OracleAppsBlog

A day in the life of an Oracle Applications Consultant

Documentation

Monday, August 01, 2005

Oracle 11i Installation, Architecture, Administration and Maintenance

Recently I was asked by a reader whether I could provide them with a diagram of the architecture of 11i10. Here’s some excellent presentations you can download and take a look at if you want to understand more about the architecture of Oracle Applications E-Business Suite (EBS) R11i.

I’ve always been impressed by the quality and content of information produced in presentations delivered by SolutionBeacon. One of the first presentations I came across that provided a very good look under the hood of 11i was one entitled “Care and Feeding of 11i” by John Stouffer.

The most recent versions of these presentations that I could find were delivered by Randy Giefer at the NorCal OAUG 2005 Training Day. I’ve linked to the presentations and also quoted their abstracts below. You should also check out the NorCalOAUG Presentations Archive where there are many other useful presentations you can download.

Introduction to Release 11i Part 1 of 2: Installation & Architecture

Abstract

In the 1st of a 2 part presentation, get a “real world” perspective as well as tips and techniques to install and understand the architecture of the complex Oracle Applications environment delivered with Release 11i, including Release 11.5.10. Release 11i is the biggest and most complex applications release ever! There have been ten 11i releases with major changes to tools and technology stack. Each release addresses bug fixes and has added new module functionality along with three specific Oracle environments that must be installed for Release 11i – database, applications and web. All environments require differing levels of support but each has to be maintained to fully utilize and make the most of the Release 11i Applications. We will discuss the underlying architectures and approaches to architecture and installation that make ongoing support more manageable for the Apps DBA.

Introduction to Release 11i Part 2 of 2: Administration & Maintenance

Abstract

In the 2nd of a 2 part presentation, get a “real world” perspective as well as tips and techniques to administer and maintain the complex Oracle Applications environment delivered with Release 11i, including Release 11.5.10. Release 11i is the biggest and most complex applications release ever! There have been ten 11i releases with major changes to tools and technology stack. Each release addresses bug fixes and has added new module functionality along with three specific Oracle environments that must be supported for Release 11i – database, applications and web. Administering and maintaining these environments has become a full time job for the Applications DBA. All environments require differing levels of support but each has to be maintained to fully utilize and make the most of the Release 11i applications. We will discuss all of these administration and maintenance processes for the Apps DBA and will share “real world” recommendations for each.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Oracle AIM Pricing

I received an e-mail the other day asking how much it would cost to purchase Oracle AIM. This post contains information on the pricing of this product.

Oracle’s Application Implementation Methodology (AIM) is their methodology for the implementation of it’s e-Business Suite (eBS). According to Oracle: -

AIM Advantage is a time-tested implementation approach and toolkit for planning, executing and controlling the implementation of your Oracle E-Business Suite. It is the only implementation method specifically built for Oracle Applications, and has been used in thousands of successful implementations by Oracle Consulting, Oracle’s select implementation partners, and customers.

I’ve used this methodology on all of the Oracle Applications implementations I have been involved in and have found it to be a very useful tool. The methodology helps you plan and document an implementation at all stages of the lifecycle. Information on the pricing can be found by performing a search for "AIM" at the Oracle Store. Here you will find two options: -

1. AIM Advantage without Supplement Option - Packaged Method Named User (US$2,200)
2. AIM Advantage with Supplement Option - Packaged Method Named User (US$2,530)

Both of these options provide you with the aim CD-ROM and documentation whilst according to the Store, with the supplement option:

Oracle will provide access to AIM Advantage 3.0 supplements made generally available to commercial customers for a period of twelve months from the effective date of purchase. Supplements may include new deliverable templates and point releases of AIM Advantage (e.g. version 3.0 to version 3.1), but will not include new major releases (e.g. version 3.0 to version 4.0); major releases are licensed separately.

As the pricing is based on a named user, an organisations implementation cost would be directly related to the number of users that would make use of the software. To continue receiving annual updates via the supplementary option the cost would be 15% of the current list price of AIM.

Tags
Oracle, Applications, Blog, AIM, AIM Advantage, Applications Implementation Methodology, Methodology, Implementation, Consulting, Store, Pricing, EBS

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Oracle eBS 11.5.10 Upgrade Assistant and Maintenance Wizard

Oracle Metalink has recently announced the release of the new upgrade assistant otherwise referred to as the Maintenance Wizard. This post contains the details.

According to Metalink: -

Oracle Support provides a self-service tool (formerly known as E-Business 11i Upgrade Assistant) that guides customers in a methodical and repeatable way through the upgrade process. The Upgrade Assistant and Maintenance Pack Assistant are now part of a tool called Maintenance Wizard.

