Get on the path to a smooth Oracle R12 upgrade!

The decision to upgrade to Oracle R12 is a significant one. However several gaps exist between expected and actual efforts leading to lengthy upgrade processes, unnecessary costs and ultimately – customer dissatisfaction.

Several organizations don’t know where to begin and whether their current hardware and software environment supports an R12 upgrade. They often delve into a manual assessment process that is expensive, inaccurate and often very time consuming. At the end of it, many face the same questions they had when they started the assessment process.

Automating the assessment process to check the upgrade-readiness of your IT environment is a no-brainer that saves time, cost and efforts in the actual upgrade process.

Meet Jade Global’s Propero™!

Propero™ is an R12 Upgrade assessment tool that connects to a customer environment and scans the entire existing setup of hardware, software and customization, giving them an accurate gap-analysis of what is needed and what currently exists. Due to its non-invasive nature customers need not install anything on their systems and the tool operates in a read-only mode. This ensures that data integrity and security is maintained.

Along with an accurate assessment of the existing and required IT infrastructure, Propero™ determines the true complexity of the system and gives a complete picture of which customizations can be eliminated, which need upgrading and which are now default features as part of the R12 release.

Along with this Propero™ also gives a complete project plan with cost and resource estimates and an accurate timeline of the actual upgrade. This helps customers plan the involvement of key business users much in advance. These users have little time to spare but are important to the success of the upgrade.

Propero™ thus truly puts customers on the path to a smooth R12 upgrade. Customers who have used Propero™ reported reduction in assessment time of more than 70 percent and the accurate project planning and timelines has helped them ease their actual upgrade process!

To see Propero™ in action register for our upcoming webcast – http://bit.ly/xNB0gL. You can always watch a recording of this webcast or get in touch with us at marketing@jadeglobal.com and we’d be happy to organize a demo for you.

Jade Global is now re-certified as an Oracle Business Accelerator partner for Oracle E-Business Suite

OBA certification showcases our enhanced level of Oracle E-Business Suite expertise and ability to rapidly reduce customers time-to-value.

Jade Global has successfully completed all levels of mandatory training and the Implementers Workshop and is now an Oracle Business Accelerator partner for Oracle E-Business Suite. Qualified members of the participating team are now ‘L4′ on accelerators.oracle.com and each individual ‘L4′ member can now request OBA workspaces for client projects.

Jade Global was able to meet rigorous standards set by Oracle and we were certified within an aggressive timeline of 21 days. Oracle’s OBA tools and templates are complimented with Jade Global’s unique implementation approach and data migration tools which reduces time-to-value for our customers.

Oracle Business Accelerators are next-generation rapid implementation tools, templates, and wizards that reduces the time-to-benefit at low risk. Based on leading industry and geography-specific business best practices, they enable customers rapidly adopt and standardize on world-class business processes.

Oracle Business Accelerators combine technology and industry expertise for companies that seek to achieve rapid implementations without sacrificing functionality or scalability and are suitable for out-of-the-box implementations.

Built by Oracle and available only through exclusive partner channels, Oracle Business Accelerators dramatically reduce implementation discovery, configuration, and testing time. The result is predictable and expedited access to proven solutions that minimize the risk of new technology adoption.

Part2. Removing the FUD, from Oracle E-Business Suite R12 upgrades.

Part2. “Consistency is all I ask!”

Most of the uncertainty expressed in SROAUG R12 upgrade presentations surrounds the area of functional changes in R12 and the impact these changes will have on an R12 upgrade.

In R12 there are two types of functional changes those which are mandatory, as a part of the upgrade process these functional changes will be implemented. Other changes can be defined as optional and left to be taken up at a later point after the upgrade.

An example of a mandatory change, which causes more concern than the optional changes, is the implementation of SLA (Sub-Ledger Accounting). This is a very substantial change to the financial modules, but for most R12 upgrades will be a seamless part of the upgrade, as the existing rules in sub-ledger modules auto-accounting will be implemented directly in SLA.

