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Version: 1.5 Last Updated: December 16 20

Best Practices for Implementation and Usage of

Version

for Oracle E

www.InsightSoftware.com

2010

Best Practices for Implementation and Usage of Insight

Version Winter 2011 for Oracle E-Business Suite

for Oracle E-Business Suite

www.InsightSoftware.com

Implementation and

InsightSoftware.com White Paper: Best Practices

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Contents

1. Introduction .......................................................................... 4

Overview ............................................................................................................................... 4

1.1 Target Audience ......................................................................................................... 4

1.2 New Admin Tool Features Available as of version 9.0 ........................................... 4

1.3 Product Documentation ............................................................................................. 5

2. Implementation .................................................................... 6

Implementation Overview ................................................................................................... 6

2.1 Architecture Overview ............................................................................................... 6

2.2 Deployment Options Overview ................................................................................. 7

2.3 Recommended Project Team .................................................................................... 8

2.4 Scale ............................................................................................................................ 8

2.5 Scope ........................................................................................................................... 8

2.6 What is Success? ....................................................................................................... 9

3. Implementation Details ...................................................... 10

3.1 Hardware Installation ............................................................................................... 10

3.2 Prerequisites Document .......................................................................................... 10

3.3 Software Installation ................................................................................................ 10

4. Evaluations and Upgrades ................................................ 12

4.1 Parallel Installations ................................................................................................. 12

5. User & Folder Management .............................................. 13

5.1 User Accounts and JDE ........................................................................................... 13

5.2 Capabilities ............................................................................................................... 14

5.3 Permissions .............................................................................................................. 14

5.4 Recommended Folder Structures and Permissions ............................................ 15

5.5 Report Promotion Process ...................................................................................... 17

5.6 Broken Report Links due to Being Moved to New Folders .................................. 19

5.7 Reusable Inquiry Objects (RIO) Folders ................................................................ 19

6. Custom Templates ............................................................. 21

6.1 Overview.................................................................................................................... 21

6.2 Do Not Overwrite Standard Templates .................................................................. 21

6.3 Why Create Custom Templates? ............................................................................ 21

6.4 Creating Custom Templates - Detail ...................................................................... 21

7. Rollout ................................................................................ 23

7.1 Install and Configure Production System .............................................................. 23

7.2 Pilot ............................................................................................................................ 23

7.3 Training ..................................................................................................................... 23

7.4 Review ....................................................................................................................... 23

8. Training .............................................................................. 24

8.1 Administrator Training ............................................................................................. 24

8.2 End User Training .................................................................................................... 24

9. Insight Usage ..................................................................... 25

Report/Inquiry Creation ..................................................................................................... 25

9.1 Recommended File Naming Convention ............................................................... 25

Examples: ........................................................................................................................ 25

Report Details ................................................................................................................. 25


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Recommended File Name .............................................................................................. 25

9.2 Advantages to Recommended File Naming Convention ..................................... 26

9.3 How to Enforce the Recommended File Naming Convention ............................. 26

9.4 Reports vs. Inquiries, the New Paradigm .............................................................. 26

9.5 Things to Consider When Defining Inquiries ........................................................ 28

9.6 Reusable Inquiry Objects (RIO) .............................................................................. 29

9.7 Creating Links .......................................................................................................... 29

9.8 Formatting and Color ............................................................................................... 29

9.9 Inquiry Location ....................................................................................................... 29

9.10 Report Packs .......................................................................................................... 30

10. Audit Readiness .............................................................. 31

10.1 Recommended Process for Audit Readiness ..................................................... 31

10.2 Using the Search Tool to Assist with Audit Readiness ..................................... 31

10.3 Using the Logging Tool to Assist with Audit Readiness ................................... 32

10.4 Using Console to Reduce Time & Money Spent on Auditors ............................ 32

11. Further Information ......................................................... 33

Contacts .............................................................................................................................. 33

Technical Support .............................................................................................................. 33

Notices and Disclaimer ..................................................................................................... 33


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1. Introduction Overview

1.1 Target Audience

This guide was written for consultants, MIS managers, and power users3

intending to implement or maintain a medium to large sized implementation of Insight. Information regarding implementation, upgrade, user management, rollout and training is found in the section called Implementation. Information regarding user-driven standards, report and inquiry creation, and audit readiness is found in the section called Insight Usage. This guide is not an introduction to Insight or the underlying ERP system. For more information about Insight including specific guides for users, Super Users and Administrators, please refer to the documentation referenced below. Some of the techniques described in this document, require the Configurator module. This module provides additional flexibility when creating inquiries suitable for medium and large scale implementations. See the Super User guide for more information about the capabilities of the Configurator module.

1.2 New Admin Tool Features Available as of version 9.0

Version 9.0 of Insight brings to bear a new technology platform (.Net) which enables new foundation level capabilities. Based on this new platform many powerful capabilities will be introduced from version 9.1 onwards. In the mean time, several important new features have been introduced as of version 9.0, as follows: 1. ClickOnce deployment – enables software deployment from a simple

web server interface. (see section 2.2 for more details)

2. Logging – enables detailed key stroke and error capturing by user, by PC, or by group. Logging can also be used to track information regarding report changes and additions for the purposes of audit readiness. (see section 10.2 for more details)

3. Update Links – provides a tool to quickly identify and repair broken

report links. (see section 5.6 for more details)

4. Browse as User4 – enables administrators to quickly validate user

permission settings by seeing the specific folders and reports which can be seen by specified users. (see section 5.3 for more details)

3 Power User refers to an end business user, who creates reports and inquiries.

4 ‘Browse as User’ was introduced in Insight version 8.1 (named Inquiry Suite), but is

mentioned here to ensure visibility of the feature.


