Title: R12 Applications Upgrade: Tips and Useful Methodology to Help Deliver a Successful Upgrade Project

Art Dowd O2Works LLC Introduction

Th e R12 upgr ade is a diff er en t an imal th an the 11 i techn ical upg rad es that o rganization s have b een pe rformin g in r e ce n t year s. Be c aus e o f c hang es t o t h e app l ic a ti o n s lo o k and f e e l, a s w e ll as fun ction a lity and r epor ting, th e imp act to end users is sign if ican t and should b e dealt w ith ear ly ( and of ten) in th e Upgr ade in itiativ e. A s a result, th e d yn a mics of th e upgr ade h ave chang ed and th e p roj ec t n eed s to be h and le d a s a Ch ang e Manag eme n t in itia tiv e in s te ad of a back-of- th e-house IT techn ical proj ect. This W h ite Paper d eals w ith th e k e y R12 ch anges and p rov ides tip s and me th odo logy to help prepar e org anization s for the Upg rade. W e share secrets and lessons learn ed fro m mu ltip le R12 proj ects and cover things th at org an izations n eed to p rep are for and wh er e to f ind answ ers . Th is information is for an yon e who n eed s to p lan, man ag e, or b e par t o f an upgr ade. Ou r exp er ience has shown that org an ization s th at prop er ly addr ess the fun c tional Chang e Man ag e me nt asp ects of th e R12 upgr ade are s u c ce ss f u l w h i l e th o s e w h o th r o e i t in an d exp ec t the u se r s to ge t it f a i l. Because th is is a substan tial proj ect with imp lication s to all Oracle app lication u s ers, bu ild ing a cross-fun c tion al team t o h and le the var ious fun c tional and techn ical asp ects is essen tial. Most org anization s ar e group ed and ma nag ed b y sp ecialty. For th is upgr ade in p ar ticu lar, it is imp o r tan t th at everyon e invo lved know no t on ly their ind iv idu al role bu t also how th eir con tr ibu tion aff ects th e proj ect as a who le. Wh ether the proj ect ma n a ger has a techn ical or fun c tion al b ackground , it is essen tial that the team b e ab le to co mmu n icate and a d d r e ss t h e k e y e l e me n ts t o su cce ed i n a Ch an g e M an ag e me n t p r o j e c t . The i m p ac t o f th e c hang es w ill e ith er b e a ddre ss ed and d ig e s ted a s p ar t o f th e proj e ct or exp er ience d as a los s of p roductivity af ter th e go liv e .

Why Upgrade
Th e stand ard answ er for wh y an org an ization upgr ad es is to do so on ly if th er e is a co mp elling busin ess reason. Tak ing adv an tag e of n ew features and functionality of the sof twar e ( if it meets th e org an ization s n eeds) shou ld en ab le the bu sin e ss oper a te mo r e e f f ec t iv e l y. B y u s in g t h e l a t es t e n h an ce m e n ts, and f o l lo w ing s h ar ed Be st P r a c t ic es , org an ization s w ill b e b e tter position ed to k eep their Information Techno logy fun c tion s aligned with chang ing Busin ess Obj ectiv es and imp rove co mp etitive po sition . Org an izations who a re exp ec ting a po sitiv e Re turn on Inv estme n t for the Upg rad e proj ec t would be b e tte r s erv ed a cc ep ting a r educ tion in the fu tur e To tal Co s t o f Own ersh ip . Th e mo s t like ly po s itive chang es w ill be th e redu ction in fu tur e upgrades co mp lex ity and co sts r esu lting fro m th e elimin ation of co stly custo mizations. Unfortun ately, that ben efit will no t b e felt un til subsequen t upgrades wh ile th e p a in and co st of cu sto mization elimin ation w ill be felt as p art of th e imme d iate upgrad e proj ect.

Realistically, on e o f th e p r imar y dr iv ers fo r upgr ades is the n eed to stay in suppor t. If th er e is a pr o b l e m w ith y o u r Or a c le s y s t e m and you con tact Oracle Support, there w ill b e issues if you ar e no t on a suppor ted v ersion of th e produ ct. The Oracle Lifetim e Support Po licy fo r Oracle Applica tions is av ailab le on Or [Link] an d lists suppor t cov erag e dates f o r a l l o f O r ac l e s app li c a t ion s. The r e is a lso a n O racle Lifetime Suppo rt Po licy O racle for Techno logy Products. To lo cate th ese docu men ts, qu er y: lifetime- suppor t- app lication s on Or [Link] m. I t shou ld be no ted th at as o f Febru ar y, 2011 th ere ar e only two r e leases; R12.0 and R12.1 are cur ren tly und er Premier Suppor t. Release 11.5.10 .2 is in the fir s t ye ar of

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Ex tend ed Suppor t. Due to th e rough econo mic climate of th e p ast f ew years Or acle h as w a ived th e f ir s t ye ar of the add ition al Ex tended Suppor t pr emiu m f e e. Star ting in D ecemb er of 2011, those org an izations still runn ing [Link] w ill be subj ected to an add ition al support charg e of 20% of their annual app lication s suppor t f ee in ord er to op t for Ex tended Suppor t. In add ition , they will be requ ir ed to ma in ta in a min imu m b aseline p a tc h lev e l as d escrib ed in My O racle Do cu me n t 883202.1 . If th e b aseline p a tch ing r equ ir emen t is no t me t, it is assu me d th at th e ex is ting customer is op ting for Sustain ing Suppor t wh ich do es no t afford them an y n ew p a tch es shou ld th ere no t b e an ex is ting p a tc h for their Suppo rt is su e.

