OracleAppsBlog

A day in the life of an Oracle Applications Consultant

Planning

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

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

The Oracle Financial Information Systems (FIS) Project at University College London (UCT)

This post contains a link to the Oracle Financial Information Systems (FIS) website at University College London (UCT) and also mentions the key features of the site.

The Financials Systems Project site at the University College London (UCT) provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to implement an Oracle Applications System. The site gives readers a holistic view of all the aspects of Enterprise Systems Implementations. UCT initially implemented the following modules of Oracle Application 11.0.3 and later upgraded to 11i : -

• General Ledger
• Accounts Payable
• Purchase Ordering
• Accounts Receivable
• Grants ( including Project Costing and Project Billing)
• Fixed Assets
• Inventory

Following is a review of the key areas of the site:

FIS Project

This section of the site provides an overview of what the FIS project and has related information categorised as follows: -

• Information on the use of the site
• What is the FIS Project?
• FIS Team Members
• Useful Contact Information
• Migration Plan
• FIS Service Times
• FIS Users Group
• 11.0.3 Enhancement Stage Plan
• FIS Technical and Business Consultancy 2003
• Upgrade to Version 11i
• FIS Newsletters
• FIS Training Dates

Procedures, User Guides and General Reference

This particular section of the site is probably one of the most useful areas as it contains project documentation which has been categorised in to the following areas: -

• General Reference and Procedural Notes
• User Guides for the following modules: -
• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Receivable
• Fixed Assets
• General Ledger
• Grants
• Inventory
• Purchase Ordering
• Other User Guides
• Technical Guidance
• How To…?

Friday, July 16, 2004

Online Business Office Environment at Yale University

This post takes a look at the Online Business Office Environment at Yale University, an ideal place for implementors of ERP systems to take a look at what types of documentation should be prepared when undertaking an implementation.

Recently I discovered the Online Business Office Environment (OBOE) Site at Yale University. I felt it’s the type of site that would give implementors of ERP Systems an idea of what types of documentation would need to be prepared. The thing I’ve always believed with ERP systems is that clients, implementors or consultants do not make enough effort to document the processes. Even if the processes are documented, the knowledge of how the new process is executed is not adequately transferred to those making use of them. Placing this information online and updating it frequently is one way of resolving these issues. It also ensures that continuous learning and education on systems and processes within the organisation is undertaken. Below I have highlighted the two major sub-sections of the Online Business Office Environment and provided a brief summary of what’s available in these particular areas. I am sure the information contained on this site will prove useful to implementors of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and in particular Oracle Applications.

Learning Modules

This section contains user guides, training scenarios, tutorials and presentations for each of the following functional areas.

• Procurement
 
• i-procurement
• VIP - Contract Purchases
• WIP - Web Invoice Payment
• SWAP - Simple Web Allocation Process
• General Procurement
• General Accounting
• Journal Staging Area (JSA)
• Custom Commitments
• Receipt Identification Form (RIF)
• Labor Distribution (LD)
• FPM - Financial Planning and Management
• Data Warehousing Portal
• Budgeting - with Oracle Financial Analyzer (OFA)
• HR/LD/Payroll Reporting Using DataWarehouse Portal and Brio BUG
• Other Training
• System & Technology Access Request Tool (START)
• Training Management System (TMS)
• Human Resources and Payroll
• KRONOS Time Keeping System
• C & T Payroll (Casual and Temps)
• Casual and Student Payroll
• Casual Hiring

Policies, Procedures, Forms and Guides

This section of the site contains policies, procedures, forms and guides for the following functional areas: -

• Accounts Payable
• Purchasing
• Internal Services
• Information Technology Services (ITS)
• HR Services
• Payroll
• General Accounting
• Financial Management

There’s plenty of good reading material on this site - enjoy browsing it!

Monday, June 21, 2004

Oracle E-Business Suite implementation documentation

This post contains information about Oracle E-Business Suite project documentation and training materials.

Maricopa Community Colleges have implemented a College Financial System using Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.8. According to their site "The College Financial System (CFS) is the system of record for all purchasing, accounts payable, fixed assets, and accounting transactions. CFS is used by the Business Services Division, Campus Fiscal Officers, Administrative Secretaries, and Receiving Clerks to create, act upon, and review Purchase Orders, Invoices, Assets and Financial information. The annual Financial Report is derived from information in CFS. The CFS application interfaces with the BDS application, the HR application, and the Student Information System. 

The Application is Oracle E-Business Suite, version 11.5.8, with relatively minor customizations. It operates on a Compaq Tru64 Server with a Unix 5.1a Operating System on an Oracle 8.1.7.4
Database". 

I came across their site and thought this documentation would certainly be useful to anyone implementing Oracle Apps. At the College Financial System site you will find Oracle the following documentation: -

Customization impact analysis

Design and Build Standards

Application Architecture

Objective, Scope and Approach

Testing Strategy

Project Training Strategy

End User Training Documents

End User Navigation Training Documents

End User Inquiry Documents

Fiscal Agent and Buyer Documents

Project Plans

Implementation Team Structure

You should also visit the Maricopa Technology Training Services site where there you can obtain training material for a variety of Microsoft and other software products.