Oracle Project Analytics deployment at AWE

Oracle Project Analytics deployment at AWE

Requirement

AWE engaged Prōject to leverage their combined E-Business Suite and BI Applications expertise to deploy Project Analytics into their existing OBIEE estate.

AWE are big users of the Oracle Projects application within the E-Business Suite, resulting in large volumes of project transactions and planning data. AWE already has an impressive BI infrastructure, covering Essbase, OBIEE and BI Applications. However, challenges with the existing solution and roadmap were:

  • AWE are a project-centric organisation, with a dense project/programme hierarchy. Multiple baselines of budgets and forecasts, spanning 25 years, result in tens of millions of records in their E-Business Suite database. As such, AWE have encountered many limitations with the in-built reporting offered by Oracle Projects (PJI)
  • AWE use Essbase cubes to consolidate project data for reporting in OBIEE dashboards. However, the cubes are completely rebuilt each night, which often overruns into the next business day
  • Data held in the Essbase cubes is not at the transactional level, and only covers the top tiers of the Work Breakdown Structure
  • Project Analytics was not released when AWE first implemented the BI Applications. AWE recently upgraded from version 7.9.5 of the BI Applications to version 7.9.6, and had to unpick extensions which provided basic projects reporting capability
  • Following a previous BI “health check” conducted by Prōject, a number of gaps were identified between the proposed out-of-the-box Project Analytics product and AWE’s requirements

Solution

  • Prōject provided their unique combination of E-Business Suite and OBIEE/BI Applications skills to rapidly deploy and extend Project Analytics:-
  • Hybrid E-Business Suite / OBIEE resources, resulting in minimal impact on customer’s resources
  • Reconciliation of Project Analytics back to Oracle Projects
  • Delivery of a suite of custom dashboard pages for project cost management, leveraging Project Analytics
  • Multiple extensions to the Project Analytics product as required, including:-
    • Exposure of financial plans from Oracle Project Management
    • Additional transaction details such as PO Number, Invoice Number and Expenditure Comments
  • Advanced timecard reporting, including drill downs based on HR positions
  • Multiple DFFs and project classification codes
  • Delivering the ability to drill down to transactions, from the top of the project hierarchy, organisation hierarchy or work breakdown structure
  • Complete delivery in less than 4 months