There is no need to review and re-implement all your accounting rules, unless you have the need and or desire to do that. As one of Jade Global’s R12 upgrade clients put it “Seems like the data is pulled to the Ledger, rather than pushed from the Sub-Ledger as it was in 11.5.10” which from an accountant seems like a good simple way to describe the change.

As far as optional functional changes in R12 there are many, but a good example would be the E-Business Tax Engine. In previous releases there was no one unified place where the rules on how tax is calculated were substantiated and could be used to calculate tax on transactions. Many customers used external applications or ‘tax engines’, to calculate tax on transactions particularly in the US where Sales Tax is complex. So now there is a method to do this in the E-Business Suite, can you continue to use your existing external application, yes you can, can use a mixture of methods depending on the geography yes and for many that will be the immediate path forward is really a tidy version of the “Status Quo”.

So the uncertainty is understandable because there are many options, Jade Global can help by leveraging our R12 upgrade experience to help reduce the uncertainty, outlining mandatory and optional functional changes and helping to implement them in a cost effective manner.

Removing the FUD, from Oracle E-Business Suite R12 upgrades.

Part1. Be afraid, be very afraid?

The clearest link between all the SROAUG R12 upgrade presentations was an attempt to remove the fear, uncertainty and doubt which seems to have paralyzed many Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.x customers. R12 has been around since 2009 and is now at the 12.1.3 release level; did initial release issues slow the uptake of R12? That certainly did raise some very profound fears about upgrading to R12 for many, but now that is only of historical interest.

One thing is for sure the Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.10 installed base is facing a steep increase in support costs as 11.5.10 rolls into extended support in November 2011. So why are many E-Business Suite customers still holding tight at the 11.5.10 release level?

The number one fear seems to be around the nature of the upgrade, is it a technical upgrade to be implemented by IT, or is it a functional upgrade that will require the business units to implement? The reality is that R12 is both a technical and functional upgrade.

In order to implement E-Business Suite 12.1.3 the Oracle 11g database is needed, so for many E-Business Suite installs that will mean a database upgrade. If upgrading from 11.5.10 many other technical components will need to be upgraded in order to implement R12, so to that extent it is a technical upgrade.

However R12 is not only a technical upgrade, as many functional components have also changed. Changes to functionality in R12 vary in scope from the changing of form formats that generate the need for some user training, through to major revisions of modules in the finance area that require more extensive testing and verification before implementation.

“Don’t be afraid of the Dark” at this point the functional changes are well known and documented. In all organizations there is always some level of resistance to change, Jade Global can help by identifying the mandatory functional changes in R12. Then after the R12 upgrade is complete, assisting with the implementation of optional functional changes at a pace that your organization can absorb.

P.S. How did Robert Cray get Oracle CEO Larry Ellison to play on his band? Check out 1:04 of the “Don’t be afraid of the Dark” clip, same beard and black polo neck just younger in the face?

Automate Your Oracle R12 Upgrade Path with Propero Oracle R12 Assessment Tool

REGISTER HERE

In this webcast and live demo you’ll learn about automating your R12 upgrade assessment to save time and money and eliminate risk of ‘unknowns’.

In this discussion and live demo, you will learn and see how Jade Global’s Propero™ Upgrade Accelerator Solution can automate your Oracle R12 upgrade assessment, cutting down time and eliminating risk of your upgrade project. Jade Global is taking the R12 upgrade solution to the next level with this low risk, low cost and high quality solution.

This presentation and demo will be approximately 40 minutes followed by Q&A.

Accelerate Your Oracle R12 Upgrade!

Wondering if the Oracle R12 upgrade is right for you? Wondering where to begin? Start by investing 60 minutes in our free webinar on automating your R12 Upgrade pre-assessment – http://ow.ly/4yf6q.

Jade Global’s ProperoTM is an end-to-end assessment tool that enables you to make informed decisions about upgrading to Oracle R12. Propero gives you an accurate picture of your existing setup and the infrastructure needed to run an R12 upgrade.

