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Welding Services Inc. Upgrade to 11.5.10
April 15, 2005
Presenters:
Doss Kuppuswamy – Project Lead, Welding Services
Chris Romac – Project Lead, TITAN Technology Partners
Paul Frangoulis – Project Manager, TITAN Technology Partners
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What you will get from this Presentation
Review project strategy that led to the successful migration at Welding Services, Inc.
o Oracle Application upgrade from R11.0.3 to R11.5.10.o Hardware and operating system change from NT to UNIX (Sun Solaris).o Database upgrade to 9i.
Review functional and technical successes and challenges, training, and approach to global rollout.
The project was completed in 12 weeks, on time and on budget.
This was one of the first migrations to R11.5.10 in the country.
Specific applications include General Ledger, Payables, Purchasing, Project Costing, Inventory, and BOM.
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Welding Services ,Inc. (WSI)
Established in 1978 to respond to the aggressive buildup of power plants in North America.
WSI first introduced advanced tooling technology (in the form of automated orbital welding equipment operated by the company’s specialized field craftsmen) to the nuclear construction industry.
By the mid-1980s, WSI had developed specialized equipment for repairing steam generators, pressurized water reactors, and various other pressure parts, as well as highly automated tooling for other nuclear-related repair work. In 1984 and 1985, in an effort to expand and diversify the business, WSI targeted refinery/petrochemical, fossil-fueled electric utilities, waste-to-energy plants, and pulp and paper facilities, effectively expanding the reach of WSI’s engineered solutions and specialized capabilities. In 1989, the company relocated to a larger facility in order to accommodate the demands of its growing business. In 2002, the company relocated once again to its new 175,000-square-foot technology center.
The significant potential in the technologies and service capabilities of Welding Services, Inc. was recognized by First Reserve Corporation (USA), a leading private equity investment firm focused on opportunities in the energy industry. Its acquisition of WSI in 2002, and the creation of a parent organization, Aquilex Services Corp., set the stage for accelerated growth in both resources and service capabilities.
Over the past decade, WSI has continued to refine and expand the original premise of providing advanced tooling technologies and a highly specialized craft workforce to serve the needs of its clients. Over the same period, WSI’s Repair Technologies business unit has developed, implemented, and now continues to offer, as part of day-to-day operations, over 30 engineered tooling solutions that are applicable to a wide range of industries.
Today, Welding Services, Inc. is one of the largest specialty mechanical maintenance contractors in the world, providing field and shop maintenance services to power, nuclear, chemical, pulp and paper, and similar heavy industries. With domestic and international sales offices and shop locations, WSI can quickly respond to emergency repair situations or efficiently respond to scheduled contract maintenance requirements. WSI solutions automate routine, tedious, and quality-critical maintenance practices, substantially improving the quality of repairs, the productivity and safety of personnel, and the performance longevity of repairs and upgrades.
Company Background
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TITAN Technology Partners
TITAN is headquartered in Charlotte, NC, and is focused on Oracle and Strategy solutions.
TITAN Technology Partners is a full-service IT outsourcing consulting firm which provides:o Strategyo Enterprise Professional Serviceso Enterprise Managed Serviceso IT Outsourcing
The core of TITAN's Value Proposition is: o TITAN Leads with Strategyo TITAN Emphasizes Speed to Value (S2V)o TITAN Delivers a Superior IT Outsourcing Modelo TITAN Specializes in ERP Solutionso TITAN Delivers High-Quality Solutions through our Quality Framework(TM)o TITAN Empowers Excellence as an Employee-Owned Company
TITAN's S2V (Speed to Value) approach focuses on delivering tangible business results rapidly, then extending and maximizing your IT investment over the entire solution life-cycle.
Clients can leverage our Oracle Solutions Center with all Oracle applications running.
Our vision is to offer an unmatched value proposition by being the best at providing business solutions and managed services for our clients.
Company Background
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Project Objectives
Overall Objectiveso Get WSI on a supported Oracle platform as quickly and inexpensively as
possible.o Provide the ability to deploy new features now available.o No change to business processes, no additional modules.o Improve backup procedures, improve system performance if possible.o Determine and note process improvements as project unfolds.o Minimize impact to business users and (already overloaded) IT staff.
Technical Objectiveso Upgrade from R11.0.3 to R11.5.10.o Upgrade database to latest version of 9i.o Change hardware and operating system from NT to UNIX (Sun Solaris).o Install Veritas NetBackup and activate main stream features.
Sidebarso Recent WSI reductions in staff.o New CFO who had a negative IT experience with previous company.
