
• How do contractors fit in your project process (Oracle Projects
supports them – but will your IT and HR department?)
• Have you factored in the system maintenance and training
required for another software tool?


So…
• Some functionality is new and unique to the
HTML pages and may offer value to existing
users
• However, this powerful functionality involves
complexity and there are some gotcha’s and
annoyances
• Oracle Implementation and User Guides, don’t
make a clear distinction between features and
functions available and usable in Forms vs.
HTML


The Same or Similar
• Some functionality may be used in either
Forms or HTML, e.g. project definition
• Existing users of Project Costing are probably
licensed to use this type of functionality (cf
MOS # 815154.1 and similar notes)
• Some Billing and Capital project functionality
only exists in Forms
• HTML Dates may default in non-intuitive ways
to Forms users (refer MOS # 361507.1)


Different Name, Same Feature
• Customers and Contacts in Forms is the same as
Billing Accounts in HTML pages
• Key Members in Forms is the same as Team
Members in HTML pages
• DFF defined at Project-level in Forms displays in
the Other Information section of Additional
Information in HTML pages
• DFF defined at Financial Task-level in Forms
displays in the Other Task Information section of
HTML pages

User Defined Attributes (UDA’s)
• UDAs – like context sensitive descriptive
flexfields (DFFs) that are only accessible from
the HTML-based application pages
• DFFs may be visible in both interfaces
• Both may require custom reporting
• Data from both can be used for
AutoAccounting, Account Generation and
Subledger Accounting (R12)


User Defined Attributes: Complete Solution
User Defined Attributes appear for projects and tasks based on the
context and the level
Context Data Level Usage
Project Type Project Enable a set of attributes based on
and/or Task a specific project type
Class Project Enable a set of attributes based on
Category and/or Task a specific project class category

Class Code Project Enable a set of attributes based on
and/or Task a specific project class code

Task Type Task Enable a set of attributes based on
a specific task type

UDA slides are from a presentation by Carl Morley
at Oracle OpenWorld 2010

Budgets Vs. Financial Plans
• New HTML “Plan” Types introduced in 2005
• Existing Budget Types convertible during upgrade
• Enhanced budgeting unique to HTML pages:
– Excel data input (via webADI) is standard functionality
– Budget amounts may be generated from work plans using
planning rates
– Initial Forecast version created from original budget and then
generated from actuals etc.. using ETC methods
• Different implementation path to use Budgetary Control
and/or Budget Integration (Forms budgets)
• New HTML Plan types are not compatible with
Budgetary Control and Budget Integration functionality

Forms Budgets vs. HTML Financial Plans
• A key implementation decision
• Conceptually the same – however quite different
system functionality:
– Do you need Budgetary Control / Integration?
(If so, use Forms Budgets)
– Will you integrate workplans and use EVA? (Use HTML)
– HTML Financial Plans have standard Excel integration
(webADI), however, More4Apps provides the same
functionality for Forms (if this is the only drawcard)


Resource Lists…
Interface Budgeting Reporting
Forms Resource Lists Resource Lists
HTML Planning Resource Lists Resource Breakdown Structure

• Forms Budgets use Resource Lists for
budgeting and reporting
• HTML Financial Plans use Planning Resource
Lists for budgeting and Resource Breakdown
Structures for reporting
• Also note: PSI implications (MOS # 405219.1)


Resource Lists…
• An upgrade process is available
• After running UPG: Upgrade Resource Lists to
Planning Resource Lists process:
• Subsequent changes are propagated from the
original Resource List to the upgraded
Planning Resource List (but not the RBS)


HTML Project Home Page


Conclusions


for Users of Project Costing / Billing
Loretta Bayliss
Managing Director, Prescience Technology
Vice-President, AUSOUG (Qld)
www.prescience.com.au


Agenda
• A User’s Perspective


Oracle PjM
Is it my tool of choice?
• Loretta’s tools of choice include:
• Oracle PjM
• Microsoft Project Server
• Primavera EPPM

• Order of the day is largely defined by client requirements
and corporate PMO mandates.


Oracle PjM
Is it my tool of choice?
• Narrowing it down further:
• Oracle PjM
• Microsoft Project Server
• Primavera EPPM

• This combination does have the potential to provide a true
enterprise platform.


Words of (?) Wisdom
System and Process
• Do not expect a miracle, or a golden goose
‐ Either from Oracle PjM or Primavera
• Understand the impacts on/from other Oracle modules
‐ Oracle PjM does not operate in isolation
• Plan for and build up to the change
‐ an enterprise model is not achieved overnight
• Use all of the tools/reports at your disposal until the
enterprise model is sufficiently robust to support project,
program & portfolio
‐ Costing, Billing, AP, PO, AR, OTL can all add value


Questions & Comments


From the coal face
Hein Bouman, Information Systems Manager, Tourism Australia

Prescience Technology is on our Oracle E-Business services supplier panel. They are a
niche player who know the area in which they operate. They have a good
knowledge of the product and the market; access to skilled resources;
and a good understanding of the requirements, especially if a problem is a bit more
difficult. They apply their expertise and do the analysis, without trying to run too
fast.

My experience with Prescience Technology over the past four years gives me the
absolute confidence to recommend them for Oracle related projects and support.
Prescience demonstrates professionalism and maturity and is committed to
working closely with us to deliver clear value for money and outcomes that
either meet or exceed Tourism Australia’s expectations, every time.


E-Business Suite 1 | Jeannie Dobney | Oracle Project Management for Users of Project Costing Billing.pdf

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