* System Administration in Oracle HRMS*
The tasks in System Administration responsibility can be
grouped under following activities:
1. DBA Activity – Installation and System Maintenance
2. Security – User Account Administration
3. Implementation – Functional Setups
DBA Related Activity includes (This is not handled by Oracle HRMS Consultant)
1. installation of the Oracle Application on server
2. monitoring the instance by running alerts and reports
3. providing access
4. applying oracle specified patches
5. configuring system profiles
6. Enabling audit trails
Security Related Activities includes
- Creating users, menu’s and responsibilities
- Attaching security profiles to the user, responsibility, organization or at site level.
Before creating users, responsibility and security profiles it is important to understand the following
o Understanding the hierarchy of the organization
o User grouping depending on the access level and role played that needs to be provided.
o Creating the access of functions, menu’s, data based on organization and role.
o Co-relating responsibilities with the application users
o Appling restrictions to data based on organization, payroll, position, supervisor.
Functional Activities includes designing and implementing the business requirements into the application. Some functional users also do the mapping for the technical reports and interfaces to be developed.
1. Creating Value Sets
2. Defining Flexfields – Key as well as Descriptive
3. Attaching Validations to the flexfields
4. Printer Management
5. Workflow Administration
Once the installation is done and system is in place and DBA has created a user id with access to System Administration Responsibility, then the job of HRMS functional consultant starts. Of course before even touching the application it is important to understand the requirements from the user and have the documents in place as much as possible. To have some draft ready to start with is really helpful. Also have a roadmap ready for organization and flexfield definition especially the ones which will be used by other modules too, like cost allocation flexfield is mapped with financials chart of accounts.
*user is expected to know and understand the basic navigation and terminologies of Oracle. Also please use Oracle Implementation Guides for complete reference.
1. DBA Activity – Installation and System Maintenance
2. Security – User Account Administration
3. Implementation – Functional Setups
DBA Related Activity includes (This is not handled by Oracle HRMS Consultant)
1. installation of the Oracle Application on server
2. monitoring the instance by running alerts and reports
3. providing access
4. applying oracle specified patches
5. configuring system profiles
6. Enabling audit trails
Security Related Activities includes
- Creating users, menu’s and responsibilities
- Attaching security profiles to the user, responsibility, organization or at site level.
Before creating users, responsibility and security profiles it is important to understand the following
o Understanding the hierarchy of the organization
o User grouping depending on the access level and role played that needs to be provided.
o Creating the access of functions, menu’s, data based on organization and role.
o Co-relating responsibilities with the application users
o Appling restrictions to data based on organization, payroll, position, supervisor.
Functional Activities includes designing and implementing the business requirements into the application. Some functional users also do the mapping for the technical reports and interfaces to be developed.
1. Creating Value Sets
2. Defining Flexfields – Key as well as Descriptive
3. Attaching Validations to the flexfields
4. Printer Management
5. Workflow Administration
Once the installation is done and system is in place and DBA has created a user id with access to System Administration Responsibility, then the job of HRMS functional consultant starts. Of course before even touching the application it is important to understand the requirements from the user and have the documents in place as much as possible. To have some draft ready to start with is really helpful. Also have a roadmap ready for organization and flexfield definition especially the ones which will be used by other modules too, like cost allocation flexfield is mapped with financials chart of accounts.
*user is expected to know and understand the basic navigation and terminologies of Oracle. Also please use Oracle Implementation Guides for complete reference.
Key Concepts in Oracle HRMS
Prior to development efforts it is important to understand
the key concepts in Oracle HRMS as well as customers organization, based on the
two requirements should be gathered as well as analyzed for completeness.
1. System Administration Activities
User Groups§
Security Access§
Flexfield Structures after analysis of data and requirement§
2. Organization Structure
Financial Structure§
HR Structure§
Reporting Structure§
Division or Department Wise Segregation§
3. Hierarchy
Organization Hierarchy§
Reporting Hierarchy§
Approval Hierarchy§
4. Integration
Other modules in Oracle Application like Purchasing, Cash Management, General Ledger§
External Vendors like Payroll, Benefits, Leave Management, Recruitment Systems§
External Application – Custom Built applications§
5. Strategy for Data Management – Reporting and Interfaces
1. System Administration Activities
User Groups§
Security Access§
Flexfield Structures after analysis of data and requirement§
2. Organization Structure
Financial Structure§
HR Structure§
Reporting Structure§
Division or Department Wise Segregation§
3. Hierarchy
Organization Hierarchy§
Reporting Hierarchy§
Approval Hierarchy§
4. Integration
Other modules in Oracle Application like Purchasing, Cash Management, General Ledger§
External Vendors like Payroll, Benefits, Leave Management, Recruitment Systems§
External Application – Custom Built applications§
5. Strategy for Data Management – Reporting and Interfaces
Understanding Project Requirements
Gathering Requirements and planning for a project is the
most important task and decides the success or failure of a project. A survey
from Rock Ford Consulting* tells that over inadequate definition of functional
requirement gathering accounts for 60% of ERP implementation Failures.
