Chart Of Accounts Conversion

http://www.motion-international.com/_modules/download/download/White_Paper/COA_White_Paper.pdf

ERP Implementation Lesson Learnt

ERP implementation failures inflict a great deal of pain on organizations. Whether it’s implementation cost overruns, software that doesn’t support the business, or lack of employee acceptance, ERP failures entail very negative consequences. So why do over 65% of enterprise software implementations fail?

Analysis:

Our experience helping clients clean up projects they or their software vendors have failed to manage, along with our expert witness support to ERP lawsuits, has taught us quite a bit about the reasons for ERP failure. Below are five trends we see in most troubled enterprise software implementations:

Lack of software fit. The first stumbling block for many failed implementations is a severe misalignment between software functionality and business needs. There are hundreds of enterprise software options in the marketplace, so it is important to navigate carefully and find the product with the right fit. Too many failed implementations neglected to engage in an effective ERP software selection process.

Unrealistic implementation expectations. Enterprise software sales reps often understate the level of resources required to make the implementation successful, so many companies fail to budget adequate time, money, resources, and external consulting support to make the project successful. In addition, failed implementations often neglect to include key activities in their implementation project plan, such as organizational change management, business process and workflow definition, and thorough conference room pilots.

Lack of executive buy-in and support. Executive buy-in involves more than signing the checks and delegating the implementation to a project team. It involves defining clear implementation objectives, establishing project governance, and making tough decisions when needed. This is arguably the most important, because it directly affects the other four failure points.
Propensity to customize software rather than leverage standard functionality. Nearly every failed implementation I have seen suffers from this problem, and it is often because of a failure to select the right software in the first place (see #1 above). The more you customize the software, the longer it’s going to take to implement, the more it’s going to cost, and the more risk you introduce into the project. It’s typically not realistic to completely abstain from customization, but changes to the software should be devoted only to key areas of competitive advantage or differentiators. If you aren’t able to limit customization to those areas, then you should either find another ERP software solution or back up and rethink your strategy.

Lack of ERP implementation expertise. Implementations are tough and a team with tested battle wounds is going to dramatically increase your likelihood of success. As we often tell our clients, the fastest and cheapest way to implement enterprise software is to do it right the first time. Failed implementations are more likely to have inexperienced team members who don’t know enough to know what they don’t know.

Conclusion
If you see one or more of these patterns emerging during your implementation, then you are putting your organization at severe risk. On the other hand, If your implementation project team is able to avoid these five common pitfalls, you will be well on your way to a successful ERP implementation.


Good one which i read......................by Eric Kimberling post

Know about Oracle Application Testing Suite (ATS)

• Automates complex Oracle EBusiness Suite transactions for both functional testing and
load testing

• Supports automation of both Web and Oracle Forms application interfaces and protocols

• Provides custom test cases to validate application content

• Enables parameterization of test scripts for data-driven testing

• Simulates loads of hundreds to tens of thousands of concurrent users while minimizing
hardware requirements

• Gathers critical infrastructure performance metrics to identify bottlenecks under load

• Provides an intuitive Webbased console to configure and run load tests and share real-time
results with distributed users

• EBS Test Starter Kit with sample test scripts provided for EBS R12 and 11i


ORACLE FUNCTIONAL TESTING

KEY FEATURES
• Automates testing of Web, SOA and Oracle packaged applications
• Integrated scripting platform for automated functional testing and load testing
• Intuitive GUI-based visual scripting interface to create test scripts
• Powerful Java-based code view built on Eclipse IDE to extend scripts
• Enables data-driven tests to drive your automated Web transactions
• Provides built-in test cases to validate application content
• Includes custom testing accelerators for Oracle E-Business Suite, Siebel and ADF applications
• Enables Web Services testing for SOA applications
• Enables Oracle Database testing with synthetic scripts which can be generatedfrom Real
Application Testing’s Database Replay
• Enables automatic generation of load test scripts from Real User Experience Insight
• Support for Adobe® FLEX® testing

