Integrate Your Infrastructure presented by Oracular and IBM Thursday September 26, 2002
Agenda Welcome and introductions Becky Carson, Documentation and Training Specialist WebSphere overview Dan Marshall, IBM-WebSphere Specialist WebSphere success story: Xcel Energy Jim Glynn, Manager of J.D. Edwards Practice Nancy Pellowski, Business Planning, Finance and Process Consultant Lunch and drawing for gift certificate
General Info –Breakfast snacks, coffee and juice in next room, help yourself –Bathrooms located –Seminar expected to last until 11:30-noon –Lunch following presentation Drawing for Oracular polo shirts, a wind jacket and a $100 gift certificate for Best Buy held during lunch –Oracular mugs, calculators and pens, please take!
Oracular, Inc. Since 1988, serving as Midwest IT services partner to manufacturers, distributors, service companies, and government Offices in Minneapolis, Oshkosh and Milwaukee Services through five practices: –IBM-WebSphere/Lotus –J.D. Edwards –PeopleSoft –Oracle –e-Business, including custom application development
Consulting Services Strategic leadership and ongoing support in: –Project management –Software implementation –Application development –Network and systems design –Training / support –Web services including development, design –Hosting (high security 24/7 availability) –Software Reseller
Oracular Customers Xcel Energy 3M, Kawasaki, Shopko North Dakota Legislative Council South Dakota State University, CyberStudy101 LeFebvre Trucking, Lakeville Motor Express Oshkosh Truck Corp., Pierce & McNeilus Plexus, Weisman Enterprises Stora-Enso, Appleton Coated, Georgia-Pacific Trek Bicycle
Oracular Solutions Oracular provides –Knowledgeable technical architects –Experienced Business Analysts –Skilled Programmers –Creative front end designers –Dedicated Professionals –End to end, cost effective solutions
WebSphere Expert Dan Marshall of IBM –See Inserted packet to follow along
SLU Tracking and Reporting System
What is an SLU? Xcel Energy formed by the merger of Northern States Power and New Century Energies –Organizational structure includes new “Shared Services” business unit
What is an SLU? Merger includes multiple legal entities now managed under five Operating Business Units: –Retail –Delivery –Energy Supply –Energy Markets –Enterprises
What is an SLU? Shared Services business unit provides the following to the five Operating Business Units: –Corporate Communications –Property Services –Human Resources Services –Strategic Sourcing
What is an SLU? The Service Level Understanding (SLU) is an agreement between the Shared Services Business Unit and the Operating Business Unit. –Service to be performed by Shared Services –Sets forth optional vs. required services –Aids in budgeting for services
The project Why this project? –Two different business needs Service Billing view of financial information which conforms to SEC regulations The SLU view of charges to Xcel Energy Operating Business Units for services provided
Service Billing Designed to support SEC regulations and view of Legal Entity –Some Legal Entities cross Operating Business Unit lines NSP-MN NSP-WI PSCo SPS CLF&P
SLU View Delivery Retail Energy Supply Energy Markets Enterprises Total BU View Across Legal Entities PLUS Corporate BU’s CFO General Counsel
What’s the difference? Service Billing –Charges by DEPARTMENT (JDE Business Unit) Service Level Understanding –Charges by SERVICE PERFORMED
Why not just use the G/L? As information progresses through the G/L processing –Detail (Service/Service Component) is lost –Transactions are rolled together (prior to JDE and within JDE) –JDE BU Service Component (not a 1:1 relationship)
The Burning Question: BU wants to know –What specific services did we receive? –How much (volume)? –What was the total cost per unit? Answer with the old system: –We don’t know…we can only answer ‘Who’
Where did “A” come from? The Problem
▪S ervice Level Understanding ▪T racking ▪A nd ▪R eporting ▪S ystem The Solution STARS
Objective of STARS Track and report information to support a view based on Service Component as laid out on the SLU Agreement between the Operating Business Unit and Shared Services
Project Constraints Detailed Information is lost through the JDE process, therefore the detail cannot be extracted solely by manipulating the existing data Current Labor Entry (PTRS) does not support ease of entry on the Service Component level. Not allowed to have modifications to the existing Service Billing/Allocation processes
Philosophy of the Solution Retain DETAIL plus the info sent to JDE Use the same RULES to predict the destination of the dollars Report on the Operating BU view using the above detail and predictions
Nuts and Bolts Data Feed Labor Reporting Integration with mainframe Time system Cost Calculations Reporting
Data Feed Non-Labor Data Feed –Five Feeder Systems Identified Passport (non-labor invoices) Concur (employee expenses) Aperture & Realms (lease/imputed rent) Aviation (flight charges) Manual JDE Journal entries
Data Feed Feeder System Information imported to the ‘STARS Repository’ Detailed service component retained Charge destination (JDE BU, 8-digit WO, or Subledger) identified on detailed record
Labor Reporting Business requirements indicated a need to replace PTRS Labor Entry system. –Enter Time by Service Component –Assign Time to one or more: Legal Entity/Entities and Operating Business Unit(s) Or: Specific JDE BU or tracking work order SEC Implications Easier to be accurate Uses existing approved methodologies No filings!