Upgrade Assistant 11.5.10 was released on February 4, 2005 and is intended to help implementers upgrade Oracle Applications from 10.7 or 11.0.3 to 11.5.10. In March 2005 Oracle intends to release the Database Upgrade Assistant 9i for upgrading Applications databases from 8i to 9i.

View Oracle Support’s Free Upgrade Assistance Data Sheet (Metalink User Name and Password required) or read the Maintenance Wizard FAQ. To download the latest version of the Maintenance Wizard visit Metalink Note 215527.1 entitled Master issue list for the Maintenance Wizard - this note provides you with a listing of all the releases from version 1.01 through to the current release, version 1.07. The diagram below also gives you some idea of what the Maintenance Wizard looks like.

You can also find the following demonstrations on Metalink which will give you some idea of how to use and implement it: -

• Configuring Projects in the Maintenance Wizard
• Creating New Users in the Maintenance Wizard
• Creating Custom Steps in the Maintenance Wizard
• Running Steps in the Maintenance Wizard
• Applying Patches Using the Maintenance Wizard
• Running Reports in the Maintenance Wizard

Lastly, for those readers who don’t have access to Metalink you can obtain more information at the official Oracle Upgrade Assistant Web Page.

Saturday, November 20, 2004

11.5.10 (11i10) Release and Documentation

11i10 was released by Oracle last week. This post contains the link to the new downloadable documentation CD (note if you have not already done so, you will have to register with OTN).

You can now download the 11.5.10 documentation CD as I understand 11i10 was released last week. It contains documentation according to the following categories: -

• Technology
• Intelligence
• Marketing and Sales
• Order Management
• Logistics
• Supply Chain Planning
• Procurement
• Manufacturing
• Maintenance Management 
• Service
• Projects
• Product Lifecycle Management
• Financial
• Human Resources
• Customer Data Management
• Interaction Center Technology
• Communications/Utilities
• Public Sector University
• Financial Services
• Healthcare
• Aerospace, Defense and Transportation

The zipped documentation file is about 475MB and I understand it explodes to more than 1 CD now. There’s lots of new products and functionality - happy downloading and reading.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.10 Documentation

This post directs you to where some good documentation can be found on the new version of Oracle E-Business Suite which is to be released shortly, namely 11i10.

I have over the last week been involved in preparing a proposal for a customer who is planning to implement the new version of Oracle E-Business Suite, namely 11.5.10. I came across some really useful documentation which can be found on Metalink. To find the documentation, log on to the Metalink site, click on the E-Business 11i button then select Release Content Documents, ‘About’ Documents and Features Summary Matrices

and choose to download 11.5.10 Release Content Documentation (18.56MB).

The documentation pack that you will download contains the information on the following modules: -

• Healthcare
• Advanced Planning
 
• Contracts
• Procurement
• Projects
• Sales
• Service
• Discrete Manufacturing
• Complex Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul
• Configure to Order
• Cost Management
• Enterprise Asset Management
• Flow Manufacturing
• Item Master and Manufacturing BOM management
• Project Manufacturing
• Quality
• Shop Floor Management
• Work in Process
• Financials
• HRMS
• Intelligence
• Balance Scorecard
• Business Intelligence System (BIS) Purchasing
• Business Intelligence System (BIS) Service
• Business Intelligence System (BIS) Service Contracts
• Enterprise Data Warehousing (EDW) Financials
• Enterprise Data Warehousing (EDW) Purchasing
• Intelligence
• Daily Business Intelligence (DBI) 6.0
• Daily Business Intelligence (DBI) 7.0
• Interaction
• Logistics
• Inventory
• Mobile Supply Chain Applications
• Transportation Execution
• Transportation Planning
• Warehouse Management
• Marketing and Sales
• iStore
• Marketing
• Sales Contracts
• Sales
• Order Management
• Advanced Pricing
• Configurator
• iStore
• Order Management
• Release Management
• Shipping Execution
• Process Manufacturing
• e-records
• Cost Management
• Execution
• Inventory Control
• Logistics
• Planning
• Product Development
• Quality Management
• System Administration
• Regulatory Management
• Procurement
• iProcurement
• iSupplier Portal
• Contracts
• Purchasing
• Services
• Sourcing
• Product Lifecycle Management
• Projects
• Grants Accounting
• Project Contracts
• Projects
• Service
• Advanced Scheduler
• Depot Repair
• Field Service
• Install Base, Enterprise Install Base, Counters
• Mobile Field Service
• Mobile Field Service: Wireless and Voice
• Service Contracts
• Service
• Spares Management
• Student System
• Technical
• Applications DBA
• Oracle Applications Technology