Oracle HR Implementation Best Practices

1. Oracle HR Implementation Best Practices English Room August 15, 2008 NCOAUG Training Day Drury Lane – Hilton Suites Oakbrook Terrace, IL

2. Mario C. Ellis • Director Compensation & HR Systems University of Chicago Medical Center • Functional Project Manager for the Oracle HRMS application at the University of Chicago Medical Center. • 20+ years experience, has re-engineered legacy business processes from mainframe technology to client/server relational systems

3. Overview • Challenge to implement Oracle HR application • Limited budget and resources • Lack of a dedicated Project Manager • Mandate from senior management • Implement a fully functioning application • Manager self-service • Compensation Workbench. • No customizations • Coming from a customized legacy system • Intensive paper driven processes • Limited consulting resources

4. Agenda/Contents • Background • Decisions Made • Overall Objectives • Challenge • Lessons Learned • Summary • Questions

5. University of Chicago Medical Center • At the forefront of medicine for more than 75 years--delivering extraordinary care to patients from all parts of the world. 2nd largest medical center in Chicago. • U.S.News & World Report named UCMC to the prestigious Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals--the top 18 hospitals in the nation.

6. Oracle Applications Implemented • Oracle eBusiness Suite 11.5.10 • Core HR • Manager Self-Service • Employee Self-Service • Compensation Workbench • Performance Management • Supply Chain • iExpense • iProcurment • Learning Management

7. Background

8. Background • The initial project began as a full install of the Oracle Supply Chain, Finance and Human Resources modules in 2001. • The initial project identified over 400 gaps for all applications, resulting in high cost estimates, expanded scope and delay in implementation.

9. Background • UCMC reassessed the project to reduce the scope and stay within budget. As a result • Scope reduced to implement Supply Chain • Scope reduced to implement limited HR and Finance to support Supply Chain • Supply Chain phase went live in June 2003, on-time and budget. • HR, Payroll and G.L. modules were to be scheduled for future implementation.

10. Background • The success of the initial project resulted in cost savings for materials management - however limited project budget remained – approximately $1 Million

11. Background • Concerns from initial project • Management was not convinced that the remaining Oracle applications were necessary • The HR department lacked the talent and expertise to provide key sponsorship and decision making for the project

12. Background • UCMC was still faced with the following challenges • The hospitals has more than 6,000+ employees, with staff as the largest expense • Difficult to obtain accurate and timely employee information • Lack of reporting tools hinders the ability for management reporting • Disparate systems do not allow for workflow or integration of data • Inability to efficiently support accreditation/compliance reviews • Changes in employee information was time consuming and paper intensive

13. Background • Heavy reliance on Third Party Vendors to provide needed business functionality • The hospital had a need for a “true” HRIS application • Information maintained in multiple spread sheets, Access Databases, and “shadow systems” that were not integrated • No one source of “truth” for reporting • Legacy system was a “payroll” system and did not allow for the necessary storing and reporting of needed HR related data

14. Decisions Made

15. Decisions Made • A new VP of Human Resources was hired, who also hired more experienced staff • A fit gap analysis was conducted in June 2005 • Validated need to implement Oracle HR (payroll would be a separate project) • Helped to structure the scope, project team, project methodology and deliverables based on internal resources and remaining project budget • Project approved in fall of 2005 and work began June of 2006

16. Overall Objectives

17. Overall Objectives • Implement Core HR functionality • Integrate with Oracle Learning Management, Supply Chain and Legacy Financial applications • Restructure work elements – Job, Positions, Grades and Benefit Groups • Improve automation of Union Contracts including Grade Step progression

18. Overall Objectives • Introduce a phased rollout of Self Service applications for managers • Institute Merit Award Distribution through Oracle Compensation Workbench • Institute a Directors Incentive Plan Distribution through Oracle Compensation Workbench

19. Challenge

20. Challenge • Meet the Overall Objectives with: • Limited IT and HR staff resources, especially with extensive Oracle experience • No dedicated Project Manager • Need to upgrade platform of HR applications while other Oracle applications (excluding OLM) remained on current platform • Budget remained at approximately $1 million

21. Expected State after Implementation BIS/Customer Access Discover (Roll-Out at Module Level Available) Budgeting EDI Fixed Assets iExpense P-Cards Agency iSupplier HR Self Service Capital Budget Balanced Scorecard Learning Management Payroll iRecruitment Accounts Payable Compensation Workbench Cash Management Kronos Mobile SC iProcurement Inventory Purchasing Human Resources - Employee & Hierarchy for Approval Routing General Ledger - Accounting Structure Foundation In Production To be Implemented UCMC Licenses Additional Products

22. Lessons Learned

23. Lessons Learned • Must Have Senior Management Commitment: • Developed Steering Committee that provided overall project governance, budget oversight and were actively involved in project planning • Senior Management committed to making quick decisions • Senior Management was committed to allowing funding to be spent creatively to meet project objectives

