Service Excellence Continuing Investments

In this update, improvements are available in the following areas:

PROJECT MANAGEMENT COMMON

• Export Large Sets of Data from Multiple Project Management Pages: The export to Excel function for the below pages will automatically choose the most efficient method. When the number of records exceeds a specific threshold, currently set at 1500 (for all pages other than My Projects, whose threshold is 500), the export will be performed in the background, allowing for work to continue in these pages while the export completes and is downloaded for local use.
  • Pages with this enhancement include:
    • Manage Capital Event Costs
    • Manage Committed Costs
    • Manage Project Costs
    • My Projects (both for Project Financial Management and Project Management)
    • Manage Revenue Distributions
  • When the threshold is exceeded and the export is performed in the background, the format of the resulting exported files may differ from the file created when the threshold is not met, and to the exported files created in prior updates. Specific changes include:
    • The exported file will include a specific set of columns in a specific order.  The exported file will not consider views defined by personalization, saved searches that hide or reorder columns, or further refinement of the data set using the Query by Example function.
    • The user will be informed that a notification will be received when the export process completes and the files are ready. To view the notification, click the Notifications (Bell) icon.
    • If more than 100,000 rows of data are exported, then multiple exported files will be created
    • Descriptive Flexfields will be displayed as individual columns in the exported file with column headers based on the Table Column assigned to each segment, such as Attribute1, Attribute2... The column header for the Context Segment is Attribute Category.
  • Other considerations
    • When a user who is not granted a role including the View Project Labor Cost privilege exports from the Manage Project Costs page, the export will never be performed in the background.
    • When exporting from the My Projects pages, the Notes, Project Image, and Attachment columns will not be included in the exported file.

• Project Status Comments in Project-Related OTBI Subject Areas: View project status comments that are made while changing the status of the project to the current status in the project-related OTBI subject areas for reporting.

BILLING AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT

• Additional Bill and Revenue Plan Attributes in Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence
  • The following attributes are added to the Contract Line Billing Details and Revenue Details dimensions:
    • Person Rate Schedule
    • Job Rate Schedule
    • Nonlabor Rate Schedule
  • The additional attributes in the Contract Line Billing Details and Contract Line Revenue Details dimensions are added in the following subject areas:
    • Project Billing - Event Real Time
    • Project Billing - Invoices Real Time
    • Project Billing - Revenue Real Time
    • Project Billing - Funding Real Time
    • Project Billing - Bill Transactions Real Time
    • Projects - Billing and Revenue Exceptions Real Time
    • Projects - Cross Subject Area Analysis - Real Time

Based on Idea 508366 from the OTBI Reporting Tools Idea Labs on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect.

• Additional Project Process Configurator Sources for Revenue Calculation in Project Currency: Define project process configurators using newly added sources to calculate revenue based on Inception-to-date revenue amount or forecasted revenue in project currency. For example, now you can utilize the new sources, along with planned and actual cost amount in project currency sources, to accurately recognize revenue when contract and project currencies differ from the ledger currency.

  The new sources include:

  Name	Description	Filters Supported
  Calculation Level Revenue in Project Currency - ITD	Inception to date revenue amount in project currency at the calculation level, recognized from expenditure items and all events.
  Calculation Level Planned Revenue in Project Currency	Calculation level of planned revenue amount in project currency.	Expenditure Category Expenditure Type Plan Type Project Status Project Type

Based on Idea 675417 from the Project Management Idea Labs on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect.

• Bill Transaction Synchronization on Billing Event Update or Delete: In the 23C update, we delivered the Bill Transaction Creation on Cost Import feature under Controlled Availability. We extended this feature in 23D to also create bill transactions when project billing events are created (listed as Bill Transaction Creation on Billing Event Creation in the 23D update readiness materials). In this release, we have extended this functionality further to automatically synchronize changes to bill transactions if the related project billing events are updated or deleted. Please refer to the 23C and 23D What’s New documents for worked examples.
  • Before release 24B, the Bill Transaction Creation on Cost Import feature is under controlled availability and requires a Service Request to be logged through My Oracle Support. Support will then provide you with a promotion code enabling you to unlock and opt into the feature using Setup and Maintenance. From release 24B onwards, the feature is generally available and can be opted in without needing to log a Service Request or enter a promotion code.
  • Our goal is to ensure that bill transactions provide a real-time record of amounts to bill (in other words, work-in-progress, or WIP), reportable in OTBI, without the need to rely on batch processes such as Generate Invoices or Generate Revenue. Before this feature, the Generate Invoices or Generate Revenue processes needed to be run to maintain bill transactions. This service excellence item concludes that goal.
  • For upcoming releases, our focus turns to the following capabilities under consideration:
    • General availability of the Bill Transaction Creation on Cost Import feature (removal of Controlled Availability)
    • Create WIP reports in OTBI more easily using simplified WIP measures and a bill transaction status attribute (more accurately reflecting where each transaction is within the billing lifecycle)
    • Adjust bill transactions using a REST API
    • Create invoices from bill transactions using a REST API
    • A new user experience for viewing, managing, and billing WIP
  • Limitations:
    • Maintaining project billing events using SOAP API will not synchronize with bill transactions. We recommend that you use the corresponding REST API or FBDI.
    • As per the Contracts REST API documentation, do not pass the status attribute (StsCode) when patching a contract, as doing so will not trigger an update to bill transactions. To approve a contract, use the submit/approve method.