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1.3 Product Documentation

The following documentation for Insight is available from the customer support center, which is accessed via the InsightSoftware website. http://www.insightsoftware.com/support

• What’s New Document

• Installation Guide

• Super User Guide

• User Guide We have a number of additional documents and FAQ guides covering specific areas, available to registered users upon request including:

• Administration Guide

• Security Guide

• Upgrade Planner

• Publishing on Citrix Guide

• Parallel Installations

• Pre-Requisites document

• Post Installation Checklist


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2. Implementation Implementation Overview

2.1 Architecture Overview

Insight is a Microsoft .NET Windows application that runs under a 2-tier architecture. The application has its own built-in database connectivity layer which is responsible for submitting the queries to the ERP database directly and independently from the ERP application. Insights configuration and inquiry parameters are stored in a centralized database (Object Repository) created during the initial installation. This repository can be created on one of four different database servers; Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, and DB2 UDB. The architecture is shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1: Typical Architecture


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2.2 Deployment Options Overview

Insight offers multiple deployment options:

• Manual desktop deployment

• Terminal server deployment

• Smart Client deployment which utilizes Microsoft’s ClickOnce technology

• A combination of all of the above options For larger desktop installations, a terminal server deployment, utilizing Windows Terminal Services or Citrix, is available. This option is best for those users who will be accessing the repository and ERP databases from a Wide Area Network (WAN) connection. With the release of Version 9.0, Insight offers a Smart Client deployment option which utilizes Microsoft’s ClickOnce technology. All of the above options can be used in combination to meet the needs of the user and IT department. The Smart Client deployment method is possible due to the built-in database connectivity layer delivered with Insight. All database connectivity is handled within the application thus eliminating the need for desktop specific connectivity setup. The software deployment files are stored on a web or network file server. The users access the link and the software automatically downloads to the individual workstation. Software updates are delivered automatically without user interaction and roll-back options are also available. The major benefit of the Smart Client deployment is that Insight, a feature rich desktop application, can be delivered and managed centrally like a web application. This option requires minimal IT involvement and potentially eliminates the need for costly servers. The Smart Client deployment method requires custom configuration of the standard software installation. InsightSoftware.com’s Customer Support organization will obtain from the customer the specific installation information; such as repository and deployment locations, and build the application and deployment files for the customer. These files will then be then sent back to the customer for deployment.


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2.3 Recommended Project Team

In any software implementation it is important to identify key personnel at the outset and their role within the project. For each person involved, agree a method of contacting them. This may be directly, or via another person involved in the project. Typically a software project will have the following participants:

• Project Sponsor (Client) - The financial sponsor of the project; this is the person with the final authority to alter budgets and timelines.

• Project Manager (Client) - Responsible for coordinating the various functional and technical requirements and delivering the project within time and budget constraints.

• User Representatives (Client) - Represent the different groups that will be using the product. The roles of the user representative are to co-ordinate and prioritize requests from individual users.

• Technical Representatives (Client) - Staff from the client’s IT function will be needed to administer user and account settings, and determine how Insight will sit within the organization’s IT infrastructure.

• InsightSoftware.com Account Manager - The InsightSoftware.com account Manager is the primary contact for any matters relating to software sales, contracts and payments.

• InsightSoftware.com Project Coordinator / Product Specialist - For large scale rollouts we will typically assign a project coordinator to oversee the implementation and ensure availability of InsightSoftware.com’s training and technical staff as appropriate.

• InsightSoftware.com Trainer - A key step of implementation is to provide training to both system Administrator(s) and application users.

2.4 Scale

Even without precise numbers, it is important early on that there is a general understanding about the approximate scale of the implementation. A rollout to 1000 users in 40 different countries needs to be handled very differently than a rollout involving 10 users in a single office.

2.5 Scope

Is the project going to include rollout of multiple modules or just a single module? Is the rollout to coincide with an ERP version upgrade? Is Insight to be rolled out alongside a new ERP implementation? If so then this should be recognized early on, as this creates extra project dependencies and potential risks. If the purpose of the rollout is to replace an existing reporting tool or Business Intelligence system, then the implementation needs to include analysis of the existing system and refactoring of the key reports.


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2.6 What is Success?

It is important at the outset that the key personnel involved in the project can agree on what will constitute a successful outcome. To be effective, success criteria need to be clear, specific and measurable.

An example might be: “We will have rolled out Insight’s General Ledger module to the 7 European regional offices, and provided on-site training for all users, by June 30

th this

year.”


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3. Implementation Details 3.1 Hardware Installation

Insight is capable of reading and manipulating very large data sets in real time. To do this, demands are placed on the server that it runs on. This is seldom a problem with workstation installations, but memory requirements can become an issue with Citrix installations as the minimum memory requirements apply per user, rather than the whole system. Contact InsightSoftware.com’s support desk for the latest memory requirements based on your version of Insight. As Insight runs database queries directly against live data, it will place some additional load on the ERP database server when inquiries are run. This is not normally an issue, however for new installations, the load on the ERP server and user response times should be monitored.