Types of Upgrades
Th ere are mu ltip le ways to bring Oracle App lication s to a current release state. In o rder to avo id the discu ssion of r e- imp leme n tation v s. upgr ade (a top ic gen erally wor th y of its o wn W hite Pap er) w e w ill fo cus str ictly on upgr ades and categor iz e the op tions as two , a T e chn ic a l Upgr ade and a Fu ll F ea tur e-dr iv en Upgr ade . Techn ical upgr ades are th e pr evalen t me thod u sed fo r min or , do t-r e lease upgr ades. A dotr e lease upgrade d e scr ibes an in ter-v ersion release ( i.e. 11.5.8 to 11.5.9) th at pr imar ily entails techn ical produ ct enh an cemen ts and bug fixes. Typ ically there are limited fun c tionality ov erhau ls invo lv ed in do t r e le as e enhan c eme n ts and the focu s is on th e te ch stack imp rov ements. As su ch, th is effort is u sually led b y th e DBA and technical team with limited invo lv emen t fro m th e fun c tional resour ces and u ser -co mmu n ity. Invo lv emen t fro m Super U ser s and aff e c ted fun ction a l re sour ce s co me s in th e for m of app lic a tion tes ting pr ior to go liv e and suppor t on ce the n ew r e le ase is in produ ction. Th is is a le ss exp ensiv e, limited upgr ade op tion and do es no t r equ ir e as much p lann ing, ma n a geme n t, train ing, or testing . Th e pr imary cross-functional in ter action is app lication te s ting and th ere ar e typ ica lly few or no ch ang es to bus in es s pro ce ss e s to in corpor a te new a pp lic a tion f ea tu re s. Wh ile th e b ene f its ou ts ide of th e tech s tack asp ec ts ma y b e min i ma l, the inv estme n t i n t i me , e f f o r t a n d r e so u r c e s i s also limited. Cu sto mization s, ex ten s ion s, and 3 r d p ar ty bo lt-on s ar e con tinu a lly ma intained . Many org an ization s th at perfor m r egu lar upgr ades g ener a lly limit th e effor t to Techn ical upgr ad e un less th ere is a co mp elling in ternal or ex tern al bu sin ess r eason to con s ider th e w id er rang ing op tion. Fo r the mo st p ar t, su ccess for a techn ical upgr ade is measured b y the LA CK OF CHANG E. Fo r those end u ser s who are not invo lv ed in th e te chn ical upgr ad e proj ect o r testing, the upgr ade is a success if they see no difference in th eir system when th ey log on to th e app lication th e Monday fo llow ing th e te chn ical upgr ade. I f the system acts th e same and p erfor man ce do es no t declin e, it has been a su ccessfu l te chn ical upgrad e. Fu ll Feature-driv en upgrades ar e w id e-rang ing co mp an y in itiativ e s th at are in clu siv e acro ss I T and Bu s in es s ar ea s a n d a l ign sof tw ar e en h a n c e me n ts w i th Bu s in es s o b j e c t iv es . Th e y are tr eated as w id e-r ang ing proj ects th at r equ ire Ex e cu t ive S p o n sor sh ip a n d a c t iv e p ar t ic ip a tio n throughou t th e org an ization. Sign if ican t effor t is exp end ed in th e Plann ing stage to ev aluate n ew app lication features and function ality and d e termin e wh ether chang es shou ld b e ma d e to c u r r en t p r o ce s se s. Re tir ing cus to miz a tions and imp leme n ting so ftw are -enh anc ed b es t p ra c tice s would in cre a se Chang e Man age me n t and fun c tiona l requ ir e me n ts for the p roje c t and fu e l th e ne ed for add itional tr ain ing and in creased testing to suppor t th e n ew app lication pro c esses. A ll of th is in creases the need for mo r e ma n ageme n t of the project and r equ ir e activ e Ex ecu tiv e suppor t. W hile th is effor t is clear ly mo re exp ansiv e (and expen s ive) th an a limited techn ical upgrad e, th e b en ef its ga rner ed fro m th e ch ang es wou ld be exp ec ted to off se t th e inc re as ed shor t ter m inv estme n t and prov id e a positiv e r e turn on inv estme n t or r edu ction in th e Total Cost of Own ersh ip or imp rov e bu sin e ss operation s.