KEY BENEFITS
• Cuts testing time in half, eliminating weeks from a project’s testing schedule.
• Reduces the amount of manual testing required for each release
• Lets you focus on testing your application rather than developing test scripts
• Eliminates the need to learn multiple tools and scripting languages for different types of tests
• Improves application quality by allowingfor increased test coverage and more extensive
validation

OBIEE Part I

Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE)

Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) is a comprehensive suite of enterprise BI products that delivers a full range of analysis and reporting capabilities. Featuring a unified, highly scalable, modern architecture, OBIEE provides intelligence and analytics from data spanning enterprise sources and applications—empowering the largest communities with complete and relevant insight.
OBIEE consists of several interdependent components, with the Oracle BI Server at its core. For the purpose of this whitepaper, Oracle refers to these components as OBIEE:
Oracle BI Server — a highly scalable, highly efficient query and analysis server that integrates data via sophisticated query federation capabilities from multiple relational, unstructured, OLAP, and pre-packaged application sources, whether Oracle or non-Oracle. (Common enterprise business model and abstraction layer)

Oracle BI Answers — is an ad-hoc query and analysis tool that processes the data from multiple data sources in a pure Web environment. Users are isolated from data structure complexity and they view and work with a logical view of the information. Users can create charts, pivot tables, reports, and dashboards. All of them are fully interactive. Analysis can be saved, shared, modified, formatted, or integrated in the user's personalized BI Dashboards.


Oracle BI Interactive Dashboard — are interactive Web architecture dashboards that display a required information to help users' decision making. Access to the information is interactive and based on the individual's role and identity. The end user works with live reports, charts, tables, prompts, pivot tables, and graphics and the user also has full capability for modifying and interacting with these results. Dashboard can aggregate content from other sources./e.g., the Internet, shared file servers, and document repositories/ The content of the Dashboard pages can be saved into Briefing Book.

Oracle BI Publisher — a highly scalable reporting engine capable of generating reports from multiple data sources in multiple formats via multiple delivery channels.

Oracle BI Briefing Books — reports that capture a series of snapshots of an Oracle BI Dashboard or report allowing the information to be viewed offline presentation style.

Oracle BI Disconnected Analytics — is a solution that offers BI Answers and Dashboards to mobile professionals on computers disconnected from the network. It provides the same intuitive interface for users whether they are working in a connected or disconnected mode.
.

Oracle BI Office Plug-In — automatically synchronizes information from Answers to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Oracle BI Delivers — is an alerting tool that provides monitoring and alerting of business activity. They are reached via multiple channels such as email, dashboards, and mobile devices. It includes Web-based self-service portal where users can create and subscript alerts. Dashboard can initiate and pass contextual information to other alerts to execute multistep, multiperson, and multiapplication analytical workflow. It can dynamically determine recipients and personalize content to reach right users at the right time and also with a right information.

Hyperion Interactive Reporting
pulls data together from operational or analytic sources to create charts, privots, and reports and can access the Oracle BI Server semantic layer.
Hyperion SQR Production Reporting
provides cross functional reporting from a variety of relational databases and data sources.
Hyperion Web Analysis
delivers out-of-the-box presentation and reporting for Oracle Essbase and other multi-dimensional sources.


Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition: Overview
Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition Plus (Oracle BI EE Plus) is a comprehensive suite of enterprise BI products that delivers a full range of analysis and reporting capabilities. Featuring a unified, highly scalable, modern architecture, Oracle BI EE Plus provides intelligence and analytics from data spanning enterprise sources and applications—empowering the largest communities with complete and relevant insight.
Business intelligence applications can be:
• Mission-critical and integral to an enterprise's operations or occasional to meet a special requirement
• Enterprise-wide or local to one division, department, or project
• Centrally initiated or driven by user demand

Adding filter prompts to requests :
A filter limits the results that appear when a request is run. Oracle BI Answers shows only those results that match the criteria.

To simplify filtering, Oracle BI Answers provides two types of prompts, dashboard prompts and criteria prompts:
 A dashboard prompt is a special kind of filter that filters requests embedded in a dashboard. A dashboard prompt filters embedded requests that contain the same columns as the filter. It can filter all embedded requests in a dashboard, or embedded requests on the same dashboard page.