3.2 Prerequisites Document

InsightSoftware.com will provide a prerequisites document prior to the installation of the software. This document alerts the administrator to the technical requirements and information that will be needed in order to install Insight successfully. It is recommended that the pre-requisite document is sent to technical staff at the installation site, two weeks before the scheduled installation date to allow time for the document to be completed and returned. Missing information from the pre-requisites document can often cause the installation to be held up or fail completely. If the pre-requisites document cannot be completed in time, the best course of action is often to reschedule the installation. If the prerequisite document is completed by the time of the installation, installation can usually be achieved within one hour.

3.3 Software Installation

As Insight does not alter the ERP data in any way5, it is safe connect the

application directly to live production data.

5 Insight2JDE Budgeting module can optionally produce F0902Z1 records

which can then be imported into JD Edwards.


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To install the software, create and connect to an object repository, follow the detailed instructions provided in the Administration Guide.

3.3.1 Setup of Production and Test Connections

Once the application is installed and the object repository is configured, you will need to create at least one connection to the ERP database. It is possible to create several different connections to different ERP environments. These may relate to separate production installations, or to production and test environments. To configure the connections you will need information provided in the Pre-Requisites Document. Full instructions for administering and configuring connections are provided in the Administration Guide.

3.3.2 Data Integrity Testing (Optional – For JD Edwards ERP only)

Although all data entered using the JDE front-end itself is fully integrity checked, it is possible for third party applications to write data directly to the JDE database without properly enforcing the business rules required for data consistency. It is also possible for object accounts and category codes to be added to individual business units, without updating the model business unit. If there are accounts in individual business units that are not in the model, then Insight will need to go to each individual business unit record in order to retrieve account information. The Insight Administration tool provides an integrity testing tool. This can help uncover problems and inconsistencies in the underlying database that may cause Insight to return unexpected results.

NOTE: A full system integrity test can take many hours to run, depending on the size of the underlying JDE database.


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4. Evaluations and Upgrades

4.1 Parallel Installations

It is possible to use multiple versions of Insight at the same time, though each version requires its own separate object repository. For minor upgrades and patch releases, it is not necessary to create parallel installations. Simply backup the object repository before the upgrade and allow the installation script to upgrade the object repository if required. For larger installations parallel installations should be created, running the new and old versions in parallel for a period of time, moving users from the old to the new versions in batches. This approach allows training to be scheduled for individual groups of users to coincide with their upgrade, and allows for an immediate rollback to the old version if there is an unforeseen problem. Once a group of users has been trained and their inquiries migrated to the new version of Insight, access to the older version should be removed to prevent users from creating new inquiries that are not then migrated. A separate FAQ document covering parallel installations is available upon request.


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5. User & Folder Management

5.1 User Accounts

Users in Insight correspond directly to your ERP users. Insight checks the ERP security tables each time an inquiry is run. New user accounts can be imported at any time from your ERP system using the Administration tool. Additional Security Configuration for JD Edwards ERP systems

Insight supports both inclusive and exclusive JDE security based on company, business unit, business unit category codes, object account and object account category codes. Using JDE security allows different users to view the same inquiry but with each only seeing the information that is relevant to them. Additional security settings are available for the Human Resources (HR) and Payroll (PR) modules. In addition to reading the afore mentioned JDE security, field level security can be set at the individual and group level. For example you can choose to hide salary, social security, or other key information from any groups of users for all HR and PR reports.

Users in Insight can be organized into groups. Group definitions can be imported from JDE, however not other ERP systems. Or Groups can be defined in Insight if there is a need to group users differently. Each user in Insight can be a member of a single group. A group can contain any number of users. Administering capabilities and permissions for a group will require less ongoing maintenance than administering users individually.


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5.2 Capabilities

It is possible in Insight to change or restrict the menu and toolbar options available to particular groups of users. It is possible for example to prevent a given group of users from saving modified versions of an inquiry, or changing the layout of the Insight screen. Capability settings within Insight are accessed via the Administration tool and are documented in full in the Administration Guide.

5.3 Permissions

Objects in Insight such as connections, folder and inquiries each have a set of permissions. Permissions determine the level of access that an individual or group of users has to the object. Once you have set desired permissions for groups of users, you can use the new Browse as User capability to see the specific folders and reports that an individual user can see. To use this function:

1. In the Admin Tool, right click on a desired user and select Browse as User.

2. This creates a tab that shows the folders and reports available to that

user.


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5.4 Recommended Folder Structures and Permissions

The following best practices provide a folder structure for managing the report development and distribution process.

5.4.1 Personal Folders

• By default an individual folder is created for each user.

• Intended for individual users’ ad-hoc inquiries and reports/inquiries that will not be shared.

• Standard naming convention not important.

• End users can build subfolders inside of their ‘My Inquiries’ folder.

• Permissions: Individual users should have read, right, and control access to their individual personal folders.


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5.4.2 Recommended Public Folder Structure

The following illustration shows a recommended public folder structure for a

client owning the GL, AP, and AR modules. Note that numbering the folders, as shown, causes them to display in the desired order.

• The Production folders hold reports that have been published into production.

• The Test folders hold fully developed reports awaiting final test.

