Why Us | ERP Implementations: Oracle

Automation of Oracle Financials Configuration Management
Client: Federal Agency

In support of this implementation, we partnered with a large integration vendor to implement Oracle Financials version 11i for a large federal healthcare agency and its contracted vendors. Our goal was to support the integration vendor, minimize risks and streamline the “go-live” migration of each contracted vendor to the new claims system under the federal agency’s aggressive timeline.

We began our work supporting for their Configuration Management (CM) Automation module. At the start of the project, the task of setting up and simulation was consuming 800 man hours each time the task was executed. This task was repeated 5 times for each of the contracted vendors before go-live and was highly susceptible to error. The setup task involved loading organizational setup information into the following Oracle Financial modules: Accounts Receiveable, Inventory, Accounts Payable, System Administration, GL, Federal Administration, and Cash Management.

We proposed the automation of the Oracle module setups to eliminate manual setup and eliminate human errors. Automation would involve scripting the user movements once, while allowing contracted vendor specific data to be passed through the scripts as often as required. The Automation of Setups was approved and has been a solidifying influence on the setup team ever since.

The automation process also generated a results file after each execution. This file detailed the status of a run, which essentially created an audit file or traceability matrix. Additional scripts were created which enabled the team to verify the database after the initial script execution.

As a result of our efforts… what had taken 800 hours can now be completed in 160 hours. The new CM process significantly streamlined the current process and introduced a fully auditable process. Our client can now demonstrate readiness to transition each new contractor to the new Oracle Financial system. The new process will help the Federal agency save over $2 million during the length of the project by reducing the time to go-live and virtually eliminating human errors.