Deep Dive into the Grants
Suite 9.2 Functionality,
including best practices and
lessons learned from a
9.2 upgrade
QuestDirect.org
Introductions
Speakers
 Parker Madden
City Collages of Chicago
 Mike Castronovo
AMC
Combined
• over 50+ years
experience with ERP
• Involved in 10+ Grants
Upgrade /
Implementations
• Formerly on the OraclePeopleSoft Customer
Advisory board
• Quest SIG Leadership
team
QuestDirect.org
Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
The Grants Suite – PS 9.2
Deep Dive into Grants 9.2 Features
Lessons Learned
Review of People Tools 8.53
Best Practices for maximizing your 9.2
upgrade
• Key Takeaways
• Q&A
QuestDirect.org
What is the Grants Suite
• The Former ESA Suite Modules
• Market Perception
• The Grants Suite Modules
• GM/CA/PC
• AR/Billing
• KK (GL)
QuestDirect.org
Diagram of Grants Suite
QuestDirect.org
Grants Suite in 9.2
• New Features that Wow Users
• Notable Integration Points
• New Invoice Formatting Tools
QuestDirect.org
New Features that
Wow Users
• Grant Proposal Project Budgets
•
Entry within Proposal Navigation
• Grants.Gov - Proposal Integration
• Grants Portal
•
•
•
9.x Feature
Concept is Spot On
Implementation is Challenging
•
Grant Portal Tree Not Based on Budget Rollup Accounts
QuestDirect.org
Notable Features
• Grants Work Center
• Multiple Fund Distributions (simplified
admin in 9.2)
• Billing Workcenter
• Billing Manager Dashboard
• Contracts WorkCenter / Workbench
• Collections Workbench
QuestDirect.org
Notable Integration Points
• Internal
•
•
•
•
Professional Data
Budgets with KK
Cost Collection
Billing -> AR
• External
• Third Party Proposal Mgmt Systems
QuestDirect.org
New Invoice Formatting Tool
• BI Publisher (XML)
• Predecessors
• SQR
• Crystal
• Learning the Tool
• Word
• Interfaces Similar
• May not be an End User Toolset
QuestDirect.org
Lessons Learned
•
•
•
•
Strict Tech Upgrade is not Realistic
Security
Search Engine Changes
Customizations
•
•
Keeping
Replacing with Vanilla
• PeopleCode Changes
• Data Considerations
•
•
Conversion
“Bad Data”
• Get Educated on 9.2
QuestDirect.org
People Tools 8.53x
Note: To Upgrade to PS version 9.2, you must upgrade to People Tools 8.53x
• PS Upgrade Manager (PUM)
• Work Centers / Dashboards
• Enterprise Search
• Form Builder and Approvals
• Activity Guides / Trains
• Interaction Hub
• Pivot Grids
• Related Actions
• Mobile Support (fluid 8.54)
• Test Framework
• Data Migration tool
• Type Ahead
• Customize login page, sort navigation, breadcrumbs
• Audit
QuestDirect.org
Work Centers
The Work Center combines transactions, analytics, workflow notifications, and
reports into a configurable framework that can be tailored to each role-based
user in the enterprise.


Supports day in the life
activities that you do in
PeopleSoft.
Contains embedded
pagelets:
–
–
–
–
–
My Work - Actions
Reports – add run cnt.
Queries – Can Add
Links
Processes
 Preconfigured by user
role – Can personalize,
Queries / Filters / Run
controls, etc.
 Supports Pivot grids
 Supports related
actions, new pages
QuestDirect.org
PeopleSoft Update Manager (PUM)
PeopleSoft Upgrade Manager is a new way to maintain patches and fixes for
PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft Update Images
released approximately
every 10 weeks - New
changes can be selectively
applied

Choose individual fixes
from bundles and patches.
Creates custom change
package. Can be migrated
to each environment

No longer have to maintain
a patched demo
environment
QuestDirect.org
Forms and Approval Builder
Create custom forms that can be routed for approval, and
linked to component interfaces to feed PeopleSoft tables
 Create basic forms in
PeopleSoft
 Has basic workflow
capabilities, link to
worklists
 Linked to Component
Interfaces to feed PS
Tables
 Eliminates paper and
email based forms.
QuestDirect.org
Activity Guides and Trains
Activity guides allow you to define guided procedures for users to complete.
Users are presented with a list of actions, or tasks, that need to be
completed to finish the procedure.
 There can be a train stop
for each step of the
process. This allows the
user to know exactly where
they are in the process and
what comes next.
 Good for infrequent tasks
such as self service or
complex tasks such as
month end close
QuestDirect.org
Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (SES)
Oracle Secure enterprise search enables you to search on key words, brining
back relevant search results. Replaces the verity search engine

Users search with freeform
text – Result pages are
pulled from designated PS
areas, and other linked
content repositories.
Users can then take direct
actions from results.