• The In-Process folders hold reports under development. Having a public folder for in-process reports (as opposed to using individual ‘My Inquiries’ folders) allows users to share their reports for collaborative development, and gives administrative visibility to reports in the process.

01 Production 01 GL 02 AP 03 AR

02 Test 01 GL

99 Demote to In-Process 99 Promote to Production

02 AP 99 Demote to In-Process 99 Promote to Production

03 AR 99 Demote to In-Process 99 Promote to Production

03 In-Process 01 GL

99 Delete 99 Promote to Test

02 AP 99 Delete 99 Promote to Test

03 AR 99 Delete 99 Promote to Test

Within both the ‘Test’ and ‘In-Process’ module subfolders are subfolders used for promoting, demoting, and deleting reports. The following section discusses the use of these folders.

5.4.3 Recommended Public Folder Usage and Permissions

01 Production Folder

• For approved production reports only.

• Only authorized report administrator(s) should have ability to demote production reports to the ‘In-Process’ folder.

• When an authorized administrator moves a tested report from the ‘Test’ folder to the ‘Production’ folder, they should edit the name of the report to be in line with recommended file naming convention. (see section 9.1 for recommended naming standards)

• Permissions: Only read permission is granted to general users. Administrator and/or very limited number of super users should have access to move (demote) reports.

• To ensure that desired reports are not accidently deleted, deleting reports should not be allowed in this folder or its subfolders.

02 Test Folder


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• Intended for final testing of completed reports.

• Users who are authorized to test reports should have access to move reports from the module subfolder (i.e. GL, AP, AR) into both the ‘Demote to In-Process’ and ‘Promote to Production’ folders.

• Permissions: Only read permission is granted to general users. Administrator and designated testers should have access to read and move reports to the Demote and Promote folders. Only an authorized administrator should have access to move reports from the Demote and Promote folders.

� To ensure that desired reports are not accidently deleted, deleting reports should not be allowed in this folder or the subfolders.

03 In-Process

o All end users who are authorized to write public reports should be able to save and edit reports in this folder. Additionally, these users should have access to move reports from the module subfolder (i.e. GL, AP, AR) into both the ‘Delete’ and ‘Promote to Test’ folders.

o Intended for users to share reports in development for collaborative effort. o Permissions: Read, write, and move permission is granted to any users with

authorization to create public reports. � To ensure that desired reports are not accidently deleted, deleting

reports should not be allowed in this folder or the subfolders with the exception of the ‘Delete’ folder. Once a report is moved to the ‘Delete’ folder, only specified administrator(s) should have permission to delete reports.

5.5 Report Promotion Process

The following recommended process is designed to:

• Give administrative visibility and control to the report creation process

• Ensure compliance to report naming standards (see section 9.1 for recommended naming standards)

• Prevent the accidental deletion of reports

• Aid in audit readiness (see section 10.1 for more details on audit readiness)

5.5.1 Key Steps for Report Promotion Process

03 In-Process 1. End users save initial reports into the appropriate module subfolder (i.e.

GL, AP, AR) under the ‘In-Process’ folder. 2. End users promote or delete reports.

• Once a report is completed and ready for test, the end user moves the report to the ‘Promote to Test’ folder.

• If an in-process report is desired to be deleted, then the end user moves that report to the ‘Delete’ folder.

3. Administrator moves and deletes In-Process reports on a periodic basis.

• Reports in the ‘Promote to Test’ folder are moved to the associated module folder under the ‘Test’ folder.

• Reports in the ‘Delete’ folder are deleted.

02 Test 4. Testers test reports in this folder. 5. Testers pass or fail tested reports.

• If a report passes testing, then the tester moves the report to the ‘Promote to Production’ folder.

• If a report fails testing, then the tester moves the report to the ‘Demote to In-Process folder’.

6. Administrator moves Test reports on a periodic basis.

• Reports in the ‘Promote to Production’ folder are moved to the associated module folder under the ‘Production’ folder.


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• Reports in the ‘Demote to In-Process’ folder are moved to the associated module folder under the ‘In-Process’ folder.

01 Production

7. Once reports are in Production, they may need to be edited or deleted in the future.

8. Administrator demotes or deletes Production reports.

• If a report needs to be edited, administrator moves it to the associated module folder under the ‘In-Process’ folder.

• If a report needs to be deleted, administrator moves it to the ‘Delete’ folder under the associated module folder under the ‘In-Process’ folder.

Notes: When a report is promoted to the ‘Production’ folder:

1. The name of the report should be edited to ensure compliance with the recommended naming convention (see section 9.1 for recommended naming standards).

2. A copy of the report and report cover page should be printed and

logged into an audit readiness notebook (see section 10.1 for information on audit readiness).

3. If reports have links, they will need to be repaired. (see section 5.6

for information on repairing broken report links)


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5.6 Broken Report Links due to Being Moved to New Folders

When an inquiry contains links to other inquiries, these links correspond to absolute paths in the object repository. When a target inquiry is moved, then the links in any source inquiries must be updated. Therefore, when reports containing links are moved into Production folders, a necessary step is to repair the broken links. Newly available in version 9.0 is a facility in the Admin Tool for quickly identifying and repairing these links. To use this capability: 1. Right click on the desired folder and select Update Links

2. Then click Analyze

3. Finally, double click on each returned row to repair the issue.

5.7 Reusable Inquiry Objects (RIO) Folders

Reusable Inquiry Objects, or RIOs, are report objects than can be stored in the ‘Object Repository’ for re-use on multiple reports. Objects such as Calculations, Time Series, User Defined Captions, Formatting, and Hierarchies can be stored into RIO by a Configurator/Super User. (Menu: Tools\Reusable Inquiry Objects) Then any Power User can ‘check out’ an object, from RIO, onto their report. If a RIO object is changed, then that change is propagated to all reports that have checked out the object. Terms:

• Global RIO – Items can be used across all connections.