Integration with TIME Information is stored in the STARS repository (as its own record type) Transmit information to TIME (mainframe) –Exact information as is transmitted today in a flat file format Extract Loaded Costs from TIME –TIME processes detailed entry and returns loaded cost as a flat file
Recap so far… Available information in STARS Repository: –Detailed information from non-labor feeder systems with Service Component and JDE BU/Obj/Subl/WO/etc. –Labor details with Service Component and JDE BU/Obj/Subl/WO/etc. So what next???
Cost Calculations Goal: Assign the Service Component Dollars to the correct ‘bucket’. Two ways: –Direct charges to the BU One to one –Allocated charges to the BU Simulate the final outcome May require simulation of LE allocation first
Cost Calculations Simulating the outcome: –Use the logic and rules in the Allocation tables and Service Billing AAI’s to calculate the correct ‘bucket’
Cost Calculations Overview of the logic –Charges may be allocated among several legal entities –The charges to each legal entity may then be allocated among several Operating Business Units
Cost Calculations Our task: –Allocate each transaction to the Operating Business Unit level
Reporting Each transaction, once the allocation is simulated, is added to a reporting workfile. Records are grouped for reporting: –Operating BU –Portfolio –Service –Service Component
The Technical Side Tools and Programs
Development Tools Oracle –Database tables –PLSQL Flat file import/export –Error reports –Employee refresh from PeopleSoft –Automated error notification to users DOS –Scheduled.BAT files to control Oracle processes –FTP scripts
Development Tools WebSphere –User Interface applications Time Entry Setup and Matrix Maintenance applications JD Edwards OneWorld –Detail data repository table –Allocation simulation by reading JDE tables –Reporting workfile with calculated data –SLU Monthly Detail and Summary Statements
Development Objects New Tables –Oracle STARS Master Repository of Data Labor Reporting Account Matrix Feeder System Conversion Table –JD Edwards Replicated Master Repository Statement Workfile
Development Objects Data Integration: –Oracle Flat file import from conversion table (feeder system data) to Repository Flat file export to TIME Flat file import of loaded cost data from TIME Flat file export to JDE Repository
Development Objects Data Integration –Feeder systems Flat file Export of loaded costs from TIME Flat file Export of Concur data Flat file Export of Aviation data Flat file Export of Passport data
Development Objects Interactive Applications –WebSphere Time Entry application Matrix maintenance application (to maintain account designations for charges) User maintenance application Setup tables maintenance applications
Development Objects Batch Applications –JD Edwards OneWorld Batch jobs to simulate allocations, populate reporting workfile and print Operating BU statements
Objects Schematic
Impact on JD Edwards No impact on upgrades No impact on standard or modified JDE code Objects created are not linked to any existing JDE process
Project Summary Planning and Design phase allowed the architecting of the best possible solution Project objectives met without intruding on existing processes and systems WebSphere tool allowed the development of web-based applications with complex logic and functionality Close working relationship between Xcel Energy team and Oracular team assured mutual success on the project
Q & A
Wrap Up Feedback forms to fill out inside your folders Lunch in next room Drawing for prizes…… –To enter - drop business card in jar in back of room