24. Lessons Learned • Must Have Dedicated and “Skilled” Project Team: • Team members must be flexible enough to wear more than one hat effectively • No dedicated PM resulted in shared responsibility between UCMC IT, HR and acquired consulting services • Subject Matter Experts are Key • Departments filled analyst roles as needed • Results in strong ownership of final solution

25. Lessons Learned • Must Have Dedicated and “Skilled” Project Team: • Ensure team is fully integrated • Improves final product • Avoids silos • Enhances communication • Team members must be able to think outside the box BUT within the application to make choices without customizations

26. Lessons Learned • Must Have Dedicated and “Skilled” Project Team: • Team members must be provided sufficient training (preferably in-house) during key phases of the project • Use consultants wisely • UCMC engaged 3 consulting firms based on need and budget – Oracle being the prime • Consultants were used in initial phases then disengaged before final phases • Important that knowledge is transferred to staff

27. Lessons Learned

28. Lessons Learned • Must Have A Strong and Proven Project Methodology: • UCMC utilized a unique project structure allowing for three successive projects to run at once • Platform Upgrade • Integration into Oracle Learning Management • HR Implementation

29. Lessons Learned • UCMC followed basic System Lifecycle Development methodology in addition to Oracle AIM for Business Flows (Healthcare) and AIM Phases, Definition and Elaboration

30. Lessons Learned

31. Lessons Learned • Must Manage SCOPE: • Focus on core issues deferring “wish list items” • Senior Management must make the hard decisions to change and be able to say “NO” • Do Not concede to the 20% of the 80/20 rule • Understand the scale of 1-10 philosophy • A “5” is always better than a “2” • No need to always shoot for a “10”

32. Lessons Learned • Must Manage SCOPE: • Get key decision makers involved in requirements gathering • Validate requirements • Trust but VERIFY • Key message to stakeholders “Vanilla” is good

33. Lessons Learned • Allow application “best practices” to govern business process Strapping new technology onto current processes will negate the value of the technology !!!

34. Lessons Learned • Must Manage SCOPE: • No customizations - We like the word “Extensions” Customizations

35. Lessons Learned • Must Manage SCOPE: • Oracle Developed a “RICE” list (Reports, Interfaces, Conversion and Extension) • Used to identify and manage requirements • Clearly defines what type of requirement • If an item was defined as a gap it was removed and considered out of scope

36. Lessons Learned • Must Follow Project Plan: • UCMC used a phased approach • Core foundation applications rolled out first followed by specialty applications such as Compensation Workbench and Self Service • Recommended for in-house implementations that are low on resources and can be spread over an extended time • Regular meetings with entire team is critical • Communicate potential risks EARLY

37. Lessons Learned • Must Follow Project Plan: • Set overall project timeline at the beginning of the project • Use project plan versioning as each phase progresses • Track project deliverables in one week cycles with team reviews on a regular schedule

38. Lessons Learned • Test Often: • Since UCMC used Oracles Accelerator methodology • Testing was a natural progression of the process • Conference Room Pilots were used to validate results of testing

39. Lessons Learned • Test Often: • UCMC utilized HR constituents as part of the testing and CRP sessions (Very Important) • Able to manage expectations company wide • Minimizes the “squeaky wheel” • Acquire buy-in before roll out • This became the official HR core “user group” to be used for subsequent HR implementations and pilots

40. Lessons Learned • Test Often: • Do Not overlook parallel testing to validate: • Migration of configurations and code • Time required for cutover • Execution of conversions and interfaces • User interaction in real-life situations • System performance • Comparison of results with production • Uncovers issues with system, training or communications

41. Lessons Learned • Follow a formal Change Management Process : • Follow change control process for changes to scope, overall timeline or budget • Follow a formal Risk Management Project review Process • Building in reviews of large deliverables as they are worked on will confirm approach across the entire team and measure progress

42. Lessons Learned • Communicate, Communicate, Communicate • Bring project team together on a regular basis • Hold multiple design sessions with key stakeholders in attendance • Distribute meeting minutes for full team review not just to those in attendance • Develop a communication plan for internal project members, management and external users

43. Lessons Learned • Timing is Everything • If this would have remained a part of original 2003 implementation it would have failed • Lack of HR expertise • More customizations • Would have been considered a lower priority than supply chain • The success was due to HR being the only application implemented in 2007 within Oracle eBusiness Suite

44. Summary

45. Summary • Implementation was on time and under budget • 20% was returned to project contingency • Core HR live in March 2007 with limited Manager Self-Service • Compensation Workbench live in June 2007 • The components that were rolled out to UCMC employees was received favorably • Over 6000 users impacted • Over 110 departments impacted

46. Summary • Core implementation created a solid foundation and methodology for further implementations • Online Performance Management (2008) • Increased Manager Self-Service (2008) • Employee Self Service (2008) • Payroll (2009) • General Ledger (2009) • The implementation fostered a strong and successful working relationship between UCMC HR and IT

47. Questions?

48. Contacts • Mario Ellis • Director, Compensation & HR Systems • University of Chicago Medical Center • E-mail: mario.ellis@uchospitals.edu