• Connection RIO – Only available within the specified connection (i.e. TEST vs. PRODUCTION).

• Recommended: Save objects in Global RIO so that they are available for all connections, unless there is a reason to limit the use of the object to a specific connection.


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5.7.1 Recommended RIO Folder Structure

1. Create a folder for each type of object in RIO. 2. Example: Hierarchies, Calculations, Time Series, User Defined Captions,

Formatting, Selectors 3. Under the Hierarchy folder, create a separate sub-folder for each

individual hierarchy.

• Include in the folder the Hierarchy and the associated Hierarchy Formatting.

• This way the entire definition of the hierarchy is included.

4. Create subfolders to group items into meaningful groups. Following are common subfolder structures:

• Example 1 – Calculations: One subfolder per module

• Example 2 – Formats: One subfolder for each type of format (except hierarchy formats*)

• Example 3 – Hierarchies*: One subfolder per unique hierarchy

• Example 4 – User Defined Captions: One subfolder for each type of caption

Following is an illustration of the recommended RIO folder structure:

Calculations (per module) GL AP AR

Formats (by type of format) Conditional Subtitles Subtotals Columns

Hierarchies* (per unique hierarchy) Income Statement Balance Sheet Expenses Tax Reporting

User Defined Captions (by type of caption) Periods Years Ledgers Category Codes

It is recommended that once the RIO folder structure is set, the ability for users to change the structure should be disabled. Future changes to the hierarchy folder structure should be made by a system administrator, not end users. This will keep the RIO folder structure more clean and manageable over time.

* When saving a hierarchy into RIO, the associated hierarchy formatting should be saved in RIO into the same folder as the hierarchy itself. Then power users are able to easily check out to their reports the entire hierarchy definition including formatting.


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6. Custom Templates 6.1 Overview

Using the Configurator module, any inquiry can be saved as a template and then used as the basis for any new inquiries. Access to templates can be controlled in the same way as regular inquires, using permissions. Consequently, different templates can be published to different groups of users. Any changes to a template will only affect inquiries that are created after the template change. For this reason, it can be useful to embed Reusable Inquiry Objects (RIO) items within templates, so that changes can be made centrally that affect all inquiries based on the templates. It is good practice when creating inquiries to only include the data that is relevant to the related use. When creating templates, this practice can be reinforced by removing most of the columns, only leaving minimal label and value fields visible. The inquiry builder then has to make a conscious decision to add each column to the inquiry.

6.2 Do Not Overwrite Standard Templates

When Insight is installed or upgraded it will overwrite the standard templates that have previously been installed. The overwriting of the templates is now controlled by the ‘Last Modified’ field. If this field is set to "InsightSoftware.com" the template will be overwritten by the one in the standardtemplates.rdf. However, if this is set to anything else (like a user’s name) the file will not be overwritten. To provide added visibility to whether a template is custom (created by the customer) or standard (delivered by InsightSoftware.com) we recommend saving the new templates using a different name and using the permissions system to hide access to the original templates. This provides better visibility to your custom templates and helps make sure that they are not overwritten by an upgrade process.

6.3 Why Create Custom Templates?

Since a Template is the starting point from which users create inquiries and reports, Templates should provide an optimal starting point that 1) provides ease for the user; 2) promotes consistent corporate standards; and 3) reduces the time spent to create new inquiries and reports.

6.4 Creating Custom Templates - Detail

6.4.1 Recommended Naming Convention for Custom Templates

Start with company name or company prefix, but maintain the original Template name after the prefix. Examples: “XYZ-Period Summary” or “XYZ-GL Transactions”, where XYZ represents your company. NOTE: Once you have published a company-specific ‘replacement’ for an original Template, the Administrator should hide the original Template by denying access via Permissions.


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6.4.2 Considerations for Custom Template Creation

• Filters: o Which filters should be removed (i.e. will never be used)? o Which filters should be added (ex: Individual Category Codes or

other key fields)?

• Columns: o Which columns should be removed (i.e. will never be used)? o Which columns should be added because of likely frequent use?

• Sorting and Grouping: o Sort by Company, Business Unit, Category Code, Departments,

Segments, or other?

• User Defined Captions (UDCs): o Which UDCs should be defined? o Recommended:

� Periods: fixed, cumulative, year-to-date, inception-to-date. Also CURRENT, CUMULATIVE.

� Years: CURRENT, LAST. � Ledgers/Balance Type: AA = Actual, BA = Budget, etc.

• Links: o Recommended: Create drills to commonly accessed supporting

detail.

• Titles: o Titles turned on or off? o Recommended: Turn titles On to help insure that the user

remembers to create a meaningful title for the report.

• Formatting: o Standard format for Default (Numbers) (ex: In thousands with no

decimals) o Standard format for Subtotals o Standard format for Grand Total

• PDF and Excel Setup: o Default Cover Page? o Default Portrait or Landscape?