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R12 Differences:
Our exp er ien ce w ith mu ltip le Re lea s e 12 proje c ts h a s ena b led us to c o me in to c on ta c t w ith th e nu me rou s app lic a tion s chang es a nd sh ape our de liv ery to a llow org an iz a tion s to p rep are mo re effectiv ely. We fo cus on illustrating what an y curren t 11 i cu stomer w ill n eed to know in ord er to p lan and prepar e for a successfu l upgr ade. Listed b e low is a small samp le of the c h ang es . Because Release 12 contains mod if ication s to key ar eas of th e app lications ( mo s t no tab ly th e u ser in terface) it will requ ir e end u sers to re-acclimate to th e look & feel and n av igation. Exh ib it 1 s hows an ex a mp le of a n R12 scre en tha t res ulted fro m th e Sw an p roje c t r edev e lop men t of th e user in terf ace. I t s no t just a b lu e scr een . Th e n av ig a tion has been c hang es and th e d egr ee of ad ap ta tion r equ ir ed is d iff er en t for v ar iou s app lica tion s.

Exhibit 1: Example of a new R12 screen

In add ition to th e u s er in terf ace and v ar ious fun c tion ality ch anges, all of the r epor ts and reporting too ls g enerated fro m th e EBS su ite have ch ang ed and will n eed to be ch ecked early and of ten through the upgr ade project. Repo r ts and th e gen eration of r epor ts w ill h av e to be addressed as par t of th e upgr ad e. Cer tain modu les had sign if icant mo d if icatio n s fun c tionality o G ener a l Ledg er o A ccoun ts Payab le / Payab les an d enh an c e me n ts to f e a tu r e s and

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o A cco u n t s Re c e iv ab l e o Procur ement serv ic es Th e se happ en to be ar e th e app lic a tion s tha t have th e gr ea tes t nu mb ers of u s ers . A s such , familiarity tr ain ing will n e ed to b e prov id ed prior th e po in t wh ere u sers will n eed to assist as p ar t of the te sting p rocess. W e recommen d re cru iting and using as ma ny tester s as po ssib le. Th is will assist in acclima tin g end u sers prior to go ing live and th ereby d e crease th e lost produ c tiv ity th a t co me s fro m us ing a n app lic a tion th a t is d iff er en t. Th ere are oth er d ifferen ces in features and fun c tionality th at u ser will n e ed to ov erco me . Th e y in c lu d e : o Sub ledg er Accoun ting (SLA) for Op erating Unit flex ib ility o E Bu siness tax setups for each f in ancia l mo du le h ave be en r e mov ed and ar e n o w c en tr a liz ed . o M u l t i- O r g A cc es s Co n t r o l ( MO A C) - P r o v id e s r o l e b a sed a c c es s to O p era t ing Un its. It can be con fusing and dang erous to set up due to access to mu ltip le op erating un its o A ccoun ts Payab le Invo ice workb ench and Invo ice Pro cessing . New look and feel for th e workb ench . iPayme n t fun c tionality now in cluded and affects v endor conso lid ation for AP, CE, and Adv anced AR iSupp lier por tal in tegration h ad b een rough when produ ct w as f irst r e leased . Has b e en clean ed up, bu t test tho rough ly. Infor mation exp ansion (TCA arch .) led to long upgr ade step s and b lown tab le ex tensions o W eb ADI

Lost functionality/issues: Desk Top ADI > WEB ADI When moving from Desktop ADI to Web ADI, you lose the ability to create f i n a n c i a l s t a t e m e n t s i n A D I . U s e o f R e p o r t s M a n ag er w i l l b e n ec e s s a r y and

r ep la c e so me of th e lo s t fun c tion a lity Th ere h ave b een sign if ic an t imp roveme n ts in the Pro curemen t fun c tionality for no t on ly b asic pro cur ement, bu t also w ith serv ic es pro cur emen t. In k eeping with the th eme to alert you to po ten tia l p itf a lls , are a s of con ce rn in c lude : o N ew ex tended e-busin ess Tax modu le h as an imp act on iPro cur e me n t. o Approv als Man ag e me nt Eng in e (AME) h as been enh anced and is a tremen dous a p p l ic a t io n , b u t t h ere ar e a co u p l e o f f e a tu r es t h a t h av e b ee n e l i mi n a te d in t h e pro cess. o Th e n ew C at a l o g u p lo ad f e a tu r e i s a s ig n if ic ant i mp r o v e me n t b ec au se t h ere a r e no ma nu al pro cesses to run. o In tegr ation w ith pro curemen t con tracts is good and p er sonalization in the self s er v i c es p ag e s ma k e s iPr o cur e me n t e x tre me l y f le x ib le . o Th e Prof es sion a l Bu yer s W ork Cen ter is a mor e d yn a mic and co mpr ehen s ive approach th at po sitively affects v endor ma nag e me n t bu t w ill also requ ir e add itional tr ain ing and testing as user s learn abou t th e n ew featur es. Release 12.1 h as ma ny add itional enhan cemen ts in th e a d v an c ed p r o cu r e me n t a r e a. F o r infor mation on Release 12.1 new features in Adv anced Procuremen t as well as Huma n Cap ita l Man ag e me nt, ch eck ou t My Or acle Suppor t no te 806593.1 and th e R12 .1 Info Cen ter. Releases 12.0 and 12 .1 of th e Or acle E- Business Su ite prov id e an imp r essiv e step up in featu res, fun c tionality and te chno log y. The purpo se in sh aring the p itf alls is to prepare org an ization s for a realistic upgr ade exp er ience and p lan accord ing ly for a su ccessfu l upgr ade.