Combined with an advanced analytics engine, Propero gives you a complete view of your IT infrastructure and also a business assessment of what you can do optimally to upgrade to an R12 environment. Propero also gives you a complete assessment of your business processes and how your existing and upgraded Oracle setup would address them.

Learn more about Propero here – http://ow.ly/4yfle

How we boosted customer service and improved customer retention for our client

What do you do when you want to reduce your customer service operations overhead, enable the power of self-service AND improve customer satisfaction?

Simple. You get in touch with experts who understand your business and understand how technology can accelerate your business goals.

Our customer is technology leader providing critical instruments and systems integration solutions in advanced gas and chemical delivery to the global semiconductor and electronics industries. Jade Global’s Oracle iSupport solution allowed our customer improve customer responsiveness, reduce lead times, improve customer retention and lower operational costs – in just 16 weeks.

To know exactly how we did this and pose questions to our experts, attend our free webinar on March 15, 2011. Simply click on this link to register,

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/142573546

Jade Global’s consultants have expertise across Oracle’s suite of solutions for various industries. We create value through a portfolio of IT services delivered by our team of highly experienced consultants. Clients rely on our trustworthy advice to derive value from software investments and gain business efficiencies by leveraging our expertise and knowledge of best practices.

To know more about what we can do for you please visit www.jadeglobal.com

Semiconductor Industry IT Constraints

Semiconductor companies are unique, and have customer and business-specific constraints that are often not addressed by enterprise software, and specifically Oracle E-Business Suite. Jade Global understands, and offers a comprehensive suite of services for the Semiconductor Industry.  Jade Global, with more than 11 years experience addressing these challenges head-on, have come up with a set of custom solutions, including AP Invoice Automation, Contract Manufacturer Integration and Deferred Revenue Recognition and Shipment Debit Processing just to name a few. Jade Global is working closely with Oracle Development to offer valuable input, advise and lessons learned to enhance Oracle Applications in future releases, but as it stands these custom solutions offer what companies are looking for. You can  read more in this  Comprehensive Suite of Semiconductor Industry Solutions provided by Jade Global.

Staff Assimilation – Mergers & Acquisitions

Common Solutions for assimilating staff data following a merger or acquisition:

Corporations face the challenging task of rapidly assimilating newly acquired employees, not only
into the company’s culture, but into their information systems.  Here are the common solutions generally used:

1. Manually entering new employee data from source data files is only viable when the volume is low and HR resources are available.  This process consumes valuable time and resources, and compromises data integrity.
2. Programmatically loading employee records using Oracle’s Application Programming Interface (API) is another option, but this process requires an IT team to:
   1. Manually load the data into existing temporary tables,
   2. Construct scripts to instruct the APIs to upload the data, and
   3. Manually verify data upload.  This process is time consuming, using valuable resources.

Jade Global has developed a a better solution that I will right about more.  In the interim, here is a Mergers & Acquisitions White Paper on the subject.

What is Oracle Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)?

In a recent SOA Case Study webcast Jade Global hosted, Kranti Atluri, Consulting Director,  took some time to quickly review some key aspects of SOA to be sure everyone in the audience was on the same page.  Despite all of the news, content and information out there about SOA, there still remains a significant amount of confusion about exactly what constitutes Service Oriented Architecture. Here’s a short answer to this question.  SOA is essentially a design style for your Enterprise System. It is not Enterprise Architecture, but can play a large role in your Enterprise Architecture.  In the early days it was done using re-usable sub-routines, then came objects now its re-usable services which creates your optimal  Enterprise Architecture.  SOA Architecture is not something that you can buy and simply plug-in, rather something that you build. The Oracle SOA Suite on the other hand is something that you buy and that you use to design your Enterprise Architecture. Kranti will be presenting a Jade Global Case Study at OAUG Training Day on April 10th during  Collaborate 11 in Orlando, Florida April 10-14.