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7. Rollout 7.1 Install and Configure Production System

The initial phases of planning and inquiry development can be performed using test servers or individual PCs. Prior to rollout, the product should be re-installed on production grade PCs or servers. Where practical, a list of users should be gathered in advance and their accounts configured in one go prior to the rollout.

7.2 Pilot

Where a rollout is relatively small (<100 users) it can normally proceed without a separate pilot. Implementation issues can be addressed relatively easily and users revisited as necessary. A larger rollout can benefit from a pilot phase where the system is rolled out to a few users, then the process is reviewed and changes made before the main rollout. In this instance the pilot should include a maximum of 10% of the total number of users. For a pilot phase to be effective, it should include enough time to gather feedback from the project stakeholders and make changes to the main rollout plans.

7.3 Training

Once any standard inquiries, templates and RIOs have been created then end user training needs to be scheduled. Training should occur as close as possible to the date when users are able to start using the production system.

7.4 Review

A meeting should be arranged around 2-4 weeks after the implementation has completed, to review the process, determine how successful it has been, and decide if any more actions are required.


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8. Training 8.1 Administrator Training

To ensure optimal usage of the administration tool, administrator training is highly recommended. InsightSoftware.com provides a 1-day training curriculum designed to provide administrators with the necessary knowledge to perform their role.

8.2 End User Training

Although the Insight interface is intuitive, end user training is highly recommended. The duration of training will depend on the modules installed and on class size. As a rough guide it can be expected that training 12 people on multiple modules would take about 3 days. Additionally, we recommend at least a day or two of workshop time immediately following the training class(es). The workshop is hosted by a InsightSoftware.com Product Specialist and provides an opportunity for users to leverage their recent training to build actual production reports. The InsightSoftware.com Product Specialist is able to work with multiple participants at once, helping them build their required reports. Note: As of June 2008, the majority of courses provide CPE professional credits for USA based students. For more information regarding training, contact your Account Manager, or go to http://www.insightsoftware.com/training


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9. Insight Usage Report/Inquiry Creation

9.1 Recommended File Naming Convention

As the number of saved inquiries and reports grows, a standardized naming convention makes a big difference in manageability. We recommend the following:

GLB0001 - Description GL – Source Module = GL

B – Source Template = Balances 0001 – Unique ID

Description – Meaningful description of purpose of report such as “Consolidated Balance Sheet” or “Branch Income Statement”

Examples:

Report Details Recommended File Name

Income Statement, created from the Balances (B) template, in the GL (GL) module

GLB0001 – Corporate Income Statement

Detailed AP report, created from the Integrated Detail (I) template, in the AP (AP) module

API0001 – AP Details by Vendor

Fixed Asset Schedule, created from the Balances (B) template, in the Fixed Asset (FA) Module

FAB0001 – Fixed Asset Schedule by Location

Received not Vouchered, created from Received not Vouchered template (RN), in the Purchasing (POP) module

POPRN0001 – Received Not Vouchered


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9.2 Advantages to Recommended File Naming Convention

Multiple advantages are gained from using the above naming convention:

1. Users can immediately identify the type of report.

• For example, a Fixed Asset report based on the Balances template, or a GL report based the journal Transactions template is easily identified.

2. Reports are not easily confused by name.

• Without the number scheme, a user may say to run the ‘Rolling 12 Month Income Statement by Business Unit’. But since there are probably multiple reports with similar names, this causes confusion. However, if the user says to run the ‘GLB0017 Income Statement’ report, it is clear which report is being referenced.

3. Report administration is simplified.

• Once you have hundreds of reports in your system, looking at large report listings can be overwhelming. However, as we will discuss in section 9.3 below, the number scheme cause reports to list in a rough order according to when they were created. Consequently, large lists of otherwise jumbled reports have a logical order.

9.3 How to Enforce the Recommended File Naming Convention

By following this simple method, the naming convention can be enforced with little administrative overhead.

1. The naming convention is not enforced for reports in personal “My Inquiries” user folders, only for reports in public folders.

2. When users first create reports for production use, in the ‘In-Process’ folder,

they are encouraged to name their reports by displaying the module and template abbreviations, and a meaningful report description. However, they are NOT asked to put numbers into their report names. For example an income statement based on the GL module, Balances template could be named GLB-Corporate Income Statement by Company.

3. Then when the report is moved to the ‘Production’ folder (according to the

process in section 5.5.1) the administrator moving the report: a. Looks in the appropriate Production subfolder to identify the highest

number being used for reports based on that module (in this example, GL).

b. Changes the name of the new report to include the next highest number. Therefore, if the highest number in the list of GL reports is found to be 0011, then the above income statement report will be changed to: GLB0012-Corporate Income Statement by Company, when it is moved to production.

Since the name is changed as it enters the ‘Production’ folder it is guaranteed to be a unique number for that group of reports. Therefore, all production reports can easily be maintained with the above numbering system.

9.4 Reports vs. Inquiries, the New Paradigm

Without understanding how Insight works, many users will think of Insight as simply a ‘prettier’ alternative to their reporting tools, and will seek to replicate exactly their existing reports as Inquiries.


