Questions and Answers What are the two main types of project structures in Oracle Projects? - Workplan structures: made up of tasks that plan, track (through progress) and deliver projects on time.
- Financial structures: are comprised of tasks that track billing, costs, budgets, and other financial information for individual projects.
Which structure is only found in the new task structure model introduced in 11i Project Management (PJT)?
Workplan structure. Before PJT the model only consisted of costing using a financial task structure (FBS) in Project Costing.
Are budgetary controls used in PJT?
No. Budgetary controls are used in Project Costing only.
What is the use of a Deliverable?
Deliverables allow you to define and track the required outputs a project or a specific task will require in order to successfully complete them within a certain period of time.
What methods of structural integration between the Workplan (WP) and Financial Plan (FP) existed prior to Family Pack 11i.PA.M and what two new types of integration was introduced by 11i.PA.M rollup 2?
Prior to FP 11i.PA.M there were two modes for structure integration, "Fully Shared" and "Non-shared". 11i.PA.M added "Partially Shared" and "Split Mapped" (or "Non-shared and Mapped")
Which type of structural integration between the Workplan and Financial Plan allows for actuals (effort/cost) to roll up to the Workplan?
For a Fully Shared WP and FP structures only. For all other methods the WP (WBS) is used to gather statistics such as progress on a project and the FP (FBS) is used to gather financial data including commitments and actuals.
What form of integration between the WP and FP is most appropriate?
The degree to a project’s workplan and financial structures are integrated depends on the customer’s business model and their project management requirements. The tracking of a project's planning and finances. You can plan work, cost, and revenue against a single structure of tasks, or you can define separate project structures. This flexibility allows project managers to manage work at the level of detail they require while still supporting the needs of the finance organization for cost collection and budgeting.
What page is used to enable the different structures and determine the form of integration between the WP and FP?
In a project template, navigate to the Structures setup option.
In a project, navigate to the Project > Setup > Structures page (if enabled in the template) to change how the structures are shared.
What form of integration between the WP and FP allows the use of the same task structure while permitting the differentiation of certain tasks between WP and FP functionality in which some tasks belong to either exclusively while other tasks shared both a WP and FP function?
Partially Shared structural integration
Where should structures be setup?
Within project templates which allows reuse of their parameters and settings as defaults when entering new projects.
In order to take advantage of baseline, approval and publication functionality in WPs, including work flow notifications, what is required?
Enable Workplan versioning in the Workplan Structure Information Page for project templates and projects.
What package holds the Structures API?
pa_project_pub (file PAPMPRPB.pls)
Is it possible to enable the structure (financial, workplan or deliverable) and change the configuration at any point in time during the life of the project?
Yes, if allowed.
Are the summarization processes required to populate the project performance base summary tables with incremental cost/effort data changes entered in the transactional system?
Yes
In Self Service pages, the task ordering is by task outline number. Tasks created in AMG or in Core PA forms (PAXPREPR.fmb) sorts by task number. To see tasks sorted by task number in HTML what is a workaround?
Set the 'PA: Workplan Tasks Default View' profile option to the "List" view and then clear the jsp server cache and bounce the Apache server. As well you can then create a personalized view which sorts by task number.
What is required for the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and any updates to the WBS to be carried through to the Financial Breakdown Structure (FBS) for fully or partially shared structures?
The working version of the WP/WBS structure has to be published. Note that the "PRC: Process Structure Updates" process must be submitted after any change is made to the WBS structure (eg: such as new project-task links for programs).
How can you easily maintain structures? Is it only done through HTML? Or can you maintain them in FORMS?
Workplan and the new model Financial Structure are maintained in Self Service Applications (OA Framework / html). Burdening and billing are still done in forms because most costing entry is still done through core PA. Budgetary Control (core PA forms feature for Budgeting) does not exist in Self Service or PJT.
If I am using the 3rd party Microsoft Projects product can I maintain the financial structure AND workplan structure in the same .mpp file? Can this only be done under a Partially Shared scenario as well?
