Presentation Title Speaker Organisation Date

Life after upgrading to R12 at Origin
Mark Bollmeyer
Origin
16th August 2010

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Origin in 2008

Origin in 2008Oracle eBusiness version 11.5.10Relatively low number of production issuesStable Production environment.Well known and understood processesNo Performance issues

Why did Origin go to R12 ?Origin had multiple requirements for an Asset Management systemOracle Asset Management Solution (eAMS) selected as the enterprise solutionThe functionality Origin required in the eAMS solution had R12 as pre-requisiteProject set up toUpgrade to R12Rollout eAMSMigrate our upstream business from JD Edwards to Oracle eBusinessIntroduce a new operating unit for APLNG Joint VentureIn hindsight, any one of these components would have been a project with sufficient challenges to tackle on their own

Origins R12 projectOrigins R12 project was run during 2008Originally scheduled for go live in November 2008Rescheduled to January 2009Key lessons learnt from the project Post Implementation ReviewThe R12 Upgrade should be a project in its own right if possibleAllocate time and resources to understanding the mandatory new modules and functionalityUpgrading customisations will take more effort than you expectTest early, test thoroughlyDefect management and resolution will take more effort than you expectTraining is important, but communications are critical

R12 go liveGo live went from 8th Jan 11th Jan 2009Implementations for the remainder of the project (upstream rollout, eAMS rollout ) occurred over the next 1-2 weeksWent live with version 12.0.5Upgraded 2 existing operating units from R11 to R12Implemented 2 new operating units in R12

What happened in the 1st month after R12 go live

Chart1

0221221

14220234

164268432

366362728

443355798

Project

Support

TOTAL

Total

Total

443355798

413341754

247514761

141562703

127535662

FSS take new calls

Project focus on HS backlog

HS

FSS

TOTAL

Total calls HS vs FSS

P2P

P2P

22970299

20172273

131166297

60240300

49185234

FSS take new calls

FSS Focus on P2P Q

Project focus on HS backlog

HS P2P

FSS P2P

TOTAL P2P

P2P Calls HS vs FSS

Financials

Financials

101147248

104144248

80156236

49185234

62214276

FSS take new calls

Project focus on HS backlog

HS Financials

FSS Financials

TOTAL Financials

Financial calls HS vs FSS

Sheet1

26-Dec-089-Jan-0923-Jan-096-Feb-0920-Feb-09

HS014164366443

FSS221220268362355

TOTAL221234432728798

Sheet1

HS

FSS

TOTAL

What happened in the 1st 6 weeks after R12 go-live

Sys admin

Sys admin

80129209

93115208

27185212

28121149

11115126

FSS take new calls and HS calls

FSS Focus on Sys Admin Q

HS Sys Admin

FSS Sys Admin

Total Sys Admin

Sys Admin calls HS vs FSS

Some of the key R12 issues we experienced were PerformanceWhat we sawDelays logging onJava forms slowDisconnectionsWorkflow mailer backlogWhat we didEnsure technical software versions and configurations are correctWeb Cache software improved performance at remote sitesReverted to forms Socket Mode (from Servlet Mode)JVM sizing wrong for 11i and required resizing in R12Tuned concurrent manager sizing

Some of the key R12 issues we experienced were Points to noteThis was not unexpected due to limited R12 implementations in AustraliaEnsure time scheduled for load testingEnsure Oracle and hardware vendor reviews and signs off on versions and configurations

Some of the key R12 issues we experienced were Invoice Validation PerformanceWhat we sawInvoice validation was not completing overnightOperating units conflicting with each otherIf a run was terminated -> records lockedParticularly an issue at month end -> couldnt close payables until finishedWhat we didBaby-sit invoice validation overnightHot-fix supplied by Oracle to ensure correct indexes usedPatch supplied to limit the number of records processedPoints to noteEnsure hot-fix and patch appliedEnsure invoice validation is in your regression test suite

Some of the key R12 issues we experienced were Payables table structures changedWhat we sawCould not process R11 invoices in R12What we didData fixes to process some recordsCancel R11 invoices and create R12 invoicesPoints to noteEnsure all invoices processed before upgradeDevelop in-flight process for those that cantEnsure processes for how to handle R11 well communicated

Some of the key R12 issues we experienced were ReportsWhat we sawOrigins plan to move back to standard reports as much as possible was not successfulWhat we didMany custom reports upgrade / developed after go livePoints to noteCommit to using Standard reports or plan (schedule & budget) to do a lot of report upgrade / development