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Applications Upgraded Application modules upgraded to R11i.10 included:
o Oracle General Ledgero Oracle Payableso Oracle Receivableso Oracle Fixed Assetso Oracle Purchasingo Oracle Inventoryo Oracle Project Accountingo Oracle BOMo Oracle ADI
The following localizations will also be migrated:o Europeo Netherlands
Technology and Databaseo Sun Solaris V880 (sized appropriately for Oracle 11i applications and data)
partitioned to support multiple instanceso Oracle DB 9i (transactional volume to support approximately 50 users)o Two (2) instances of the Oracle applications will be migrated: Development and
Production
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Project Challenges
Moving from R11.0.3 to R11.5.10 was a 6 year Technology leap
Concern over R11.5.10 - This was one of the first R11.5.10 upgrades
Complexity due to Platform move from NT to UNIX
Amount of planned time for migration had to be 48-72 hours to avoid shutting down the business
Migration of custom reports and programs
Bad data
Creating proper test scripts
Ramping up key users on changes from R11.0.3 to R11.5.10
Noetix 5.3 (reporting) wasn’t certified against 11.5.10 until February 2005
Oracle Apps was interfacing with multiple VB programs and one program in PERL
Meeting Project Budget and timeline
Communication and training with European team
Working through the year-end holidays
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How we did it Dec 6 Dec 13 Dec 20 Dec 27 Jan 3 Jan 10 Jan 17 Jan 24 Jan 31 Feb 7 Feb 14 Feb 21 Feb 28
UnixInstall
Proj.Charter
Proj.Plan
TechStaging
VeritasInstall
ImpactAnalysis
CustomMig.
Analysis
TestStrategy
TrainingStrategy
Execute Upgrade # 1
Hot/ColdBackupStrategy
TestPlan
TestScenerios
ProjectTeam
Training1 on 1
PO,AP, AR,PA
Execute Upgrade # 2
Clone1st
Upgradeto Test
Box
ExecuteSystem
TestUpgrade #
3
ExecuteUpgrade
# 4
ExecuteProd.
UpgradeFinal
Integration TestingUsing Upgr # 2
SystemAcceptance
TestingUsing
Upgrade #3
Unit TestingUsing Upgrade #1
ExecuteFinal
UpgradeChecklist
PostProduction
Support
Deliverables complete by end of week.Monday Date
ProjectComplete
Milestone #1Veritas andUnix Intalled
Project KickoffMeeting
Milestone #2Upgrade #1Complete
Mid-ProjectReview
Milestone #3Upgrade #3Complete
Milestone #4System
AcceptanceTest
Milestone #5Go/No GoSteering
CommitteeMeeting
ProjectClosureSteps
DL VacationWSI closed 23rd
& 24th
WSI ClosedJan 3
Clone2nd
Upgradeto Test
Box
Clone3rd
Upgradeto Test
Box
Go Live Weekend
CloneProd. toTest Box
Critcial Path
Milestone #6ProductionUpgradeComplete
DetailedTransition &
Contingency
Plan
ConfirmedGo Live
Checklist
WSI ClosedDec 31st
Mattcomingback
UpgradeNoetixDev.
TrainingPlan
NavigationTraining
End UserImpact
Training
= Complete = In Process = Critical Path
UpgradeNoetixProd.
ProjectTeam
Training1 on 1
GL
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How we did it
1. Migrated Oracle application from 11.03 to Oracle 11.5.10 (completed 4 Test runs)
2. Upgraded Oracle eBusiness Suite database to 9i
3. Migrated from NT to Unix, Sun Solaris
4. Installed new Unix OS onto two (2) new servers and conducted re-sizing
5. Developed hot and cold backup strategy
6. Developed scripts for backup execution
7. Installed Veritas NetBackup on two (2) servers
8. Installed Veritas Data Base Addition For Oracle
9. Provided training on features of new release for functional users
10. Non-Oracle customizations were handled by WSI
11. Noetix was Upgraded to 5.4 prior to Go-Live
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Key Issues
Product Incidents
Others 2
Oracle Payables 1
Oracle Receivables 1
Application Install 10
Financials for EMEA 2
Oracle Cost Management 4
Oracle Human Resources 3
Oracle Project Foundation 1
Oracle Workflow Cartridge 2
Applications Desktop Integrator 1
Oracle Application Object Library 13
Oracle Server - Enterprise Edition 5
Oracle Applications One Hour Install 3
Total Incidents 48
Oracle TAR Summary Total Number of TARS opened over 13 Week Project
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Major Issues
TAR /Application Setupso Data issues with Shared HR tableso Netherlands Foreign/Domestic Payment Localizationo Cost Rollup in Inventoryo Project Streamline Processeso Project Credit Memos against converted invoiceso Printer Configurationso Pop-Up Blocker issues
Customization Migrationo Migration of All Package extensions went well - Followed Accepted
Customization Procedureso Custom SQL Loader Routines updated to handle new Interface requirementso PO Report required Developer to migrate specific customization to new 11.5.10
Report as opposed to migrating 11.0.3 Customized report to 11.5.10
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Lessons Learned
Make sure you have executive sponsorship for project
It takes both functional and technical experience
TUMS is great!
Watch those custom reports and programs
Involve every business group effected
Plan well
You can’t test too much – repeat upgrade at least 3 times
Get your timing down by repeating the upgrade
Oracle application Quality level has improved more then we expected
Make sure you have the knowledge transfer from the consultants
Liked the Fixed Price option for migration from TITAN
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Some of the Benefits
No need for frequent System Reboot
No more hanging toolbar
In the latest application release for any future rollouts
Better search capabilities in Projects screens
Notification feature for concurrent report completion
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What’s Next
We have already begun to leverage new features with existing applications and now have access to additional applications as justification warrants
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Questions ?