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Creating a clone of an existing report doesn’t add much value, and fails to take advantage of the key features of Insight. Because of the ability to easily change filter selections and drill down to see detail on any item, inquiries are much more flexible than conventional reports, so a single inquiry can often replace a dozen or more conventional reports. To help the users understand the difference between an Insight inquiry and a traditional ERP report, it can be helpful to think in terms of three different approaches to reporting as follows:

9.4.1 The Traditional Way – Paper Reports

• A large detailed report is created centrally, printed several times and physical copies mailed out to users.

• Data is out of date as soon as it is printed.

• Too much information to be easily digested. The reports are time consuming to work through. No drill up/drill down is possible.

• Typically <10% of any given report of interest to any given user.

9.4.2 The Common Way – Shuffling Spreadsheets

• Data is number crunched periodically, output to text or spreadsheet files and emailed to users.

• Data is imported into spreadsheets for analysis.

• The spreadsheets can be complex, and can themselves introduce errors. Lots of local spreadsheets dotted around the organization can quickly become unmanageable.

• Data can be hours or days out of date by the time it is analyzed.

9.4.3 The Insight Way – Interactive Reporting

• Start with high-level summary inquiry.

• Change filter selections on the fly as required.

• Drill down to see further detail on specific areas as required.

• Only data of immediate interest is presented to users.

• The data is current as of the moment that the inquiry is run. By starting with summary level data and only retrieving detailed information as needed, we remove “information overload” problem. As the database is asked to retrieve much less data in one go, system performance is also improved.


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9.5 Things to Consider When Defining Inquiries

• Should the information be presented as a single inquiry or as a summary inquiry with links to more detail?

• What ERP security settings should be applied?

• What initial filters should be applied to the data?

• How much freedom to alter the inquiry should the persona be allowed?

• In what order should the data be presented? (columns and rows)

• Is the terminology used by the ERP system understandable by the persona?

• Can formatting be used to highlight certain items or present the information more clearly?

• Could the information be displayed more clearly as a chart?

9.5.1 What initial filters should be applied to the data?

There may be circumstances in which you want to exclude items because they relate to redundant accounts, companies or business units that are no longer in use, or have a special purpose that makes them unsuitable for inclusion in standard reports. In most cases an inquiry based on a transaction table will be opened via a link from another inquiry. In this case, the filter applied to the inquiry will be overwritten by a value passed from the source inquiry. For transactional based inquiries, filters should be applied to the default inquiry to limit the amount of data returned if the inquiry is opened directly and no changes are made. Please note that if a filter is set to a value that a user is prevented from seeing because of their ERP security settings, then the item will be removed from the filter. A simple way to limit the amount of data returned by a transactional inquiry is to set the date filter so that it initially only returns values from a single day.

9.5.2 How much freedom to alter the inquiry should be allowed?

The degree of freedom a user has to alter inquiries is best determined by the level of Insight knowledge of that user. Inquiries can be locked down using the Administration tool to allow or deny access to most of Insight functions. Where a group of users is expected to view and print pre-defined inquiries, but not create any of their own, they can be given access to Insight via a Console license, rather than a Power User license.

9.5.3 In what order should the data be presented?

If there is a requirement to replace an existing report, this may be pre-determined. Where there is no predefined order, the convention in Insight is to present label columns on the left, and value columns on the right, with the label columns being listed according to sort order, with the outermost level of sorting presented leftmost. Value columns can be presented in any order. Where one value column is derived from another, it is usual to place the derived column to the right of the original column, so for example a calculation comparing two periods would occur to the right of columns displaying the individual periods.

9.5.4 Is the terminology used by the ERP system understandable by the consumer(s) of the report?

Users of the underlying ERP system may be familiar with the terminology. Users that do not regularly interact with your ERP system may find the terminology confusing. User Defined Captions can be used to give items


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more understandable names. The User representative is responsible for defining the terms that will be understandable for their users.

9.5.5 Define Shared Elements

The Configurator module in Insight allows for the creation of customized inquiry templates, and the creation of a centralized library of reusable inquiry objects. If the Configurator module is available then it makes sense to create these shared elements at an early stage, so that they can be used in any subsequently created inquiries. This may involve a degree of inquiry prototyping, to figure out what elements can be most usefully reused. During this phase, Reusable Inquiry Objects (RIOs) should be created first. Customized templates can then be created which incorporate these RIOs. Finally Inquiries can be created based on the customized templates (as discussed in sections 5.7 and 6).

9.6 Reusable Inquiry Objects (RIO)

Calculations, Hierarchies, Formatting, User Defined Captions and Selectors can be separated from an inquiry and stored centrally in a library of Reusable Inquiry Objects (RIOs). These objects can then be included in other inquiries. Any changes made to objects in the central library are reflected in all inquiries that use the objects as soon as the inquiry is saved. (see section 5.7 for information on setting up and managing RIO folders)

9.7 Creating Links

The default templates come with a set of standard links to show more detail from the summary tables or transaction information. These standard links link to the default inquiry templates. Where an Inquiry includes Hierarchies or Time Series, these default links will need to be modified or replaced in order to ensure correct results. Links can be created between any two inquiries that share a common field. Links can be created between inquiries based on different modules, so for example AR payments can be linked to GL transactions. For widely used inquiries that contain Hierarchies, Selectors, Time Series, User Defined Captions or significant formatting, it is recommended that the standard links be removed and replaced with links to other predefined inquiries that share the same elements as the source inquiry. An FAQ document is available upon request with more information about this.