Yes, MSP stores fully shared information. Enhancement request Bug 6525546 has also enabled MSP integration with Partially Shared structures.
In order to pull in Actuals onto the Workplan structure that is FULLY shared you need to run the summarization processes . Which ones?
After PSI summarization, there are 2 new processes that need to be run to update effort & actuals in the workplan.
- Update Project & Resource Base Summaries - This makes sure that the summarized base views are updated after changes to the workplan/financial plan structures, or creation of a new one. It's an incremental process, so if there are no changes to the workplan, then we should just be able to update the proj performance data
- Update Project Performance Data - This process incrementally adds new summarized amounts into the new structure views. (Note: to rebuild existing performance data, run the associated refresh processes instead).
The Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) can be associated to the WP through which page and requires what?
The RBS is associated to the WP using the current reporting version of the RBS and according to the integration method via the Additional Workplan Options : Plan Settings page (Project: WP Tab: Setup: Plan Settings)
To update projects with the latest resource breakdown structure version what process must be run?
The PRC: Process Resource Breakdown Structure Updates process
What are the seeded Resource Classes available?
People, Equipment, Material Items and Financial Elements
What does quantity represent for the resource classes?
For People and Equipment class resource assignments, quantity is equivalent to effort, while for Material Item and Financial Element class resource assignments, quantity refers directly to the number items or elements used or consumed.
What is a program and how is it linked to other programs or projects?
A program is a project to which you can link other related projects. A program hierarchy consists of related projects rolling up to the program through their task structures.
Which PA table stores the common versioned information related to tasks and structures?
Refer to table: PA_PROJ_ELEMENT_VERSIONS
Which diagnostic tests are available that show the setup and data flow tables/views of the Workplan and Financial Plan structures of a project? For release 11i refer to NOTE:340499.1 and NOTE:396491.1 on Metalink. For r12 refer to the applicable rollup catalog in NOTE:421245.1 and then go to Financials:Projects Suite:Project Management and the Oracle Project Management Workplan Collection Test and Oracle Project Management Budget and Forecast Data Collection Test.
- Financial structures: are comprised of tasks that track billing, costs, budgets, and other financial information for individual projects.
Which structure is only found in the new task structure model introduced in 11i Project Management (PJT)?
Workplan structure. Before PJT the model only consisted of costing using a financial task structure (FBS) in Project Costing.
Are budgetary controls used in PJT?
No. Budgetary controls are used in Project Costing only.
What is the use of a Deliverable?
Deliverables allow you to define and track the required outputs a project or a specific task will require in order to successfully complete them within a certain period of time.
What methods of structural integration between the Workplan (WP) and Financial Plan (FP) existed prior to Family Pack 11i.PA.M and what two new types of integration was introduced by 11i.PA.M rollup 2?
Prior to FP 11i.PA.M there were two modes for structure integration, "Fully Shared" and "Non-shared". 11i.PA.M added "Partially Shared" and "Split Mapped" (or "Non-shared and Mapped")
Which type of structural integration between the Workplan and Financial Plan allows for actuals (effort/cost) to roll up to the Workplan?
For a Fully Shared WP and FP structures only. For all other methods the WP (WBS) is used to gather statistics such as progress on a project and the FP (FBS) is used to gather financial data including commitments and actuals.
What form of integration between the WP and FP is most appropriate?
The degree to a project’s workplan and financial structures are integrated depends on the customer’s business model and their project management requirements. The tracking of a project's planning and finances. You can plan work, cost, and revenue against a single structure of tasks, or you can define separate project structures. This flexibility allows project managers to manage work at the level of detail they require while still supporting the needs of the finance organization for cost collection and budgeting.
What page is used to enable the different structures and determine the form of integration between the WP and FP?
In a project template, navigate to the Structures setup option.
In a project, navigate to the Project > Setup > Structures page (if enabled in the template) to change how the structures are shared.
What form of integration between the WP and FP allows the use of the same task structure while permitting the differentiation of certain tasks between WP and FP functionality in which some tasks belong to either exclusively while other tasks shared both a WP and FP function?