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Upgrade Overview
Th e pro cess flow d iag ram shown in Exh ib it 2 i l l u s tr a t e s a t yp ic a l U p g r a d e P r o c e s s F lo w r egard le ss of wheth er it is a Technical migr ation or Fu ll Feature-dr iv en upgr ad e. As shown on th e d iagram, th e key v ar iab le comp on en t is th e amo unt of effor t exp ended in th e Evalu ate n ew r e le a se / p lann ing s tep .

Exhibit 2: Typical Upgrade Process Flow

Exp lo r ing, assessing , and und erstand ing th e n ew features and fun c tionality of th e n ew s of twar e is k e y p ar t of th e e ar ly p la nn ing pro ce s s. S ign if ic an t inv e s tme n t a nd effor t ha s b een inv ested in imp rov ing k e y features and function ality in certain areas. Early evaluation and measurement o f th e app lication differences will driv e the train ing and ch ange ma n a geme n t efforts th at will be required as part of the project. So me org an izations adop t well to ch ang e wh ile o th ers do no t. Re lease 12 app lication s will requ ir e end users to learn n ew screen s and mo st w ill be imp acted b y chang es in fun c tionality. Th is upgrade (11i to R12) cant b e treated lik e a simp le do t release th at is h and led as a small b ack of the house project th at h as little imp act on end u ser s. Th ink ing b ack to th e su ccess cr iter ia for a te chn ical upgr ad e, it is the lack of ch ang e. Clearly that w ill no t work for th e R12 upgrade du e to the changes th at w ill b e d i cta t ed b y t h e ap p l i c a t io n . W e a r e aw ar e of org anizations who h ave failed to prep are th eir u s ers for the ch anges in R12 and have gon e liv e. Th e lo st produ ctiv ity and org an ization a l fru str a tion w a s tr emendous and r esu lted in mo n th s of dysfunction and angst. Th er e ar e ma n y ben ef its to th e Release 12 upgrade. Th e produ ct has been imp roved in ma n y a r e a s to shi f t tow a r d s a p r o ce ss o r i en ta t ion a n d aw a y f r o m a s i lo ma n a g e me n t ap p r o a ch. Sign if ican t do cu me n tation ex is ts on th e Or acle w ebsite, My Or acle Suppor t and o th er p laces th at h igh ligh t product imp rov ements in ma n y ar eas. Organ izations th at h ad imp lemen ted e ar l i er r e l ea s es o f the e - Bus in es s S u i t e and h ave no t reviewed cu stomization s and bo lt-ons r ecen tly hav e found that stand ard fun c tionality w ill en ab le th em to str eamlin e operation s b y elimin ating time- consumin g customization s. By tak ing th is step , it r educes suppor t co st and in efficien cy and imp roves an o rgan izations capa b ilities for subsequ en t upgrad es. On e essen tia l elemen t th at it is no t read ily app aren t from Exh ib it 2 abov e is th e iterative n a ture of the p rocess. It is cr itical th at at le ast thr ee iterations of th e upgr ade ar e perfor med pr ior to th e mo v e to p rodu c tion. If timin g w ill a llow sch edu ling of mor e than 3 ite ra tion s it should be con sid er ed. Ev er y iter a tion con tains testing that is stepp ed up fro m i teration to

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iteration as it prog resses fro m th e DBA testing in Iteration 1 ; to sup er-using un it te sting in I ter a tion 2 ; to in teg ra tion / s tr e ss te s ting and mo r e ex ten siv e end u ser tes ting in I ter a tion 3 . Th e th ird iteration is also con s idered the dress rehearsal as cr itical timin g s are cap tured and u sed to estima te the outage time for th e cu t-over sch edu le. Th er e ar e a f ew cr itical task elemen ts th at cau se tremendou s var iab ility in the timin g of an Upgr ade proj ect. As me n tion ed abov e, th e amoun t of effo rt expend ed in th e p lann ing step can add signif ican t time to the proj ect time lin e d epend ing upon how w idespr e ad and c o mpr eh en si v e th e p la n n in g p r o c e ss i s . I n add ition, shou ld a substan tial Ch ange Man ag e me nt, pro cess redesign, or train ing effor t b e r equ ir ed, they wou ld all h ave to be sch edu le in conjun ction w ith th e upgrade. Th e th ird area of variab ility is presen t in all upgr ades and is th e amoun t of te chn ical d evelop men t work th at w ill be n ecessar y to update and test any cu sto mizations or 3 r d par ty bo lt-on s th at are being brough t forw ard. Exh ib it 3 illustrates a po ten tial upgrade timelin e using a three iteration pro c ess. Th e leng th of the Plann ing phase is deter min ed b y th e organ ization s d e sire to ev aluate curr en t processes and adop t new f eatu res and pr actic es as par t o f th e upgr ad e. Fo r the purpo ses of th e illu stration we hav e assu med th at th e cu sto mization d ev elop men t work is min i ma l and pro c eed ing in par a llel. HIGH LEVEL R12 UPGRADE TIMELINE / OVERVIEW

Exhibit 3: Example of High level Upgrade Timeline

Th e lev e l of ef for t and dep th of par tic ip ation th roughou t th e organ ization wou ld var y based on the ex ten t of the ch ange to busin ess pro cesses as well as the comp lex ity and adop tion cap acity o f e n d u se r s. M o r e tra in in g , p r o j e c t ma n a geme n t, and Ex ecutiv e spon sorship will be r equ ir ed in r e la tion to th e size and speed of change requ ired.