9.8 Formatting and Color

A little attention to formatting and color can make inquires a lot easier to read and can help to highlight the most important information. Insight 8.1 allows formatting of individual hierarchy nodes, and conditional formatting where the formatting can depend on the value of an item. Conditional formatting is especially useful for highlighting problem areas that require further action.

9.9 Inquiry Location

Where an inquiry contains links to other inquiries, these links correspond to absolute paths in the object repository. If a target inquiry is moved, then the links in any source inquiries must be updated. (see section 5.6 for information on how to repair links which are broken because target reports have been moved)


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9.10 Report Packs

Groups of inquires intended to be used together can be logically grouped together in a Report Pack. Opening a Report Pack opens all the contained inquires in one go. Typically Report Packs will link groups of inquiries used to achieve a single overall goal. Many organizations for example create a report pack to group together their month end reports.


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10. Audit Readiness With today’s focus on compliance, ability to audit your reports is of utmost importance. Insight provides a number of tools to assist you with Sarbanes Oxley compliance and audit preparation.

10.1 Recommended Process for Audit Readiness

Create a hardcopy, 3-ring binder with the following three sections: 1. Master listing of all corporate reports (can be generated from the Admin

tool)

2. Detailed hard-copy back-up for each corporate report

• Description page – what is the report, why does it exist, what is the function of it (who, what, when, why), can add a section with special notes, how did we get to a specific number

• Cover page – printed from Insight, provides necessary specification details for auditing

3. Sample Page/Report – printed from Insight

4. Reusable Inquiry Objects listing

• Document the various items that are populated into RIO, and their general purpose.

• You can create a listing of items in RIO by using a 3rd

party software called TEXTCATCH

6.

• TEXTCATCH can read the items in the RIO dialog box and create a text listing of the items in Word or Excel.

10.2 Using the Search Tool to Assist with Audit Readiness

Additionally, the Admin tool (in releases 8.1 and later) provides a powerful search and reporting facility used for auditing purposes. With this tool you can query a variety of information and export it to Excel. Search criterion is completely customizable. Examples of typical auditing queries include:

• All reports not run for over 90 days

• All reports that user XXXX created

• All reports created with the Purchasing module

• Total Number of reports in the Production Folders vs. Test folders

• All reports that have been edited in last 60 days

• All reports where “Income” appears in the name or description

• All reports that use a specified template

6 TEXTCATCH is a 3

rd-party software product that allows graphical representations to

be listed as text. For example, you can capture a Hierarchy definition from the Inquiry Suite’s Hierarchy tree structure and TEXTCATCH will list it in Excel as text. You can download a free trial copy of TEXTCATCH at www.textcatch.com.

TEXTCATCH is not affiliated with or endorsed by InsightSoftware.com.


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10.3 Using the Logging Tool to Assist with Audit Readiness

As of version 9.0, the Admin Tool provides a facility for defining multiple ‘log streams’ which can be used for troubleshooting specific user problems, error trapping, recording keystrokes, or monitoring for compliance issues such as reports being changed in the ‘Production’ folder. To create a Log Stream in the Admin Tool

7:

1. Right click on the Logging folder and select New/Log Stream

2. Define the desired criteria and save the log stream. 3. Examples of log stream definitions are infinite but could include:

• Log all reports that are edited in, get moved into, or get moved out of the ‘Production’ folder.

• Log the run times for a specified group of reports.

• Log any report tested in the ‘Test’ folder by user and date.

• Log all key strokes of a given user.

• Capture all keystrokes and error messages for a specified user and/or PC.

Because of the powerful audit and compliance capabilities now available via the Admin Tool’s Search, Reporting, and Logging tools, it is recommended to provide limited access of the Admin tool to end users responsible for audits and compliance. Features now allow for Admin Tool capability to be specifically controlled by user. Hence, the Admin Tool can be safely deployed to specified end users, enabling them to manage report tracking and auditing, without risk of security violations or interruption of system setup. In this way system administrators use the Admin Tool for traditional user and security management, while end users are empowered to manage audit and compliance information without the assistance of IT.

10.4 Using Console to Reduce Time & Money Spent on Auditors

To reduce the time and expense of auditors, customers publish inquiries and reports to the Console. Then a Console user license is provided to the Auditor(s). The simplicity of the Console’s user interface, combined with the rapid access to complete data and ability to drill to supporting detail, allow auditors to work on their own – answering many of their key questions. A number of customers have documented large savings in costly Auditor fees by applying this method.

7 For more information on Logging see the Admin Tool User Guide


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11. Further Information Contacts

For more information regarding our products, please contact us at:

E-Mail

[email protected]

Web www.InsightSoftware.com

Technical Support For Technical Support, Please access the customer support center:

Web Link

www.InsightSoftware.com/support

Notices and Disclaimer Insight, Console and GL Reporting are trademarks of InsightSoftware.com Limited. InsightSoftware.com is a registered trademark of InsightSoftware.com Limited. Oracle, JD Edwards, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, JD Edwards World and Oracle E-Business are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. The information contained in this document represents the current view of InsightSoftware.com on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. InsightSoftware.com cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. This document is for informational purposes only. InsightSoftware.com makes no warranties, expressed or implied, in this document. © 2000-2009 InsightSoftware.com Limited. All rights reserved.

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