Multiple columns in a dashboard prompt can be used to constrain users' choices for subsequent selections. For example, if one column filters on a region, and the next column filters on districts, the district column can be constrained to show only districts in the region the user selects. A dashboard prompt can also be populated dynamically so that it can be programmatically customized for each user.

A criteria prompt guides users in making selections for individual requests. There are two kinds of criteria prompts, column filter prompts and image prompts:

A column filter prompt provides general filtering of a column within a request. A column filter prompt can present all choices for a column, or, like a dashboard prompt, it can present constrained choices for a column. For example, if a request contains a Region=East filter, constraining choices for the City column restricts the selections to cities in the East region only. This eliminates the selection of a mutually exclusive filter that could result in no data.

An image prompt provides an image that users click to select criteria for a request. For example, in a sales organization, users can click their territories from an image of a map to see sales information, or click a product image to see sales information about that product. Users who know how to use the HTML

11i Vs R12

Being currrently there is a good acceptance for the R12 implementation,the general question in the mind of Client and the implementor are as follows:

11i really needs to be updated?
wats new in r12?
Implementation strategy for r12?
Organization architecture in R12?

To answer all the question and go ahead with r12 the Client should be clear in his requirement and the Implemantors should be aware of the new product(r12) in depth.

The major fear in R12 is due to various reasons as such the main factor is lack of exposure.

The R12 has various development comparatively in the areas of organization architecture,modulewise enhancement and shift of various Form into HTML based pages.

The Legal entity is given more importance to address multidimensional requirements.

The Set of Books 3 c concept is added with a additional parameter.

OU has its ease link from the Accounting environment.

The Suppliers and Customers are given a new look from form to pages.
The centralized parties are introduced.

In short the R12 is stepping to new face, hope to sink it in Fusion.

Hail to Oracle application Continous Improvement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oracle Apps Key Flex Field (a) KFF

As the name explains in Oracle KFF is a field which is flexible to be structured as per the requirement of the Business.One has to know well abt the KFF before building the system. KFF is a critical setup and many of them are irreversible.There are totally 38 KFF available acroos all Modules.

Key points to be noted in the KFF are as follows

Which application doesit belong to?

How many structure allowed?

Possibility of Dynamic insert

To be More clear about the Basic KFF for a functional consultant, lets move into some of the specific KFF and its application.

Application: Inventory

1) System Item flexfield
2) Item Categories
3) Item Catalogs
4) Sales Orders
5) Stock Locators
5) Account Aliases

Application: General Ledger

1) Accounting Flexfield
2) GL Ledger Flexfield ---> This is a additional KFF in R12
3) Reporting Attributes:Accountin

Application: Assets

1) Asset Key Flexfield
2) Category Flexfield
3) Location Flexfield

Application: Human Resources

1) Competence Flexfield
2) Grade Flexfield
3) Job Flexfield
4) Position Flexfield

Application: Payroll

1) Cost Allocation Flexfield
2) People Group Flexfield


Hint For INV implementation: System Item KFF is a critical thing to be taken care and the number of segment will decide the entire Item transaction across all modules.
Adviceable is to restrict the number of Segment inSystem Item KFF

Attribute Determines the Item

Defining a Item is not just naming a physical or logical object, but inturn assigning various properties to it.In oracle its termed as Attributes, the attibute is the one which determines the nature of a Item.So every consultant should now the significance of the item, item category and organization assignment.Let me share the key attributes in each functional areas for now.