Upgrade Project Planning

P lann ing p ro ce ss es v ary f ro m o rga n iz a tion to o rgan iza tion in bo th f requ en c y a nd s cope. Because upgr ades are no t an annu al occurr en ce, it is imp or tan t th at a r epeatab le , co mpr ehen siv e pro cess b e emp lo yed when assessing an upgr ade. Wh ether it is to b e a Techn ical or Fu ll Feature-dr iven upgrad e, th e elements for consid er ation should b e consisten t. D e ter min ation needs to b e ma d e of how b ig of an effor t an organ ization is w illing to tak e on and what th e exp ected benefits will b e. A resource assessmen t, in add ition to who is go ing to th e work should includ e the fo llow ing ar eas: Hard ware / p latform / n e twork

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c ap a c ity, app lica tion te s ting s tr ate g y, tr a in ing too ls and cap a c ity, and Or a cle produ ct strateg y. Eff ectiv e facilitation of the upgr ad e plann ing process w ill h eigh ten fo cus, d e crease scop e cr eep, and yield a mor e con c is e proj ect charter to gu id e th e upgr ade. Man y org an ization s strugg le with th is p lann ing pro cess b ecau se its lack of frequ ency and u ltimate imp or tan ce . A su cc e ssfu l P lann ing ph as e shou ld g en era te a v iab le Road ma p as a de liver ab le. Th is, in turn, shou ld be approv ed and sign ed off on b y Man ageme n t. A w e ll d ef in ed Road ma p w ill r e inforc e pr ior itie s and d e cre as e th e tend en c y tow ards s cop e cr eep and chang e ord ers .

Upgrade Project Methodology

Y ear s of exp er ien ce perfor ming upgr ade p roj ects hav e enab led us to bu ild a rep eatab le pro cess th at yield s successfu l upgr ade proj ects. Ther e are eigh t co mpon en ts th at con tain sign if ic an t d e ta il and dep th. For the purpo ses of th is pap er, w e ar e presen ting a high- level f ly o v er o f the b as i c e le me n ts . Secure A c tiv e Execu tive sponsor ship and suppor t: Th e ex ten t of the upgr ad e proj ect w ill d e ter mi n e th e lev e l o f a c t iv i t y n eed ed b y th e Ex e cu tive spon sor. If th e project is imp or tan t to th e org an ization, this is a critical requ ir ement. Th ere need s to be h igh lev e l, v isib le support to v a lidate proj ect impor tance and prov id e crisp, timely d ecision- ma k ing. Too of ten th is elemen t is ov er- look ed and ends up aff ecting the ou tco me of th e upg rade proj ect. Co mmu n ication and transp ar en t repor ting on p rogress : T he imp or tanc e o f w id espr e ad, e f f ec t iv e com mu n i c a t ion es ca l a t es a s th e exp e cte d ch an g e in cre a se s. I n o th er w o r d s , the mo r e end users will be imp a cted (bo th in nu mb er and in ten s ity) b y a p roject, th e better th e up fron t c o mmu n ica tion n eed s to b e. Knowing your aud ienc e and wh a t is impor tan t to the m is a k e y e l e me n t o f th is a sp e c t. R e l ev an t inf o r ma t i o n n e ed s to b e d i s s e min a ted a t t h e r ig h t f r equ en c y to ma in ta in in te rest and ex citeme nt abou t th e co ming ch ang es. The ton e shou ld b e po sitive, bu t, above all, it must b e tran sparen t and honest. Prev iously me n tioned ch anges to the R12 u ser in terface and fun ction a lity changes to wid e ly u sed mo du les d ictate th at a sub s tan tial Co mmu n ication and Change Man ageme n t effort w ill be requ ir ed for th is upgrade. G a ther th e prop er ma ter ia ls: Ther e is a sign if ic an t amoun t of infor mation available through Or acle s My Or acle Suppor t to gu id e organ izations th rough upgr ades. Th ey k e y is to no t g et lost and bogg ed down in infor mation over load. A mong the v ar iou s Imp lemen tation and U ser Gu id es is the E- Busin ess Su ite Upgr ade Gu id e th at can b e found in My Or acle Suppor t no te 461705.1 . In add ition, th e eBu s in ess Su ite R12 Infor mation Cen ter is v a luab le resour ce th at a l so con ta in s R e l ea se Con t en t D o cume n t s th a t d e ta i l th e ch an g e s to the app l i c a t ion s. Cau t ion is adv ised wh en r ev iew ing th ese do cu me n ts and th ey should be clean ed up b efor e b e ing d istr ibu ted to non- exp ert u sers. O th er cr itical do cu me ntation that should be co mp iled in th e ear ly stages of the p roject ( as e ar ly as pos s ib le) inc lud es a co mpr ehen s iv e lis t of cus to miz a tion s a nd ex tens ion s. Th is in cludes all repo r ts, for ms, v iews, ex tr acts, tr igg ers, cu sto m r epor ts ( in all forms) , and in terf aces. W orkflow and A ccoun t G ener a tor d ef in itions should also b e docu men ted as well as o racle suppor ted extension s and an yth ing th at tou ches Or acle that d idn t come sh ipped fro m O ra c le Corpor a tion. Th is inv es tig a tion n ee ds to be exh aus tiv e in ord er to guard aga in st an y go tcha cu sto mizations surfacing la te in th e proj ect and derailing th e develop men t e ffor ts. Reme d ia tion of RI CE obje c ts / cus to miz a tion s is th e ic ebe rg in th e p a th of the proj ec t p lan. Und ere s tima tin g this effor t w ill e ith er de ra il th e proj ec t p lan, c aus e an e me r g en c y i n cre a se in r esou r c es i n mid - p r o j e c t, o r d e f er r ing c er ta in d ev e lop m e n t a sp e c t s (u sually r epor ts) to post go- liv e or nex t ph ase. None o f th es e a ltern a tive s is id ea l and can b e po ten tially d ead ly to th e proj ect. W hen estimating bandw id th for in -house d evelop ers, always assume th ey will h av e less availab ility th an expected du e to un expected emerg encies and stuff th ey w ill need to address during the course of th e upgrad e project. The ex is ting app lication w ill no t be g e tting any mo r e stab le as it near s its end date.

