primavera unifier: how to tame complexity and achieve success
TRANSCRIPT
REMINDER
Check in on the
COLLABORATE mobile app
Primavera Unifier: How to Tame Complexity and Achieve Success
Prepared by:
Loren Dugan Brandon Jew
Principal Staff Consultant
Impac Services Impac Services
This is a subtitl
Session ID#: 200110, Wednesday, 10:45 AM
About the presenter
■ Principal Consultant
■ 21 Years in Project Management
▪ MS, Management, Naval Post
Graduate School
▪ 7 years, supporting system projects
with the U.S. Marine Corps
▪ 10 years, E&C on Oracle application
and technology projects
▪ 4 years, at Impac Services supporting
Oracle application and technology
projects
▪ Boise, Idaho
Loren Dugan
About the co-presenter
■ Staff Consultant
■ 4 Years in Systems Analysis
▪ Joint Major in Business and
Computing Science
▪ Past experiences include HSBC and
Metro Vancouver
▪ 2 years, at Impac Services supporting
Oracle applications
▪ Vancouver, Canada
Brandon Jew
About Unifier
History of Unifier
Originally Developed by Skire
Skire acquired by Oracle on July 19, 2012
Flagship product was renamed Primavera Unifier
Replaced Primavera Contract Management
Acquired to help organizations better manage their projects and facilities at each stage of their lifecycle.
Results in more predictability and financial control, improved profitability and operational efficiency
Primavera Unifier Products
Primavera Project Controls
•Project Cost Control
•Cash Flow Management
•Schedule Management
•User Defined Reports
•*Focus of this Presentation
Primavera Facilities Management
Primavera Real Estate Management
Primavera P6 + Primavera Unifier
P6 Unifier
- Risk Analysis - Resource Management - Planning and Schedule Management
- Capital Planning - Contract Execution - Cost Controls - Change Management
- Earned Value Management - Schedule Integration - Document Control - Cashflow
Custom Workflow
Review Acknowledge End Create
Custom Workflow
Review
Acknowledge End
Review
Create
Custom Workflow
Review
Acknowledge End
Review
Create
Custom Workflow
Review
Acknowledge
End
Review
Create
Review
Acknowledge
End
Review
Create
Primavera Data Flow
Cash Flow
Schedule Sheet
Cost Sheet
Business Processes
P6
Unifier
CBS Codes
Unifier
Schedule Sheet
CBS Codes
Conduct an Assessment to Create an Optimal
Implementation Strategy
“Strategic Planning and Preparation are Essential to Achieve Success”
Why Build an Optimal Unifier Implementation Strategy?
■ Hard to Boil the Ocean, Need to slice it up into manageable areas
■ Unifier is an infinitely flexible workflow tool
■ Solid, documented, consistent and proven business processes are
necessary
■ Must have business/operational requirements that are derived,
categorized and prioritized from the business processes
■ “Crawl before you Walk” Easier to divide prioritized
business/operational requirements into implementation phases
▪ Start basic and work to more complex only if necessary
Conducting the Implementation Planning Assessment
■ Determine if a level of consistency and repeatability exists in your PM
and Controls Business Processes
■ Document these process flows to a level of detail greater than level 3
■ Determine if common processes can be obtained across groups
■ Greater process stability = Decreased Implementation Risk
Conducting the Implementation Planning Assessment
Determine consistency of
processes across groups and between
Project Management and Controls
Personnel
Define solid and tangible
Project Management and Controls
business objectives
Define the high level
Scope
Define the high level
Unifier requirements
by priority
High Level Prioritized Requirements Drive……
■ Development of a simplified vision of where you want Unifier at the end of the Project
■ The need for an Organization Change Management plan
▪ Is your organization ready for change
▪ The organization needs to see the benefits and value of the
change
▪ A plan is needed to manage adoption of and transition to the
changes
Focus on the Core Priority Requirements First!
■ Focus on the visible “low-hanging fruit” in Phase I
■ High value requirements
■ Support customizations in phase I only if absolutely necessary
■ Simplify Initial Implementation and Architecture in Phase I
■ Support Requirements that drive better efficiency
■ Focus on Requirements that support the masses and drive usable functionality
Focus on Core Priority Requirements Early to Drive Acceptance
Quick Implementation time and easy adoption
Don’t overwhelm your project teams and controls personnel
Keep it simple in Phase I
Use a Multi-Phase Implementation Approach and support the Business Processes by priority/value/complexity
Position Unifier and Environment for Rapid Future Changes
Learn to drive and use the tool
Gain acceptance and identify what
improvements could be made
Rollout new features/changes using an iterative approach
Create a repeatable design build, rollout, learn,
feedback, design changes strategy for Implementing
additional functionality
Assessment Helps Determine Unifier Purchase Strategy
■ Oracle Hosted vs On-Premise Installation
■ Decision depends on maturity level of your Project Management and Project Controls Processes
■ Need to have a long term vision for Unifier
■ Need to establish short term and long term goals for Unifier
■ How Capable is Your IT Supporting Group
Factors that lean more toward a Hosted Solution
■ * No hardware or infrastructure requirements
■ No onsite DBA support required
■ Lower TCO as compared to the on-premise solution (software, hardware,
setup, configuration, maintenance, support)
■ Development environment available quickly
■ Version upgrades are automatic
■ Well suited for an Implementation focused on configuration changes only
■ Limited API not well suited to support complex reports and interfaces
■ No database access or development flexibility to support a complex
implementation
■ Internet security is managed and immediately made available world wide
Factors that lean more to an On-Premise Supported Solution
More complex Project
Management and Project
Controls Supporting Processes
Requires more complex
Reports and Interfaces to External Data
Sources
Easier to build more complex
reports and Interfaces
Organization possesses a
more sophisticated
and capable IT Support Group
Organization has more time to Implement
the Unifier Solution
Look at the Feasibility of Using a “Hybrid” Software Solution
■ Initially Implement less complex, out of the box functionality using the Hosted solution over a shorter duration Hosted contract
■ “Learn” on the hosted solution to validate the need for more advanced (customized) features
■ The need for more advanced features could then be supported by migrating your environment to an On-Premise solution
Summary Software Decision Matrix
Criteria Hosted On-Premise Hybrid
Lack of internal DBA Support X
Quick Startup and Implementation Time X
Simple, mature business processes X
No plan for customizations X
Low TCO X
Strong internal DBA Support X X X
Good IT Infrastructure Support X X X
More complex, less mature business processes X X
Complex Interfaces and Reports required X
Complex Implementation needed now X
Additional supported environments are required * X X
Planned Phased Implementation Approach (start off simple, move to more complex
X X
Strategic Assessment Complete, “Go” Decision for the Project Obtained….What are the Areas of Consideration for Planning to Reduce Risk?