Main

1. Primary Unit of Measure
2. User Item Type
3. Item Status
4. Conversions

Inventory

1. Inventory Item
2. Stockable
3. Transactable
4. Revision Control
5. Reservable
6. Check Material Shortage
7. Lot Expiration (Shelf Life) Control
8. Shelf Life Days
9. Lot Control
10. Starting Lot Prefix
11. Starting Lot Number
12. Cycle Count Enabled
13. Negative Measurement Error
14. Positive Measurement Error
15. Serial Generation
16. Starting Serial Prefix
17. Starting Serial Number
18. Locator Control
19. Restrict Subinventories
20. Restrict Locators

Bills of Material

1. BOM Allowed
2. BOM Item Type
3. Base Model
4. Engineering Item (Oracle Engineering only)
5. Effectivity Control

Costing

1. Costing Enabled
2. Inventory Asset Value
3. Include in Rollup
4. Cost of Goods Sold Account
5. Standard Lot Size

Purchasing

1. Purchased
2. Purchasable
3. Use Approved Supplier
4. Allow Description Update
5. RFQ Required
6. Outside Processing Item
7. Outside Processing Unit Type
8. Taxable
9. Receipt Required (Three-Way Invoice Matching)
10. Inspection Required (Four-Way Invoice Matching)
11. Default Buyer
12. Unit of Issue
13. Receipt Close Tolerance
14. Invoice Close Tolerance
15. UN Number
16. Hazard Class
17. List Price
18. Market Price
19. Price Tolerance
20. Rounding Factor
21. Encumbrance Account
22. Expense Account
23. Asset Category

Receiving

1. Receipt Date Action
2. Receipt Days Early
3. Receipt Days Late
4. Overreceipt Quantity Control Action
5. Overreceipt Quantity Control Tolerance
6. Allow Substitute Receipts
7. Allow Unordered Receipts
8. Allow Express Transactions
9. Receipt Routing
10. Enforce Ship-To

Physical Attributes

1. Weight Unit of Measure
2. Unit Weight
3. Volume Unit of Measure
4. Unit Volume
5. Container
6. Vehicle
7. Container Type
8. Internal Volume
9. Maximum Load Weight
10. Minimum Fill Percentage
11. Collateral Item
12. OM Indivisible

General Planning

1. Inventory Planning Method
2. Planner
3. Make or Buy
4. Min-Max Minimum Quantity
5. Min-Max Maximum Quantity
6. Minimum Order Quantity
7. Maximum Order Quantity
8. Order Cost
9. Carrying Cost Percent
10. Source Type (Replenishment)
11. Source Organization
12. Source Subinventory
13. Safety Stock Method
14. Safety Stock Bucket Days
15. Safety Stock Percent
16. Fixed Order Quantity
17. Fixed Days Supply
18. Fixed Lot Multiplier

MPS/MRP Planning

1. Planning Method
2. Forecast Control
3. Exception Set
4. Pegging
5. Shrinkage Rate
6. Round Order Quantities
7. Acceptable Early Days
8. Repetitive Planning
9. Overrun Percentage
10. Acceptable Rate Increase
11. Acceptable Rate Decrease
12. Calculate ATP
13. Reduce MPS
14. Planning Time Fence
15. Planning Time Fence Days
16. Demand Time Fence
17. Demand Time Fence Days
18. Release Time Fence
19. Release Time Fence Days

Lead Times

1. Preprocessing
2. Processing
3. Postprocessing
4. Fixed
5. Variable
6. Cumulative Manufacturing
7. Cumulative Total
8. Lead Time Lot Size

Work in Process

1. Build in WIP
2. Supply Type
3. Supply Subinventory
4. Supply Locator
5. Overcompletion Tolerance Type
6. Overcompletion Tolerance Value
Order Management
1. Customer Ordered
2. Customer Orders Enabled
3. Shippable
4. Internal Ordered
5. Internal Orders Enabled
6. OE Transactable
7. Pick Components
8. Assemble to Order
9. ATP Components
10. Ship Model Complete
11. Check ATP
12. ATP Rule
13. Picking Rule
14. Default Shipping Organization
15. Returnable
16. RMA Inspection Required
17. Over Shipment Tolerance
18. Under Shipment Tolerance
19. Over Return Tolerance
20. Under Return Tolerance

Invoicing

1. Invoiceable Item
2. Invoice Enabled
3. Accounting Rule
4. Invoicing Rule
5. Tax Code
6. Sales Account
7. Payment Terms

Service

1. Support Service
2. Warranty
3. Coverage
4. Service Duration
5. Billing Type
6. Serviceable Product
7. Service Starting Delay