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Id en tifying and securing a library of v iab le test cases and d e ta iled test scrip ts will imp rov e testing and elimin ate unn ecessary r e-work. A lw a ys in clude and use te st cases fro m p a st 11i imp lemen tation o r upgrades and be pr epared to add so me test cases for new f eatu res or fun c tionality. Test cases shou ld be mo d if ied to r ef lect an y and all n ew or changed f u n c t io n a l i ty . Th e n ew u ser in te r f ac e w i l l c er ta i n l y i mp a ct a l l c a se s th a t con ta in s cr e en sho ts. Be sur e that your test cases h ave specif ics abou t test d a ta and expected resu lts and ch eck th em b a ck in to the lib rar y for nex t time / upgrade. B e c au s e a l l a sp e c t s o f t h e Te ch n o log y A r ch i t ec ture shou ld be evalu ated in th e plann ing and a s se ss me n t s t a g e , a l l h ar d w ar e, s t o r age , n e twork, and d e sk tops shou ld b e ma pp ed, inv en toried , and classified. Particular atten tion shou ld be paid to availab ility of ad equate serv er sp ace n ecessary to h and le a v iab le instance strateg y to allow flex ib ility during the upgr ade. Recru it th e righ t team me mb ers: M an y t i me s o r g an i z a t ion s f o cu s o n t h e ex p e c te d h ar d w ar e and sof tw are co sts and downp lay the intern al sof t cos t s. To so f ten th is i mp a c t, o r g an iz a t io n s h ave a tendency to under staff an upgr ade proj ect or u se in exper ien ced r esou rces. Bo th of t h es e a r e d an g ero u s to th e p r o j e c t and cou ld h av e a s er io u s i mp a c t . Exh ib i t 4 i l lu st r a te s th e Ex tend ed Team responsib ilities that need to be cov ered in an upgrade. It shou ld b e stressed th at th ese are respon sib ilities and no t n e cessarily p eople / head coun t. Th e exten t of the invo lv emen t w ill be dete rmin ed b y th e scop e of th e upgrade. E XTEN DED PROJ ECT TE AM RES PONSIBILI TI ES FO R R 12 UP GRADE

Exhibit 4: Extended Upgrade Team - Responsibilities

As prev iously d iscussed, it is imp e rative th at there b e activ e, leg itimate Execu tive Spon sor sh ip and suppor t of th e proj ect. Th e larger the effor t, th e gr eater the exp e cted suppor t. D ep end ing upon th e scope, th e Proj ect Manag er effo r t cou ld rang e f rom p a rt- time in ternal to fu ll-time in tern al and ex ternal staffing . Ch ange ma n a geme n t and active c o mmu n i ca tio n ar e two k e y e le me n ts o f th e P ro j e c t M an ag er r o l e. Th e e ig h t te chn i c al and fun c tional respon sib ilities represen ted b y the b o x e s a ss u me a f air l y b as i c O r ac l e A p p s env iron ment and are no t at all represen tative of the leve l o f effo r t ne ed ed in a typ ical proj ect. All upgrad e resources shou ld h ave sp ecific p roject respon sibilities and