Some of the key R12 issues we experienced were New / Reworked modules (Payments, eBusiness tax, SLA)What we sawThese modules gave us the most issuesWhat we didSteep learning curveObtain outside assistancePoints to notePlan (schedule & budget) to understand these modules before go-live

Some of the key R12 issues we experienced were Withholding TaxWhat we sawWithholding Tax did not work in R12What we didImplement workaroundsLong engagement with Oracle to resolve this SRPoints to noteEnsure the version you go live with contains the required patches

Which modules were impacted by R12

What happened then Transition to Support

Chart2

443355798

413341754

247514761

141562703

127535662

Support take new calls

Project focus on HS backlog

Approx new calls in this period = 1600Approx calls closed in this period = 1740

Project

Support

TOTAL

Total

1400

Total

443355798

413341754

247514761

141562703

127535662

FSS take new calls

Project focus on HS backlog

Approx new calls in this period = 1600Approx calls closed in this period = 1740

HS

FSS

TOTAL

P2P

P2P

22970299

20172273

131166297

60240300

49185234

FSS take new calls

FSS Focus on P2P Q

Project focus on HS backlog

HS P2P

FSS P2P

TOTAL P2P

Financials

Financials

101147248

104144248

80156236

49185234

62214276

FSS take new calls

Project focus on HS backlog

HS Financials

FSS Financials

TOTAL Financials

Sys admin

Sys admin

80129209

93115208

27185212

28121149

11115126

FSS take new calls and HS calls

FSS Focus on Sys Admin Q

HS Sys Admin

FSS Sys Admin

Total Sys Admin

The picture after 4 months

Remediation ProjectSituation did not materially change as a result of transition to supportNot sustainable for our businessRemediation Project set up to address the backlogObjectivesReturn outstanding calls to Business as Usual level (target 275)Return outstanding SRs with Oracle to Business as Usual level (target 30)Reduce the number of new calls per day by 20%New calls to be actioned within our Service Level AgreementRecommendation made on a patch release Technical review undertaken

And then

Remediation Project Details4-6 additional functional resources required for 4 monthsAvailability, Cost, Travel and AccomLot of work required with Oracle to progress critical SRsFocus required to ensure support process for new calls was appropriateOutside of difficult SRs, no real problems encountered Technical review done by Oracle tactical hardware upgrade recommendedReview of potential next patch releaseNo official patch release would address our critical SRsTesting confirmed that a combination of several mega-patches (400-600 fixes in each patch), July CPC and a range of smaller patches would address our critical SRsProject Targets achieved

Help desk calls by module after remediation

Tactical Hardware UpgradeGoalsAddress month end performance issuesCreate headroom to re-introduce end-user reporting capacityEnsure capacity available for coming 12 monthsTasksTransform from 1-tier to 2-tier architectureNew server plus additional memory requiredProof of concept, Regression Test, Performance Test

Tactical Hardware Upgrade (cont)TimeframesVery tight timeframes to meet project deadlines and half year-end reportingApproval thru to implement in 2 monthsResultsVery successfulPerformance issues goneProject deadlines not impactedHalf Year end not impacted

Patch ReleaseGoalsImplement solutions to critical SRsRetain performance of Invoice validationTasksScope and build test casesUse of structured test cases and defect management Integration Testing, User Acceptance Testing5-6 FTEs

Patch Release (cont)TimeframesOriginally 3 months, Grew to 4 monthsSignificant effort to resolve Tax config issues for upgraded operating unitsResultsVery SuccessfulImproved stability of P2P particularly Invoice WorkbenchIdentified some tax config issues resulting from the R12 upgrade1 minor issue post go-liveNow have full set of P2P test cases which are used in regression testing

Finally

Help desk calls by module after patch release

In SummaryIn the 12 months since go live, Origin has had4 months of Project Heightened Support4 months of Remediation projectImplemented several new projectsHardware upgradeMajor patch releaseThis has been achieved bySignificant hard work by my support team and our project teamSignificant hard work, patience and support from our business stakeholdersImportant assistance from Oracle at the crunch timesFirst12 months after R12 was probably the 12 months we had to have as we were early adopters (thanks Paul Keating)

Final ThoughtsConsider carefully before including any other scope in your R12 projectMake sure your technical environment and hardware is set up to perform to R12 requirements early on in your projectConsider carefully whether you want to upgrade to R12 or re-implement R12. Plan for expert assistance from Oracle to assist with New Payments engine E-Business TaxSub Ledger AccountingDont plan on a short Heightened Support period minimum of 3 month endsPlan for a period of Remediation and/or stabilization for some months after thatPlan for a hardware health check post stabilizationRegression Testing is all-important in an R12 environment

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