Planning Considerations
Implementation Planning Considerations
Culture
Sponsorship
Talent
Scope
Is Your PM Culture Ready?
■ “Mavericks don’t like to be fenced in”
■ Do you have consistency on the WBS and CBS elements?
■ Do you have a PMO that is made up of standardized processes, oversight and accountability?
■ Is Progress tracked, updated and managed consistently?
■ Are common metrics used across work packages to measure WIP?
■ Are there consistent processes on who is inputting data into the system?
Do you have Sponsorship and Champions in Place? ■ They hold the “carrot and the stick”
■ Need credible leadership to define and promote the vision
■ Identify the project success criteria
■ Leaders with established credibility up and across the Organization
■ Strong advocacy for needed change and well versed in Organizational Change Management
■ Leaders who can continue moving and promoting your Project Management maturity from ad hoc to predictable and self-improving
Strong Implementation Team
Experts in Project Controls related Processes
Known and respected in the Organization and in the PM Community
Team Players – Known for working collaboratively to find best “implementable”
solutions that work for all groups
Proponents for positive change in the organization
Exceptional problem solving skills
Strong logic and data flow visualization skills…can visualize a solution from process
flows and design specifications
Not Your Average EBS Implementation
■ Setup and configuration is done in a “Staging” environment
■ Conduct configuration/validation/change iterations as necessary before “Publishing to Production”
▪ Changes are easy before publishing to production
■ After production, changes can be made, but old fields cannot be deleted, only hidden
■ Keep your initial environment as clean as possible
Planning the Implementation Scope
■ Scope Planning should be Strategic and Tactical
■ Need Proven and Approved Business Processes
■ Supporting Mods, Interfaces, Reports
▪ Maximize use of strong User Defined Reporting
▪ Build additional views for reporting only if necessary
▪ Hosted environment has limited API’s
▪ No capability for dynamic filtering on a reporting attribute or
process parameter
▪ Support Interfaces to P6 and ERP for WBS/CBS and
Actuals/Accruals
▪ Maintain single source of truth…no double entry
Changes to System Following UAT
The goal is to plan for minimal changes following UAT
Comprehensive Unit and System Integration Testing
will likely support this
Small changes and resolution of issues can be managed in the
Production environment
More complex changes may require a new Production build
taken from importing an updated design bundle followed by the completion of a new setup and
configuration steps.
More complex changes will likely necessitate the
need for another UAT prior to production rollout
Focused Rollout Strategy
■ If possible, rollout system to a select and controlled group first
■ Support new projects only – removes the need for data conversion on existing projects
■ Easier and quicker cutover to production
■ End-User training focuses on project teams with new projects
■ Support project teams easing into the system
■ Project Teams can follow the process for a new project from “Initiation to Closeout”
■ Easier to manage organizational change
In Summary
Unifier is an infinitely flexible workflow system for managing and improving Project Controls Processes
Having consistent, approved and proven project controls processes are keys to success
Executing a Strategic Planning Assessment is paramount
Create a strong implementation plan that capitalizes on the PM culture, strong leadership and support, expert practitioners, and a very clear project scope
Conduct a planned, gradual rollout to the end-users
Understanding the intricacies of Unifier in Creating and executing projects can ensure success in the implementation
Knowing when and where to apply the best development strategies in the Implementation plan
Questions?
Please complete the session evaluation We appreciate your feedback and insight
You may complete the session evaluation either
on paper or online via the mobile app
■ Our purpose is to inform and educate our members on current and future
functionality of Oracle Primavera products, while offering a forum for peers to
share their experience and knowledge in the use of Primavera.
■ Educational opportunities across the Primavera product suite
■ Online Learning Series August 17th – September 4th
■ Call for presentation opening April 27th
■ Monthly Community Calls
■ 3rd Thursday of the month at 1:00 pm ET
■ Networking with other users within the Primavera community
■ Partnering with Oracle Primavera to meet the needs of our diverse
membership.
■ Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the Oracle Primavera products,
with no dues for membership. All members can vote on matters brought before
the OPSIG. Membership requests may be reviewed by the OPSIG board.
OPSIG is the home for
Primavera Users