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accoun tability th at is do cu me n ted and pub lished. Th is will aid in the und erstand ing o f all f acets of the upgr ade proj ect. In an R12 upgrade, wheth er it is small o r larg e scop e, th e tr ainer will b e necessary to ma nag e th e ch ang es th at will be requ ired by bo th th e us er interface look and feel as well as th e n ew fun c tionality of th e k e y app lications. Th is w ill also requ ir e th at your support staff b e tr ained and read y to assist w ith suppo rt is su es th at w i l l a r is e a s p ar t o f the g o - l iv e p r o ce s s. E nd u ser s, the larg es t c a tegor y w ill b e invo lv ed in th e testing pro cess and will d e termin e success or failur e of th e upg rad e. A s such, they should b e g iv en as mu ch oppor tun ity as possibl e e ar ly in th e pro c es s to e xper ien ce th e n ew app lica tion s. Man y org aniz a tion s e mp lo y a tr a in th e tr ainer appro ach for th is effor t and supp leme n t with on- lin e tr ain ing, FAQ s, and Co mpu ter Ba s ed T ra in ing ( CBT s) th a t in c lude v ideo s. Org an iz a tions th a t own Or ac le U se r Productiv ity K it (UPK) hav e found it to b e an ex cellen t too l fo r addr essing d istr ibu ted and / or rep eatable tr ain ing. That has prov en h e lpfu l for r etr ain ing purpo ses as w e ll as n ew e mp lo yee orie n ta tion p ro ce ss es . O r g an iz e, cr ea t e, and u p d a te cr i t ic a l d o cu me n ts: In addition to the p rev iou s ly d iscussed d o cu me n ts t h a t ar e g a t h er ed in t h e A s se ss me n t p h a se ( i. e. custo mi z a t ion s, h ar d w a r e arch itecture, etc.) it is imp o r tan t to create two spe c if i c p r o j e c t com mu n i c a t ion d o cu me n ts . Th e two doc u me n ts ar e a Ma s ter Ch eck lis t and a Ma s ter Imp a c t L is t. I t is impor ta n t to bu ild a Ma s ter Che ck lis t and lis t ev er y s te p. W e re comme n d down lo ad ing the Ma in tenanc e W iza rd to a spr e adsheet and using that as star ting po in t. Make sure to cap tur e timing s for pr e, dur ing, and po st patch ing activ ities. I t is imp erativ e to list and assign ev er y task . Th e o th er cri t i c a l d o cu me n t i s th e M a s t er I mp a c t List. It is a co mp lete listing of all po ten tia l chang es th at shou ld requ ir e inv estig ation or po ssible retesting and it dr iv e ALL testing activ ities. It app lies to standard Oracle features and custo mer-created impacts and cov ers items sor ted b y modu le. Exh ib it 5 show s an ex amp le of a Ma ster I mp act List.

Exhibit 5: Master Impact List example

A mo n g th e i n f o r ma t i o n c ap tu r ed and r ev iew ed ar e c la s s if ic a t io n s , s t a tu s es , a ss ig n me n t s , prioritization s, and no te s. Examp les migh t include items su ch as 3rd Party Check Prin ting System ma y need to be r e te sted or r ep laced with X ML / BI Pub lisher or a cu stom f or m th at ma y n e ed to hav e th e cu sto mization reapp lie d to standard O racle for m or a n ew r epor t availab le as stand ard fun c tionality.

