e-business suite 2 | jeannie dobney | r12.1.3 - the business case.pdf

The most comprehensive Oracle applications & technology content under one roofThe most comprehensive Oracle applications & technology content under one roof

Upgrading to Oracle eBusiness Suite 12.1.3:

the Value PropositionJeannie Dobney and

Loretta Bayliss - Prescience Technology(Updated slides from jdobney.com)

The most comprehensive Oracle applications & technology content under one roof

Agenda

• Should you consider an upgrade?(Paper presented from the perspective of R12.0 users, but also largely applicable to 11.5).

• What’s on offer in 12.1.3?

• Upgrade experiences


E-Business Suite Support Timelines5 Yrs of Premier and 3 Yrs of Extended Support

2007 2008 2011

11.5.10

2012 2013

Premier

20142009

Extended Sustaining

2015 2016 2017

R12 Premier Extended Sustaining

R12.1 Premier Extended Sustaining

Nov ‘13

Jan ‘12 Jan ‘15

May ‘14 May ‘17

2010

R12.0 Premier Support Ends in Jan 2012….

GA

GA

This slide is adapted from an Oracle presentation at Collaborate 2010

Uplift Fee waived until Nov ’11* instead of starting on Nov 10

Nov 2010

Apr 2009

* More info: http://www.oracle.com/support/library/extended-support-faq.pdf


What does Extended Support mean?

Has the following differences to Premier Support:• Instead of "Certification with most new third-party

products/versions", it's "Certification with most existingthird-party products“

• Instead of "Certification with most new Oracle Products", it's "Certification with most existing Oracle products"

• Extended Support costs 10% extra in year 1 and 20% extra in year 2 and year 3 (Note: Oracle has waived first year fees for E-Business Suite)

• You do not have to purchase Extended Support. You can choose to move straight to Sustaining Support from Premier Support

From Solution Beacon Newsletter, April 2011 (solutionbeacon.com)


Sustaining Support

Sounds OK but does not include:

• New updates, fixes, security alerts, data fixes, and critical patch updates

• New tax, legal, and regulatory updates

• New upgrade scripts

• Certification with new third-party products / versions

• Certification with new Oracle products

From Solution Beacon Newsletter, April 2011 (solutionbeacon.com)


Oracle’s RoadmapTo better understand Oracle’s technology roadmap, download the presentation from Steven Chan’s blog (link in notes)


Is There an Alternative?• Rimini Street webinar (with Forrester input):

“Do you need another costly ERP upgrade?”(http://info.riministreet.com/UpgradeWebinar.html)

• Rimini Street claim TCO savings of up to 90% over 10 years, they compare it to retaining your car after the warranty expires.

http://info.riministreet.com/UpgradeWebinar.html


Forrester’s Upgrade Pros and Cons


Consider the OptionsForrester’s alternative strategies for your Apps:

1. Get on the latest release and stay current

2. Outsource upgrades and support via cloud based services

3. Stop upgrading and stabilise cost of ownership via 3rd party support

4. Transition to SaaS Applications


Upgrades: Additional Perspectives• John Stouffer’s OAUG paper R12 Apps DBA 101:

– ATG integrated technology underlies all other Apps

– Points towards a semi-annual patching strategy.

– John’s blog (justadba.com) also indicates 12.2 is in the pipeline

• Stephen Kost: Upgrade Security in … R12

– Security is a major driver for staying current

• Kent Gabriel’s: Oracle R12 Upgrade vs. Reimpl.

– Business benefits of ‘transformational upgrades’, although they require more resources


Reproduced from Kent Gabriel’s paper “Oracle R12 upgrade vs. re-implementation”


From John Stouffer’s Papers:

• R12 is constantly changing – it is the DBA’s job to monitor (!)

• The biggest risk of not upgrading is security (i.e. using older, more vulnerable technology)

• New point releases of R12 packaged as RUPs (Release Update Pack)

• RUPs include bug fixes and new functionality

• MOS # 363827.1 CPU’s only support RUP N-1

• Use the Patch wizard to help (ref’s in notes)


And the Learning Curve…• Consider regular upgrades as a way of

breaking the technology learning curve into bite size junks for your internal support team

• Even if you plan to re-implement when Fusion App’sare mature….


Preparing…

• Move to the Latest Applications Releases

• Prepare a Roadmap to Evolve to Fusion App’s

• Inventory your Enterprise Assets

• Rethink your “Customization” Strategy

• Consolidate your Master Data

• Embrace SOA-Based Integration

• Extend your BI Applications

• Adopt Enterprise Reporting & Publishing

• Secure your Global Enterprise

• Centralize your Applications Lifecycle Management

Reprised from Nadia Bendjedou’s “10 Things You Can Do Today to Prepare for Oracle Fusion Applications”


Upgrade to R12

For those who aren’t already on R12.0:

• Involves major changes for Finance Applications: not just a technical upgrade

– SubLedger Accounting

– eBusiness Tax Engine

– Oracle Payments

– MOAC (Access across OU’s)

– Suppliers & Banks now in OAF (HTML) and TCA

• Not to be underestimated…


So What’s on Offer in R12.1.3

• Less functional change 12.0 → 12.1 than 11i → 12.0

• However….Probably enough user interface change to require change management and training

• Don’t underestimate the impact of memories of previous upgrade experiences

• Technology: more complete leverage of Fusion Middleware


User Interface Enhancements

Homepage navigation menu tree


Configurable HomePage


User Interface Enhancements


In Line Look-Ahead LoV’s

As you type, the system pops open LoV options - click to select.