Requirements are building blocks to the future phases of the projects, these are not just plain statements about what the application should do but also what its not expected to do. It is not just gathering sentences of each users expectations but collaboration and fitting the pieces like a jig saw puzzle to complete a picture.
During Requirement Gathering Techniques -
- Meet the users frequently
- Ask questions and get confirmation
- Documents should be maintained on daily basis
- The pieces that do not fit in should be given higher attention as they may lead to bigger problems in future.
- Be honest with the client about expectations and analysis
- If in doubt ask more questions
Critical Points to be understood in Oracle Application Project Requirement Gathering
1. Applications involved in the legacy system.
2. Functionality and distinction of process in each application.
3. Organization Structure – Usually HRMS Org Structure conflicts with Financial Structure if both the functional consultants do not sit together and formulate a common Org Structure to achieve the objectives of both.
4. Hierarchies – Organization and Position hierarchy are both important to be understood from security, approval and strategy formulation perspective.
5. Significance of each Data item in terms of reporting and user group requirements.
6. Processes needed and not needed in the system.
7. Organization Policies and alignment with the IT objectives
8. Integration with external applications and vendors.
9. Thorough analysis of the information provided.
10. Viability of custom solutions if offered.
11. User Accountability for data gathering and acceptance testing.
12. Documentation of the gathered facts and information.
Understanding the Oracle Project Cycle
Requirements are building blocks to the future phases of the projects, these are not just plain statements about what the application should do but also what its not expected to do. It is not just gathering sentences of each users expectations but collaboration and fitting the pieces like a jig saw puzzle to complete a picture.
During Requirement Gathering Techniques -
- Meet the users frequently
- Ask questions and get confirmation
- Documents should be maintained on daily basis
- The pieces that do not fit in should be given higher attention as they may lead to bigger problems in future.
- Be honest with the client about expectations and analysis
- If in doubt ask more questions
Critical Points to be understood in Oracle Application Project Requirement Gathering
1. Applications involved in the legacy system.
2. Functionality and distinction of process in each application.
3. Organization Structure – Usually HRMS Org Structure conflicts with Financial Structure if both the functional consultants do not sit together and formulate a common Org Structure to achieve the objectives of both.
4. Hierarchies – Organization and Position hierarchy are both important to be understood from security, approval and strategy formulation perspective.
5. Significance of each Data item in terms of reporting and user group requirements.
6. Processes needed and not needed in the system.
7. Organization Policies and alignment with the IT objectives
8. Integration with external applications and vendors.
9. Thorough analysis of the information provided.
10. Viability of custom solutions if offered.
11. User Accountability for data gathering and acceptance testing.
12. Documentation of the gathered facts and information.
Understanding the Oracle Project Cycle
Understanding the Oracle
Project Cycle and Oracle Best Practices
For any functional consultant it is very important to
understand the complete project cycle, its phases and documentation related to
the same. The phases in any project are listed below -
- Project Initiation:
- Team
is selected and project group is formed. Roles and Responsibilities are
finalized
- Project
Plan is made and Project Strategy is defined.
- Initial
Introductions with Client are made and terms of contract are agreed upon.
- Success
Parameters are defined along with Risk Management Plan and other Project
Management initiatives are taken.
- Requirement Gathering:
- Team
members start the requirement gathering sessions with the concerned user
groups.
- Questionnaires
are made
- Deep
Understanding of Organization, Business, Module is gained in the knowledge
transfer sessions.
- Documentation
like BRD100 etc are updated on regular basis.
- Instances
are setup for development work.
- Strategies
for Integration with Financials, External applications or vendors are defined.
- Application
Architecture is defined
- GAP Analysis
- Requirements
gathered are analyzed
- Work
Effort Estimates are made
- GAP
between the requirements and application are documented
- Discussions
held with the client over the gap
- Work-arounds
or Solutions formulated to cover the GAP.
- After
the completion of GAP analysis 1st milestone of a project is
achieved and requirements are moved for development after signoff.
- Conference Room Piloting
- Initial
Look and Feel of the application to the client
- Discussion
on final features
- Work
Ability Analysis of workarounds and custom forms
- Sign
off for next stage. After completion of GAP analysis the 2 nd
milestone of project is achieved.
- User Acceptance Testing
- User
introduction to the application
- User
Testing for all the functionalities
- User
Sign off after review of complete application.
- User
Training and resolving of other issues in the application.
- 3rd
minor milestone achieved.
- Go-Live
- Cloning
of instance for Production
- Production
Setups audits and confirmation
- Moving
of all the custom objects into Production Environment like interfaces, Reports
and Forms.
- Final
Data Entry in Oracle Applications.
- Major
milestone of project is achieved after successful go live.