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An alyz e and Plan Use a thr e e round iter a tive me thod : As prev iously discussed it is critical to use an iterativ e pro cess w ith graduating lev e l of te sting through iteration s on e through three. An imp ortan t asp ect of th is pro cess is to g et c l ar if ic a t ion o n u n c le ar s t ep s e ar l y in the proj ect. Missed steps are costly and a serious risk to th e proj ect timelin e. Ano th er imp ortant a sp ec t o f th e f irs t iter a tion is the cr e a tion of an R12 v is ion in s tan ce in orde r for th e fun c tional team to beg in to g a in familiarity with th e R12 app lications. Estab lish ing a v iab le and availab le sand box env iron ment is imp or tan t in th e R12 upgr ad e. In add ition, ano ther key elemen t is to g a th er timings and statistics rela te d to p a tching. U se o f the Ma s ter I mpa c t L is t w ill h e lp dr iv e te s ting a s w e ll a s inve s tig a tion of te chn ic al i mp a c t s. W o r k w i th t h e f u l l p r o j e c t t e a m t o c o n tinu a lly gath er, addr ess , and r eso lv e is su es on th e I mp ac t L is t. On c e is su es ar e b e ing re solv ed and timin g s hav e b een es tab lish ed th e d e ta iled cu tov er p lan shou ld be f in a lized and proper ly co mmu n icated. Exp er ience h as shown th at an effective cu tov er will en tail th e u se of a War Room and d e tailed pro cesses to qu ick ly h and le an y issu es that aris e. At the end of th e project, the ab ility to effectiv ely address End U ser is sue s ma y e n d up b e ing the la s ting imp r e ss io n t h e inf lu en ce s t h e p e r ce p t io n o f a successfu l or failed upgr ade. Ex e cu te a S er io u s an d D ed ic a ted T e s t in g P r o ce ss: Testing is on e of th e most imp ortan t asp ects of an upg rad e proj ect and t h e o n e th a t o r g an iz a t ion s are mo s t l i k e l y to cu t c o r n er s o n . Th is cant b e allowed to h app en. At times comp an ies take th e attitud e th at th e app lications should just work so th ey don t need to waste time testing ev er yth ing. Ano th er bad id ea is th e no tion th at th ings can b e f ix ed af ter th e go- liv e. Th at is called testing in Produ ction a n d is a r e cip e f o r d is as t er . M y f av o r i t e is w h en p eo p l e s tate th a t Or ac l e h as a lr ea d y te s ted th e p roduct so th ey can scale b a ck th e testing scope. A s prev iously d iscussed , th ere shou ld be gr aduated lev e ls of testing th rough th e thr e e itera tions and time schedu le d af ter testing to f ix an y prob lems . O th er th ings to k eep in min d wh en testing include br inging b ack your v e ter ans fro m prior upgrades to assist w ith th e te sting. Th ey will b e faster and more efficien t and ab le to r ecogn ize issues mor e read ily. A lways know wh at resu lts you are expecting and u se r eal d a ta a n d a ss ig n te s t ca s es to s p e c if i c ind iv id u a ls. Th ere sh o u ld a l w a y s b e a p r o c ed u r e o r s ys t e m for logg ing test resu lts and r e solu tions. The pro cess should r equ ir e details and screen sho ts and the there shou ld b e a sign -off to ensure accoun tab ility. So me org an ization s rely h eav ily on testing too ls. While th ey are invaluab le, ef fectiv e, and prov id e addition a l v a lue in certain c ircu ms ta nce s ( i. e. s tr ess te s ting), th e y can t fully r ep lac e u ser invo lveme n t. Exp er ien ce ma tte r s . H av e a le ad er a nd br ing ba ck th e v e ts: I t is h igh ly reco mmend ed to use e xper ien ced te a m me mb ers to sp ee d up spe ed s successiv e iterations. For con sisten c y and eff icien cy w e r e co mmend th at an upgrad e Tig er team b e estab lish ed to push the effor t f o r w ard . P r e v io u s p l ans c an b e r e- u sed a s a r ef er en c e p o in t in b u i ld in g th e n ew p l an. W e a ls o r eco m me n d t h a t O r a c le R e l e as e C o n ten t D o c u men ts on N ew featur es be scrubb ed b efor e g iv ing to End users in order to simp lify th em and ma ke them le ss in timid ating. Co mmu n ic ation w ith ma n a ge me n t a lso ne eds to b e s tr a igh t forwa rd and the proj ec t co mp lex ities shou ld be adequ a tely exp lain ed to ensu re transpar en cy and h e igh ten suppor t.

Other Sources of Information

In add ition to My Or acle Suppor t and the Or acle w ebsite, th ere are o th er in for mation sour ces th at con tain excellen t Release 12 and upgrade infor mation. U s er group conferen ces ( lo cal, r eg iona l, and n a tion a l) g ener a lly supp ly sp eake rs who h av e r e a l world exp er ienc e work ing w ith th e app lica tion s and c an supp ly v a lu ab le lessons le arn ed. From a b log persp ective, Steph en Chans is h igh ly r eco mmended . It is honest, straigh t-forw ard, and read ab le . You can t beat th at! I t can b e found at: h ttp ://b log [Link]/sch an /. In add ition, th e O rac l e App lica tions - Too ls and Techno logy o n O r a c l e. co m h as a w id e a ssor tme n t o f ar t ic l e s, W h i te

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Pap ers, pr esen tations, and a good su mmar y on new featur es. They can be f ound at: h ttp ://[Link] acle. co m/techno log y/produ cts/app lication s /ind ex.h tml. And la s t, bu t no t lea s t, excellen t con sulting organ izations lik e O2W orks ar e an ex ce llen t sou rce o f r e a l life Re le a se 12 in for mation. W e have mo r e than a h av e do zen successfu l R12 projects und er our belt and w ere recognized b y Or acle fo r our work on one of the f irst su ccessful R12 I mp lemen tation proj ects. We wou ld b e h app y to h ear fro m you.

Last Word
Fo r org an izations using co mp etitive ERP systems, upgrades are a part of life. Wheth er it is a limited techn ical upgrade th at o ccurs ever y o th er year, or mor e ex tensiv e Feature dr iv en co mp an y-w id e project, th ere ar e b asic me thodolog y co mpon en ts shou ld b e used and r e-used for successfu l r esu lts. A s an org anization who d eals w ith upgr ades on an on -go ing b asis w e h ave the tools and sk ills to assist in d e livering resu lts. Because o f the ch anges to th e Release 12 app lication s, it is an upgrad e th at r equ ir es w id espr e ad c ros s-fun ction a l par tic ipa tion and ac tiv e Ex ecu tiv e Spon sorsh ip. I t is no t a typ ical do t release upgr ade and tr eating it as su ch w ill min imize resu lts and gen er a te fru str a tion and d isappo in tmen t amo ng end u ser s. Take th e oppo r tun ity to assess the new f eatu res and function ality deliv er ed w ith Rele ase 12 and deter min e if it is time to retire old c us to miz a tion s o r, a t a min imu m, p lan to aug men t your p lann ing time lin e to address th e add itional tr ain ing and Chang e Manageme n t need s that the R12 upgr ade w ill r equ ir e.

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