You can only see search
results that you have
security to

Requires the set up of
linking search results and
other technical
requirements environments
QuestDirect.org
Interaction Hub
A configurable user interface with single navigation across all applications
including search capability. It contains numerous web 2.0 features. Used to
be called enterprise portal. Comes with a limited license
 Links your ps applications
together into portal, replaces
enterprise portal
 Links to external systems
 Can have custom pagelets
 Pages Can be personalized by
Role. Can provide Content
Management / publish
capabilities. News, blogs,
calendars, forums etc…
 Pages support the Branding
Framework
 Users can conduct search
 Supports Fluid user interface in
8.54
 Common security framework
QuestDirect.org
Best Practices with PS 9.2
#1 Adapt New Investment Cycle
Old Model
 Former ROI model – Upgrade every 3-8 years based
on the PeopleSoft software release cycle and
customer upgrade cycle
New Model – Continual updates.
 Incremental opportunities - every quarter
 People Tools upgrade – every year
 Major upgrade every 3 years
Should impact the way you approach investments in your
PeopleSoft assets.
 May be a challenge to implement
 Upgrades should not just be technical
QuestDirect.org
Best Practice
#2 Continual Stakeholder Engagement /
Alignment
With the new 8.53x release delivery schedule… You
can align stakeholder requirements to solutions much
faster… thus
 Leadership needs to stay engaged, and aligned –
in an ongoing basis.
 Continual engagement of stakeholder groups –
Identify / manage expectation gaps
 Provide incremental delivery of value to each
stakeholder group, Thus, requires more focus on
relationship management
QuestDirect.org
Best Practice
#3 Continual Business Process Improvements
Not just technical upgrades - Allow you to switch to more
of a continual process improvement model … Tasks
for the business analysts






Start with a common
understanding of the process
Layout processes with key
components
Look for pain points or areas of
opportunities
Review industry benchmarks
Develop KPI’s
Determine ROI for
improvement steps
QuestDirect.org
Best Practice –
#4 Road mapping new features/changes
•
Create / Review your PeopleSoft roadmap after each
new PeopleSoft update -- This will need to blend
production support efforts, new releases, and other
ongoing initiatives. Be sure to communicate
appropriately.
•
Annually determine if unused PeopleSoft applications
are fit for purpose – If fit, place on the PS roadmap
•
Prioritize roadmap, communicate, implement
QuestDirect.org
Best Practice –
#5 Develop a Competency Center
There is a natural tendency is for people and
systems to come out of alignment.
A Competency Center does 3 main things
• Determines what skills are needed by the users
• Evaluates system use and determines gaps
• Provides training to users as needed.
QuestDirect.org
Reality of Upgrading to 9.2
Upgrade considerations for
• Technical Staff – Customizations and vanilla may
not work when upgrading to 9.2
•
Functional Staff – need strong functional leads,
software is more complex and more feature rich,
this can help remove customizations
•
Support - Train team in advance, having them
participate throughout the entire process
QuestDirect.org
Key Takeaways
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Grants suite has expanded to include other modules
not just ESA
Lots of clients conduct the initial Grants proposal
management still outside of PeopleSoft.
Analytics – still not prime time, but improving
Adapt to the new ROI Model
Grants Portal –right idea, hard to implement
Any report in Crystal is going away - BI publisher is
Kludgey but a respectable replacement for Crystal
Reports.
Work Together!
QuestDirect.org
Q&A
?
Contact us for more Information
Mike Castronvo
mikeca@amcpeoplesoft.com
www.amcpeoplesoft.com
QuestDirect.org
save the date
Join more than 500 other
PeopleSoft users at
April 12-16, 2015
Mandalay Bay- Las Vegas, NV
•
•
Keynote from Paco Aubrejuan,
PeopleSoft Vice President
Breaking News Around PeopleSoft’s
Roadmap and Strategy
•
Education around PeopleSoft with Edge
products, macro-level content and high-level
strategy
•
More than 230 Solution Providers across
several Oracle Products
QuestDirect.org/COLLABORATE
QuestDirect.org