Attachments also have in-line add, delete and view functionality


Secure Search Functionality


Reporting• Most reports now migrated to BI-publisher

• FSG reports published natively as Excel files

• FSG’s with page expand option now published to individual spread-sheet tabs

• SOX Compliance RBAC Reports“Who, What, Why, How” system serves as an auditing and querying tool providing a 360-degree view of the Security system for auditors and system administrators


Other Features

• Context sensitive flexfield support in OAF pages

• Personalise any OAF page by adding a Print button to publish application data (tables) as BI Publisher reports

• Undo for Personalization now supported

• Support for richer custom UI content types, including: OBIEE Analytics, Flash, Yahoo widgets


Record History in OAF Pages

• Row Who / Record History for OAF pages

• Set Profile FND: Record History Enabled to Yes

• May also require change to a new personalization option that controls display of Record history information. This is set to False by default; set it to True to see the Record History Link in the header section of the page.


Financials

• Budget wizard now supports selection of account ranges using low and high segment values (rather than account code combinations)

• Expense report export can now also import attachments to the invoice workbench.

• Optionally override country specific bank account validation (back-ported to 12.0.4)

• Return of staged Dunning (Adv’d Collections)


Financials

• Payroll now posts through SLA

• Subcontractor management for E&Cholds applied in AP unless released in Purchasing or Projects

• Third party payments

• Replace Supplier Bank Accounts on Invoices

• Accounting Rules Detail Report (SLA)

• Support for IAS 36 Asset Impairment


Procurement

• iSupplier Portal user visibility of AP/AR netting

• Oracle Procurement Contracts (new App)including Deliverable holds

• Oracle Services Procurement (new App), incl.payment against progress from Oracle Projects

• Oracle Spend Classification (new BI App)

• Oracle Supplier Hub (new MDM App)

• Mass Close of Purchase Documents program


Projects

• Self Service Expenditure Inquiry

• Supplier Cost Dashboard

• Reporting Pack for BI-Publisher Reports, incl.

– Committed Cost Report

– Project Cost Summary Report

• Subcontractor Payment Controls


iSetUp

• Configuration management tool that is built and maintained specifically for Oracle EBS

• Manual configurations can be migrated to other environments

• Standard and Comparison Reports may be used to increase accuracy of configurations and as supporting documentation


Oracle Application Testing Suite (OATS)

1. Oracle Load Testing – scalability, performance & load testing

2. Oracle Functional Testing –functional and regression testing

3. Oracle Test Manager – test process management, test execution & defect tracking

12.1.1 Test Starter Kit•Instruction guide•Sample QA test scripts •See Oracle Application Testing Suite Downloads > Application Testing Suite

From an OpenWorld 2010 presentation: “Upgrading your Customizations to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12”.

http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/app-testing/index.html

http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/app-testing/index.html


Key My Oracle Support Docs• MOS # 806593.1 - R12.1 Info Center

• MOS # 1080606. 1 – List of Helpful R12 Upgrade Notes

• MOS # 561580.1 – R12.1+ Release Content Documents

• MOS # 807319.1 - R12.1 Transfer of Information (Training)

• MOS # 398877.1 - R12.1 Live Advisor Webcasts

• MOS # 1290886.1 - EBS Data Model Comparison Report Overview Document

• MOS # 804373.1 - R12.1 Release Value Propositions

• MOS # 342459.1 - Diagnostics Overview

The most comprehensive Oracle applications & technology content under one roofThe most comprehensive Oracle applications & technology content under one roof

Upgrading toOracle eBusiness Suite 12.1.3:

The Value Proposition

Loretta Bayliss

Managing Director, Prescience TechnologyVice-President, AUSOUG (Qld)

www.prescience.com.au

http://www.prescience.com.au/


Agenda

• Driving the change

• A typical upgrade

• Planning is paramount

• Tips for a successful upgrade

• Areas of known complexity


Driving the Change

• Loss of support for current platform;

• Expanding Oracle footprint and required functionality;

• Compliance requirement;

• Preference to upgrade rather than re-implement.

Why bother?


