Project Partners, LLC

Project Partners User Interface Applications enable Oracle E-Business Suite Applications users to utilize Microsoft® Excel as a concise and user-friendly interface to Oracle Projects. Project Partners User Interface Applications (UI-Apps) can improve user productivity by 65% so Project Managers can focus on improving project operations. Additionally, users can connect to Oracle using Excel, download data, and then work offline on the Excel workbook, reconnecting later to Oracle to synchronize the updates made offline with the Oracle database – easily and securely. Project Partners UI-Apps can replace up to 20 Oracle forms with one role-based Microsoft Excel workbook.

BENEFITS DELIVERED BY PROJECT PARTNERS USER INTERFACE
* Improve user productivity by minimizing screen navigation – replace up to 20 Oracle screens with one Microsoft® Excel workbook.
* Work off-line “on the go” and synch with Oracle when next connected
* Rapid deployment
* Minimal training and immediate user adoption

FEATURES OF PROJECT PARTNERS USER INTERFACE

PRE-PACKAGED WORKBOOKS

UI-Apps' pre-defined Oracle-integrated workbooks allow Project Managers to perform the following functions:
* Create New Projects
* Build and Manage Project WBS, Schedules and Budgets
* Manage Clients and Agreements
* Manage Contract, Capital and Indirect Projects
* Manage Transaction Controls
* Capture Project Schedule Progress
* Update Project Financial Forecasts
* Report on Projects

These Excel workbooks mirror the business process in your organization and your firm will notice these key attributes:
* Users see only the fields that are relevant to the way you do business
* Users can perform multiple tasks in one Excel worksheet – such as task creation as well as resource entry and budget creation, thereby eliminating the need to navigate to multiple HTML screens
* Users can work off-line and synch-up with Oracle Projects later
* Users interact with Microsoft® Excel, a familiar application, minimizing the need for training

WORK WITH ORACLE DATA IN DISCONNECTED MODE

Users can connect to Oracle using Excel, download data, and then work offline on the Excel workbook. Later they can reconnect to Oracle and synchronize the updates made in Excel with the Oracle database.

INTEGRATION LEVERAGES ORACLE APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND SECURITY

Project Partners User Interface is certified with the Oracle E-Business Suite Applications R12 technology stack. It leverages the business logic in Oracle public APIs to perform validations, update the Oracle schema, invoke workflows, and more. Project Partners User Interface uses the standard Oracle Applications security model for authentication and security, and provides a login approach that is consistent with Oracle Applications in the enterprise.

Plan Your Project
The following features of the Project Partners User Interface Applications budget worksheets allow Project Managers to quickly plan their project using a familiar Microsoft Excel based interface:
* Create, indent and outdent tasks
* Update task financial and schedule attributes
* Select and assign resources (based on resource format) from planning resource list
* Automatically determine planned resource costs and revenue using cost, burden and bill rates from Oracle® Projects Applications
      - Enable E&C specific functionality that allows for planning total cost using raw cost and “Break-Even Multipliers” and revenue amounts using a specified “Margin Percent”
      - Enable a Professional Services specific planning process using burdened cost rates and bill rates from Oracle for planning cost and revenue.
* Plan in Project or Project Functional Currencies. The Project Partners User Interface Applications automatically convert all rates downloaded to the worksheets into the selected currency.
* Select a spread curve and automatically spread resource costs across PA/GL periods. Update individual periodic amounts and automatically maintain total planned amounts.
* Ability to save a working plan version, and/or submit for approval (Baseline for Financial Plans and Publishing for Workplans)
Project Partners User Interface Applications simplify the process by providing a single worksheet that can be used to define WBS, assign resources and determine planned cost (revenue) and duration. On saving to Oracle from the worksheet, the plan data is automatically saved into the workplans and the appropriate financial plan types based on the project phase.

Execute Your Project
The following features of the User Interface Applications make life simple for project managers and still allow them to easily maintain data back into Oracle for centralized visibility and reporting:
* Review Cost summary by WBS and Cost Categories
* Update Progress – Physical Percent Complete, Estimates to Complete, Task Progress status
* Update WBS – New tasks, task dates, other financial and schedule attributes
* Review and Update Forecast – Review actual-to-date and maintain ETC/EAC amounts
* Save Working – Progress, Workplan Updates and Forecasts
* Submit for Approval – Progress, Workplan changes and Forecasts
The Project Partners User Interface Applications allow project managers to review their actual costs using the Resource Summary Report worksheet and to perform all of these functions from one “Forecasting” worksheet where the user can enter physical percent completes and Estimates-To-Complete for existing planned and unplanned resources.  They can also make updates to their WBS, adjust schedule dates and then save all updates back to Oracle. The UI Applications then automatically updates progress into the progress management function, updates the Workplan and the forecast - all from data entered into one worksheet by the project manager.

DEPLOYING PROJECT PARTNERS USER INTERFACE APPLICATIONS

Project Partners User Interface Applications are delivered with pre-built configuration capabilities that allow the implementation team to quickly setup the worksheets to meet their business process and the worksheets adapt to the planning configurations from Oracle automatically. The look and feel of the worksheets can be rapidly adjusted to user requirements using built-in table configurations and standard Microsoft Excel formatting capabilities. Additionally, several delivered extension points allow the implementation team to add data elements and custom business validations to the worksheets using easily available PL/SQL skills.

Rapid Deployment
The various configuration options as described above enable a rapid four-to-six week implementation cycle for Project Partners User Interface Applications.

LEARN MORE

Visit our website to learn more and see on-demand demonstrations

BENEFITS DELIVERED BY PROJECT PARTNERS USER INTERFACE * Improve user productivity by minimizing screen navigation – replace up to 20 Oracle screens with one Microsoft® Excel workbook. * Work off-line “on the go” and synch with Oracle when next connected * Rapid deployment * Minimal training and immediate user adoption FEATURES OF PROJECT PARTNERS USER INTERFACE * Manage WBS, Workplans, Budgets and Forecasts * Review planned and actual costs * Utilize Oracle Projects data in both Connected and Disconnected mode * Use prepackaged configurable spreadsheets for Engineering & Construction and Professional Services industries * Configure your own worksheets to fit your needs * Optionally, the worksheet itself can be uploaded to Oracle as an attachment to the project/budget for audit purposes * Integrated with standard Oracle workflows * Enforces Oracle security and business rules * Efficient and accurate task creation, addition of planning resources, entry of workplan, cost budget and forecast budget data * Reduced training effort for task creation, maintenance of workplan, budgets and forecast, and progress information