Partially Shared structural integration
Where should structures be setup?
Within project templates which allows reuse of their parameters and settings as defaults when entering new projects.
In order to take advantage of baseline, approval and publication functionality in WPs, including work flow notifications, what is required?
Enable Workplan versioning in the Workplan Structure Information Page for project templates and projects.
What package holds the Structures API?
pa_project_pub (file PAPMPRPB.pls)
Is it possible to enable the structure (financial, workplan or deliverable) and change the configuration at any point in time during the life of the project?
Yes, if allowed.
Are the summarization processes required to populate the project performance base summary tables with incremental cost/effort data changes entered in the transactional system?
Yes
In Self Service pages, the task ordering is by task outline number. Tasks created in AMG or in Core PA forms (PAXPREPR.fmb) sorts by task number. To see tasks sorted by task number in HTML what is a workaround?
Set the 'PA: Workplan Tasks Default View' profile option to the "List" view and then clear the jsp server cache and bounce the Apache server. As well you can then create a personalized view which sorts by task number.
What is required for the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and any updates to the WBS to be carried through to the Financial Breakdown Structure (FBS) for fully or partially shared structures?
The working version of the WP/WBS structure has to be published. Note that the "PRC: Process Structure Updates" process must be submitted after any change is made to the WBS structure (eg: such as new project-task links for programs).
How can you easily maintain structures? Is it only done through HTML? Or can you maintain them in FORMS?
Workplan and the new model Financial Structure are maintained in Self Service Applications (OA Framework / html). Burdening and billing are still done in forms because most costing entry is still done through core PA. Budgetary Control (core PA forms feature for Budgeting) does not exist in Self Service or PJT.
If I am using the 3rd party Microsoft Projects product can I maintain the financial structure AND workplan structure in the same .mpp file? Can this only be done under a Partially Shared scenario as well?
Yes, MSP stores fully shared information. Enhancement request Bug 6525546 has also enabled MSP integration with Partially Shared structures.
In order to pull in Actuals onto the Workplan structure that is FULLY shared you need to run the summarization processes . Which ones?
After PSI summarization, there are 2 new processes that need to be run to update effort & actuals in the workplan.
- Update Project & Resource Base Summaries - This makes sure that the summarized base views are updated after changes to the workplan/financial plan structures, or creation of a new one. It's an incremental process, so if there are no changes to the workplan, then we should just be able to update the proj performance data
- Update Project Performance Data - This process incrementally adds new summarized amounts into the new structure views. (Note: to rebuild existing performance data, run the associated refresh processes instead).
The Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) can be associated to the WP through which page and requires what?
The RBS is associated to the WP using the current reporting version of the RBS and according to the integration method via the Additional Workplan Options : Plan Settings page (Project: WP Tab: Setup: Plan Settings)
To update projects with the latest resource breakdown structure version what process must be run?
The PRC: Process Resource Breakdown Structure Updates process
What are the seeded Resource Classes available?
People, Equipment, Material Items and Financial Elements
What does quantity represent for the resource classes?
For People and Equipment class resource assignments, quantity is equivalent to effort, while for Material Item and Financial Element class resource assignments, quantity refers directly to the number items or elements used or consumed.
What is a program and how is it linked to other programs or projects?
A program is a project to which you can link other related projects. A program hierarchy consists of related projects rolling up to the program through their task structures.
Which PA table stores the common versioned information related to tasks and structures?
Refer to table: PA_PROJ_ELEMENT_VERSIONS
Which diagnostic tests are available that show the setup and data flow tables/views of the Workplan and Financial Plan structures of a project? For release 11i refer to NOTE:340499.1 and NOTE:396491.1 on Metalink. For r12 refer to the applicable rollup catalog in NOTE:421245.1 and then go to Financials:Projects Suite:Project Management and the Oracle Project Management Workplan Collection Test and Oracle Project Management Budget and Forecast Data Collection Test.