A better known quantityAnd better the devil we know …

A number of organisations have now upgraded to R12

• Barrick Gold

• Boral

• Origin

• Wesfarmers

• Australian Hearing

Many others are mid-way through or readying themselves for commencement

• Santos

• Cochlear

• BAE Systems Australia


A Typical UpgradeProcess Flow


A Typical UpgradeCritical Steps


Planning your UpgradeBusiness + Technical

The planning process needs to be comprehensive and must address both business and technical aspects of the upgrade:

Areas to evaluate include:• Upgrade extent and Business Alignment• Infrastructure – capacity and versions of hardware, supporting

software & network• Team availability • Training capacity and tools• Application support – both during & after the upgrade• Testing strategy & experience• Oracle product strategy• Project planning and management experience & capacity


Ensuring SuccessBuild a Repeatable Process …

• Secure – active executive sponsorship & support

• Communicate – transparent reporting on progress

• Gather – proper materials

• Recruit – the right team members

• Organise – Create & update critical documents

• Analyse & plan – use an iterative method (3 rounds)

• Execute – a serious & dedicated testing process

• Experience – have a leader, bring back the vets

TOP TIP – Archive work from prior iterations & reuse


Ensuring Success… and learn from Lessons Learned!

R12 is not your standard upgrade process, especially if you are moving from 11i.

Changes include:• Finance - GL, Sub-ledger Accounting, Tax, MOAC, critical reports• Accounts Payable – Invoice workbench, iPayment functionality,

iSupplier portal integration• Project Accounting – projects distribution no longer requires

dynamic insertion to be enabled; SLA still requires configuration of projects auto-accounting; tax code defaults now handled by tax module

• OBIEE• Web ADI


Areas of known complexityPayments Engine

The revised payments engine, with its close integration with both procurement and the general ledger, is one of the most common areas of concern that has been noted by some of the early adopters of the R12 Upgrade.

Issues that have been identified include:• Invoice validation performance degradation;• Tax lines unable to be edited;• Previously valid invoices required re-validation under R12;• Inability to process payment file;• Complexity of patches provided by Oracle Support requires

significant regression testing to isolate both core issue and best resolution path.


Areas of known complexitySub-Ledgers

The GL has been subjected to a significant architectural change under R12, with the introduction of sub-ledger accounting.

Issues that have been identified include:• Poor population of data fields in previously complete standard

reports;• Difficulty in reconciling reports and data where the process was

previously simpler and clearer.


Areas of known complexityTax

The tax module is new under R12 and due to its core nature and integration with a number of other financial modules, the impact of issues is high in terms of the complexity of issues requiring resolution.

Issues that have been identified include:• Incorrect withholding tax calculations;• Inability to correct minor tax calculation discrepancies on

invoices;• Integration with payments creates both reconciliation and

payment issues.


Areas of known complexityHistorical Data Conversion

• Although the data “conversion” is executed by the technical upgrade process, and therefore not a project deliverable from a development perspective, a number of the early adopters of the R12 upgrade were unaware of the significance of some of the core data model changes that were introduced in R12.

• The past and future state comparative is not clearly documented, which in some cases increases the mean time to resolution quite dramatically.

• The “black box” upgrade process requires understanding in order to mitigate known risks.


Areas of known complexityHistorical Data Conversion

• A common observation has been made by all organisations Prescience is aware of, that have upgraded to R12:

• There is a clear distinction between data that has been “upgraded” through the technical upgrade process and data which is “new” or has been created after the technical upgrade process has completed.

• Transactions which originate and complete in R12 have been noted by multiple organisations to be cleaner and less prone to error, when compared with transactions which originate in 11i and complete in R12.


Areas of known complexityPerformance

• Evidence from upgrades performed by other Oracle customers suggests that the R12 release is more memory intensive than that current 11.5.10 version.

• Infrastructure considerations will need to allow for this. Extensive performance testing will be required in order to determine whether the existing production server will be adequate for the R12 requirements.

• Concurrent manager performance will also require careful monitoring during UAT and load testing scenarios, particularly those scenarios which mimic month and year end processing periods.


Areas of known complexityPost upgrade processing

Evidence from upgrades performed by other Oracle customers suggests that R12 is “less tolerant” of poor process than some of its predecessor versions, which in some cases has manifested itself in symptoms similar to those listed below:

• Higher than normal number of invoices on hold;

• Higher than normal number of invoices paid after their due date;

• Longer processing time required to complete period-end processes;

• Errors in depreciation calculations taken the first year-end after the upgrade completed;

• Double payment of some invoices, due to potential level of manual intervention required at times to ensure timely completion of payment processes.


Wrapping it upComprehensive planning is mandatory


Wrapping it up

• Define the key objective or outcome for your organisation that is driving the upgrade process.

• Determine what type of upgrade is most appropriate.

• “Begin with the end in mind” and make these goals clear to your entire upgrade team & stakeholder group.

Determine why …


Wrapping it up

• Tailor the “typical” upgrade process to address this and create:

• Library of upgrade scripts

• Master upgrade list

• Master impact list – use to drive testing, training & post-upgrade support

• Review all available documentation

• Iterate, iterate, iterate

• LEARN from others’ Lessons Learned!

And then execute with discipline …


Questions & Comments


From the coal face

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.

Hein Bouman, Information Systems Manager, Tourism Australia

e-business suite 2 | jeannie dobney | r12.1.3 - the business case.pdf

Documents

new oracle products

oracle presentation

bi applications

latest applications

new updates

atg integrated technology

new oracleproducts

upgrade security