Guide to Efficient Oracle Implementation

By implementing Oracle, one of the world’s leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools, organizations can transform business processes and significantly increase operational efficiency. Companies large and small are digitizing and managing increasing amounts of data. Oracle’s ERP systems help organizations streamline business processes, reduce costs, and leverage information to make better decisions in a rapidly changing environment.

The company serves 430,000 customers in 175 countries and provides solutions for thousands of use cases. Due to the highly configurable nature of Oracle Cloud ERP systems, almost no two implementations are identical. The platform was used to modernize and integrate a major financial company’s information technology (IT) ecosystem, simplify human capital management (HCM) across its brand subsidiaries, and optimize reporting processes in a complex healthcare environment.

The software provides a single, integrated platform for disparate business processes such as supply chain management and human resources, providing a holistic view of an organization’s operations and breaking down data silos. Automation allows Oracle to increase operational efficiency by simplifying routine tasks. And with advanced reporting capabilities, the platform provides real-time insights into performance, allowing organizations to quickly make informed, data-driven decisions.

Before Oracle implementation

Implementing Oracle may seem like a daunting task. Depending on the complexity of the process, it can take years to complete, but successful adoption has saved some companies tens of millions of dollars over time. With careful planning and a solid organizational strategy, businesses of all sizes can leverage Oracle’s unique cloud solutions to reduce costs and streamline operations.

Migrating to Oracle requires thorough planning, whether a company will adopt the platform to manage a single process, such as finance or human resources, or migrate the operations of an entire organization to the cloud. For organizations embarking on a digital transformation, it is important to visualize how their ERP system integrates with all aspects of their business operations. Before beginning the Oracle adoption journey, business leaders should consider several key questions:

• What data requirements or regulatory structures apply to my organization? Once your ERP solution is fully deployed in the cloud, Oracle implementation becomes somewhat simpler, but some organizations have regulatory or data residency requirements that require on-site data storage or a dedicated cloud. Determine whether your organization needs to store some data on-premises as part of a hybrid cloud solution, or whether an “air-gapped” private cloud best suits your business case.
• Which Oracle modules will my organization adopt? Oracle offers a full suite of ERP solutions tailored to specific use cases. These include Oracle SCM for supply chain management, Oracle HCM for human capital management, and Oracle Procurement for procure-to-pay. The company also offers industry-specific applications through its E-Business Suite. Research our pricing structures and decide which specific modules are best for your organization.
• Does my organization choose an implementation partner? Working with experienced, Oracle-endorsed experts can simplify the implementation process and significantly reduce the overall cost of adoption. Thoroughly research your implementation partner options and consider selecting a company from the Oracle PartnerNetwork that has years of experience with Oracle implementations and can help you on your journey.

Oracle Implementation Plan

The planning phase of an Oracle Cloud ERP implementation is just as important as deployment. The planning process requires significant input from a variety of stakeholders, department heads, and IT partners. Organizations should thoroughly research each module to determine which edition of Oracle best suits their business needs and determine system requirements for specific software.

The goal of the project planning phase is to translate a deep understanding of your organization’s business requirements into an executable blueprint for your Oracle migration and implementation. Clearly define the objectives of the implementation project, determine the scope, schedule, and budget, and develop a risk management plan. This is also a time to decide what data to migrate, as some older data may be best stored in a secure archive. At this stage, it may be useful to consider what kind of user training you will provide at the beginning and after the deployment.

Since 2006, Oracle has offered the Oracle Unified Method (OUM) implementation methodology, a full lifecycle approach for implementing its ERP software. For complex projects, consider training your internal team on OUM or partnering with an expert third party from the Oracle PartnerNetwork.

According to Oracle, best practices for the planning process include five categories of information:

• Project Definition: This is a blueprint that contains relevant information for your implementation project. This includes a clear mission statement and roadmap for Oracle adoption, along with project budget, staffing requirements, schedule, and risk assessment. If your project involves on-premises data storage, this process also outlines requirements for software and hardware installation.
• project team: In addition to appointing a project manager for the Oracle implementation, it is important to seek input from business partners and field staff with experience with the business processes to be migrated to the platform. Establish a collaborative, cross-implementation team with well-defined roles and identify key stakeholders who will discuss and test the system as the project progresses.
• Project Design: Information gathered during this planning phase includes what applications will be deployed, what third-party applications or systems will need to be integrated, and how the migration will change day-to-day business operations. It also outlines specific users or user groups, their needs, and identifies how the data will be organized.
• Project launch: We take a closer look at how the new system will be released and on what schedule it will be released. The organization must identify the departments, locations, and sequence in which the new system will be applied. This planning phase also addresses project milestones and well-defined system metrics expected after the system goes live.
• project communication: Internal communication is very important from the first moment of the implementation process. Successful project management includes a detailed plan to educate employees about the benefits and use cases of Oracle. Organizations must create opportunities to engage internal teams and pay close attention to change management.