• Improved Project Contract Invoice Status Management Using a REST API: As of the 24A update, the Project Contract Invoices REST API is altered to avoid the possibility of invalid attribute value updates that can delay invoice processing. As a result, the Update of an invoice header for a project contract invoice operation no longer supports the direct update of the above-mentioned invoice status related attributes. Review your use of this REST API to review whether you need to change existing integrations.
  • Background: Before the 24A update, it was possible to update a subset of attributes below attributes using the Update an invoice header for a project contract invoice operation of the Project Contract Invoices REST API. These attributes included:
    • InvoiceStatusCode
    • CreditMemoReasonCode
    • Exception
    • ReceivablesNumber
    • ReleasedByPersonId
    • ReleasedDate
    • TransferredDate
    • UnreleaseComments
    • LastUnreleasedByPersonId
    • LastUnreleasedDate
    • SubmittedByPersonId
    • SubmittedDate
    • AcceptedDate
  • Invalid values prevent the status update and delay subsequent steps in the invoicing business processes.
  • As of the 24A update, the Update of an invoice header for a project contract invoice operation no longer supports the direct update of these attributes. Instead, use specific operations to update the status of the invoice. Available operations include:
    • Submit of a single draft invoice
    • Approval of a single submitted invoice
    • Rejection of a single submitted invoice
    • Return of a single approved or approval rejected invoice to draft status
    • Release of a single approved invoice
    • Unrelease of a single released or transfer rejected invoice

GRANT MANAGEMENT

• Enhanced Time Card Integrity Validations Upon Award Updates: Prevent updates to awards, such as deleting an associated project, funding source, or changing the award dates if impacted time cards exist in Oracle Fusion Time and Labor that have not yet been sent to Project Costing.

PLANNING, SCHEDULING, AND FORECASTING

• Efficient Baseline of Financial Project Plan: Financial project plan baseline now avoids proliferation of versions each time the action is invoked by incremental baseline, for example change in dates, quantity, or amounts. This avoids unnecessary version creation and makes managing of financial project plan, progress, or project budget more responsive, specifically the creation of financial project plan or project budget baselines.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING

• Manage Views for Program Analysis: Manage views to create, update, or delete custom views for your program analysis using the Project Program Users REST API. The custom action available under the Project Program Users REST API is as follows:

  Action	Path	Input Parameters
  manageView	/fscmRestApi/resources/11.13.18.05/projectProgramUsers/{id}/action/manageView	action viewName existingViewName newViewName

  Attribute	Values	Details
  action	CREATE	Provide the viewName parameter to create a custom view to tailor your program analysis.
  	UPDATE	Use this value when you want to modify an existing custom view. Specify the existingViewName parameter for the view to update it and the newViewName parameter to rename it.
  	DELETE	Use this value to remove a custom view. Provide the ViewName parameter to remove views you no longer need.

  These actions are designed to give you full control over your program analysis views, ensuring your analysis aligns with your objectives, stays up-to-date, and remains clutter-free.

• Program Creation Flow Enhancement: Enhanced program creation flow makes it more efficient for you to create new programs or edit existing programs, saving time and reducing errors. Key improvements are as follows:

  • Checklist for Mandatory Fields: Stay on track as you complete your program details with a checklist. It ensures you don't miss critical information, making program setup smoother and error-free.

  • Save and Close: You can now Save and Close your work, giving you the flexibility to return to it later when you're ready to finalize your program setup.

Program Creation Flow Enhancement

• Close Parent Programs and Child Programs with a Single Action: Close parent programs along with their associated child programs at the same time. Key benefits are:
  • Efficient Closure: Close parent programs and all associated child programs in one step, reducing effort and ensuring consistency.
  • Impact Notification: Before finalizing the closure, you'll receive a clear notification of the impact on your program hierarchy. 

Close Parent Programs with Child Programs

• Creation of Action Plan from Headlines: Creation of Action Plan from Headlines empowers program managers to take immediate action when it matters most. Now, you can create action plans directly from the Headlines tab, streamlining the process and making it even more effective.

Key benefits are:

• Effortless Initiation: Select a specific project or program from the graph on the Headlines tab and initiate the action plan creation process with a single click.

• Default Summary and Description: The summary and description fields are automatically filled out with relevant performance measures, ensuring you start with a strong foundation for your action plan.

 How it works: 

1. Select Your Target: From the Headlines tab, right-click on the specific project or program you want to address with an action plan.
2. Initiate Action Plan: With a click, start the action plan creation process.
3. Review and Edit: Review and edit the default values as needed to tailor the plan to your objectives.
4. Save and Implement: Once you're satisfied with your action plan, save it and put it into action. 

Creation of Action Plans from Headlines

Auto Population of Summary and Description

With this capability, you can respond swiftly to performance insights and initiate action plans without delay.

• Watchlist Context on Analysis Summary: Apply a watchlist context filter on the Analysis Summary page to quickly filter the watch listed programs.

 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

• Track the Expiration of Licenses, Certifications, and Memberships in the Context of Searching and Evaluating Resources for a Project Resource Request: The resource manager is informed that a resource has a requested license, membership, or certification that expires before the requested start date specified on the request. Qualification scores aren't impacted by the expiry of these qualifications.

Note: This is available when the Enhanced Talent Profile for Project Resource Requests and Fulfillment is enabled.

Expiration of Qualification Highlighted During Review of a Candidate

• Project Resource Request API Enhancement: Approve requested resources in open project resource requests for new resource and replace resource requests using the ApproveRequest action.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.