Providing visibility to your large projects through a Project centric solution
In continuation with the entry here
Standardised project management process
Utilities have a trend of growing through acquiring other companies and hence the project management processes are likely to vary within their business. For e.g., an organisation that took over a contracting company that specialises in executing rechargeable jobs is likely to have its processes and systems for managing rechargeable jobs different form the rest of the business - unless there is a conscious effort to homogenize the processes. The project centric solution design addresses this by mapping the processes to the job classification available out of the box in Oracle ie., direct and indirect jobs Also project management templates can be defined to ensure that the projects are defined in a specific way that is aligned with other projects in the organisation. This substantially reduces the time required by the engineers and/or planners to create projects in Oracle. In some cases (Large capital projects), the project are likely to be created in best of breed project management software like Primavera or MS Projects etc.,. The out of the box interface available in Oracle eBusiness suite can be used to reduce the need to duplicate effort in entering project data into Oracle. With this, the process, the resource assignment and budgeting are the only processes that need to be done in Oracle eBusiness suite, whilst the other core project management processes are managed in the actual Project management suite.
In continuation with the entry here
Standardised project management process
Utilities have a trend of growing through acquiring other companies and hence the project management processes are likely to vary within their business. For e.g., an organisation that took over a contracting company that specialises in executing rechargeable jobs is likely to have its processes and systems for managing rechargeable jobs different form the rest of the business - unless there is a conscious effort to homogenize the processes. The project centric solution design addresses this by mapping the processes to the job classification available out of the box in Oracle ie., direct and indirect jobs Also project management templates can be defined to ensure that the projects are defined in a specific way that is aligned with other projects in the organisation. This substantially reduces the time required by the engineers and/or planners to create projects in Oracle. In some cases (Large capital projects), the project are likely to be created in best of breed project management software like Primavera or MS Projects etc.,. The out of the box interface available in Oracle eBusiness suite can be used to reduce the need to duplicate effort in entering project data into Oracle. With this, the process, the resource assignment and budgeting are the only processes that need to be done in Oracle eBusiness suite, whilst the other core project management processes are managed in the actual Project management suite.
Cash flow and view of investments for Capital projects.
Based on our experience with utilities, we observed that the data required in analyzing financial performance of capital jobs come from multiple systems. The procurement systems, Fixed Asset system, Inventory system and the financial systems are disparate and interface on a batch mode. The biggest challenge for Capital projects in such cases is to manage budgets for capital projects and manage the cash flow and investments. The financial data available for analysis at period end to evaluate project progress is mostly flawed or inaccurate due to different timings in which the information is integrated form the source systems. More so, the information pertaining to the asset during construction (CIP Projects) and transition of those assets as Fixed Assets of the organisation after completion determines the accuracy of the information. This timing challenge introduces vulnerability and inaccurate data available to the project accountants who spend considerable time to validate and fine tune the data before it is reported to the management. The project centric solution addresses this issue by leveraging the capability of CIP Projects that is available out of the box in Oracle eBusiness Suite. This in combination with the out of the box interface between FA, PO, INV and GL systems can provide project status information accurately for management review. The information can be presented to the business through the out of the box OAF project screens that can be extended and personalised to the organisations specific use.