- Post Go-Live Support
- Project Hand Over Activities
Oracle being an advanced and developed product offers AIM
Methodology for documentation as well as RICE methodology for estimation. These
are used widely and are considered as standards in any Oracle Project. Also
note that before starting a project its best to understand the Oracle Best
Practices for coding, naming conventions etc. Here is the list of Oracle
Standards for Projects as defined by Oracle Corporation itself
- AIM
Methodology for Documentation
- RICE
Methodology for Estimations
- PL/SQL
Coding Standards
- Naming
Conventions in Oracle
These are defined for each phase of a project like BR100 is
AIM Document used in Requirement Gathering and during development phase we use
RICE estimation of work effort for Interfaces and Reports.
In
today's scenario there are many ERP Players - SAP and Oracle being the market
leaders with global presence.
Oracle
HRMS is an ERP application of Oracle E Business Suite. It falls under vertical
HCM or Human Capital Management. It covers following modules :
- Core HRMS
- Payroll
- Advanced Benefits
- Self Service
- Recruitment
- Talent Management
- Performance Management
- Time and Labor
- Learning Management
- Business Intelligence
- Compensation Workbench
- Incentive Compensation
Oracle
HRMS is integrated with Financials, Purchasing, Projects, Sales etc modules of
Oracle E-Business Suite.
The
Oracle E-Business Suite
The
Oracle E-Business Suite is a packaged application with integration of
financials, supply chain, inventory, projects, sales, human resources and many
other business modules. This helps in automation of organization processes at
global level. And it is well integrated with Business Intelligence for
corporate reporting.
The
structure of applications is modules and organizations are free to choose the
modules they wish to implement as well as flexile enough for adding modules
after implementation of initial ones. Like Supply Chain can be added after an
organization has implemented Financials. The flexibility and the robust model
makes the E-Business Suite highly rated ERP. The methodologies or the best
practices are well defined and tested over many years on variety of
organization and projects models. This makes the success of implementation of
Oracle E-Business suite products very high.
The
Oracle E-Business Suite sits on a multi-layer platform which includes:
■
Oracle Database
■
Oracle Application Server
■
Common Services and Components
■
Oracle Internet Business Intelligence
Oracle
Database
All
applications reside on the Oracle Database. The Oracle database drives
enterprise
E-Business applications, online transaction processing applications
(OLTP),
query-intensive data warehouses, and high capacity Web sites. Because the
Oracle
database is available on many different platforms, applications can scale
from
handheld to laptop to desktop to enterprise providing consistent information
over
multiple channels.
Oracle
Application Server
The
Oracle Application Server (Oracle 9iAS) is a middle-tier server which
independently
delivers the technology needed to build Web sites and applications,
create
personalized portals, extract business intelligence, and manage a secure Web
site
infrastructure. Oracle Self Service , iRecruitment, iExpenses are some of the
Oracle modules using the same.
Common
Services and Components
All
the applications can leverage the common infrastructure and services
components.
Functionality includes Oracle Forms, Oracle Reports, Oracle
Application
Object Library (AOL), the Oracle JDeveloper and Oracle Discoverer
development
tools, the coding and UI standards, and other functionality used by
the
applications.
For
example, you can extend the applications according to your business needs
using
flexfields. You can create and assign responsibilities using the system
administrator
responsibility. Also, you can use Oracle Workflow to configure
background
processes and set up notifications so that all the appropriate managers
and
groups are notified.
Oracle
Internet Business Intelligence
Above
the E-Business Suite sits the Internet Business Intelligence application. This
application
integrate data from all of the E-Business Suite applications to provide
key
performance measurements, operating alerts, and management reports to every
decision
maker across the enterprise.
The ERP applications include following and
more:
■
Oracle Order Management
■
Oracle Supply Chain Planning
■
Oracle Manufacturing
■
Oracle Financials
■
Oracle Human Resources Management System
Companies
use the ERP applications to control their back-office operations. For
example:
■
Oracle Order Management applications feature advanced configurator
functionality,
global available to promise, flexible pricing support, efficient
delivery,
high volume transactions and flexibility to adapt to changing business
conditions.
■
Oracle Supply Chain Planning applications provide the tools required to
optimize
flow of material, cash, and information across the extended supply
chain.
■
Oracle Manufacturing applications support all styles of manufacturing -
engineer-to-order,
discrete, process, flow, lot based, and project based
manufacturing.
■
Oracle Financials provide solutions for strategic planning, accounting,
treasury,
Project
management, and travel management.
■
Oracle Human Resources Management System is a comprehensive solution for
managing a company's human resources, allowing organizations to attract, retain
and develop critical skills and knowledge on a global basis.
Common
Application Architecture
The
Common Application Architecture includes functionality that supports both
CRM
and ERP applications. For example, TCA, Oracle's Trading Community
Architecture,
consists of a database schema and Application Programming
Interfaces
(APIs) where you can model the complex relationships that occur within
a
business community and enter that data consistently throughout the enterprise.
Because
the model is not hierarchical, Oracle applications can model complex
B2B2C
relationships and not to be limited to either a B2B or B2C implementation.
TCA
delivers a 360-degree view of the customer.
*
Some of the data has been taken from www.oracle.com so as not the change the
context, for more information on oracle products please visit Oracle site.
*ERP
– Enterprise
Resource Planning
*SCM
– Supply Chain Management
*CRM
– Customer Relationship Management
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