Oracle system implementation

Once the project management team is formed and the detailed planning phase is complete, implementation can begin. In this phase, the platform is configured to meet specific business requirements and core data migration begins. Oracle provides a variety of templates to facilitate item definition as data is classified and moved to the cloud. Typically, Oracle uses the abbreviation CIDER to denote the Oracle implementation phase.

• composition: Oracle is a highly configurable platform that can be deployed for many core business activities. During configuration, the organization configures the data architecture and defines user roles.
• integrated: At this stage, Oracle integrates with third-party systems and legacy IT solutions. The project implementation team will work closely with your organization’s IT department to merge all necessary systems. Organizations can deploy Oracle’s cloud integration platform or leverage Oracle Cloud Marketplace to connect applications and data sources.
• data: This is the data conversion and data migration stage. Some data may move from hardware to the cloud. All relevant information must be extracted and converted before being loaded into the system.
• expansion: Once relevant data is migrated, organizations can import and configure Oracle’s wide range of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications and extensions.
• report: Oracle Cloud ERP features a variety of reporting systems for specific business cases. During this implementation phase, organizations will need to determine what reports are best captured intermittently and what kinds of data are better visualized through one of the platform’s real-time monitoring dashboards.

Check your Oracle system

Las Vegas gaming and hospitality company Caesars Entertainment learned the value of extensive testing when it transitioned its financial operations to Oracle Fusion Cloud. Recently, the company’s Vice President of Financial Transformation shared lessons learned from Caesars and emphasized the importance of providing testing. Have “divided interests” and involve partners and suppliers in the process. He also recommended testing applications under “extreme conditions” to ensure nothing unexpected happens when the system goes live.

A smooth and efficient Oracle implementation requires frequent and extensive testing of the system prior to the go-live date. Accurate, clean data and workflows prevent disruptions and downtime once your systems are operational. Specifically, to ensure data accuracy, organizations should test the following variables:

• Data Archive: Make sure older data that hasn’t been imported into Oracle is kept safe and easy to access.
• Data Quality: Make sure your migrated data is clean, accurate, and up-to-date. Make sure your data adheres to a dedicated data hierarchy.
• Responsibilities and Roles: Make sure all IDs and company roles are entered correctly and the relationships between them are mapped properly.
• security: Make sure all sensitive data is stored appropriately. Delete all unnecessary data.
• Workflow: Verify all workflows end-to-end by testing the main and branching workflow paths for each case.

At the end of this testing process, you will have the opportunity to receive input from key stakeholders during the user acceptance phase. Executives, department heads, and other team members who use the Oracle platform and will teach others how to use it should be involved in this process. If an aspect of an Oracle system does not meet stakeholder expectations or is misaligned with the blueprint developed during the planning phase, it is important to correct the error and then revisit the issue to ensure that the implementation process meets expectations.

Preparing and delivering Oracle systems

After extensive testing and user acceptance, the final implementation was completed. Careful internal communication during the preparation and delivery stages can help ensure a smooth launch. Organizations must ensure that their systems, users, and the organization as a whole are ready for full implementation. At this stage, it is useful to create a final list of outstanding issues that need to be addressed and fixed. You can then issue passwords and usernames to your team members. In the weeks surrounding the initial go-live date, organizations should invest in training for end users and feedback sessions across business channels.

Assuming you follow all these steps and ensure that team members across your organization are informed of best practices and use cases for the new system, your deployment should go smoothly. At this stage, both the IT and project teams should monitor system performance along with the key indicators identified during the planning stage. Soliciting iterative feedback from users and key stakeholders can help you identify problems before they occur and ensure your system is performing as intended. After the initial deployment, it’s also useful to host a celebration to celebrate all the team’s hard work and get direct feedback from early system users.

Oracle and IBM®

For nearly 40 years, IBM has been one of Oracle’s most important partners. We have over 10,000 dedicated Oracle Cloud Consultants who have helped our customers successfully complete over 6,500 Oracle projects. IBM provides clients with Oracle services and consulting that includes a roadmap for each step of their cloud transformation investment, from consulting to cloud implementation and management.

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