Oracle Primavera Contract Management, BI Version 14

208 Pages·2012·12.28 MB·English

by  Stephen D. Kelly

Oracle Primavera Contract
Management, Business
Intelligence Publisher
Edition v14
A one-stop reference to concepts and usability of the
core modules of a complex application
Stephen D. Kelly
BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Oracle Primavera Contract Management, Business
Intelligence Publisher Edition v14
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First published: December 2012
Production Reference: 1041212
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ISBN 978-1-84968-690-7
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Cover Image by Asher Wishkerman ([email protected])
Credits
Author Project Coordinator
Stephen D. Kelly Michelle Quadros
Reviewers Proofreader
Daniel L Williams Lawrence A. Herman
Deepak Vohra
Bryan Gardner Indexer
Hemangini Bari
Acquisition Editor
Rukhsana Khambatta Graphics
Valentina D'silva
Aditi Gajjar
Lead Technical Editor
Unnati Shah
Production Coordinator
Shantanu Zagade
Technical Editors
Dipesh Panchal
Sharvari Baet Cover Work
Shantanu Zagade
Copy Editor
Alfida Paiva
About the Author
Stephen D. Kelly graduated from Oregon State University in 1982 with a degree
in Construction Engineering Management. He got his start with a mid-sized general
contractor who was willing to take a chance with this college graduate and they both
saw the benefits of a computer system in the contracting world. Even though the
personal computer had not yet come to the scene, Steve was very interested in how
computers could help the construction industry to manage time, cost and improve
efficiencies. Steve used his knowledge gained at the University and a lot of "on-
the-job-training" along with his love for computers to advance in the construction
industry. He then moved to computerized estimating and building estimating
databases to allow estimators to become more efficient and more accurate. The
problem was that the more accurate the estimator became, the more projects
he would lose as he was more accurate and not bound to miss anything.
After working for many years in the construction industry in various positions and
organizations, Steve decided he wanted to work for many companies at once and
help them computerize their business in the construction industry. At this time,
Primavera had already placed itself in the forefront of the computerized scheduling
market with its DOS product, Primavera Project Planner (P3). Primavera then bought
Expedition and started to market this as a project communication and cost controls
tool to accompany their flagship product. The rest (as they say) is history.
Steve has been implementing and training with the Primavera suite since 1985. He
has worked around the world in many large organizations to help them understand
project controls and how to properly implement and use a tool such as Oracle
Primavera Contract Management. His company, Pro Management Systems, Inc.
has built many third-party applications to enhance the abilities of PCM. Steve has
a passion, and is known for his desire to understand a business before even talking
about the various tools available. Like he says, "I want to learn how you do business
and then figure out how to possibly improve those processes and wrap the tools
around them." He relates project management to the fireman profession. He has
given speeches on this comparison saying, "Even if a fire is put out quickly, there is
always residual damage to deal with." In other words, it is better to keep the fires
from starting at all.
He likens that concept to project management and uses the Primavera tools to allow
his clients to be proactive rather than reactive. He says, "Why not let the computer
tell me what information needs my attention, it is much smarter and faster than I
ever dreamed."
Steve has a wonderful, supportive wife of 30 years, five children, and two
grandchildren. He lives on a small farm in Oregon where he enjoys time in
the out of doors.
I would like to acknowledge that this book would not be possible if
it were not for all the wonderful clients I have had the pleasure to
work with over the years. University can teach you many things, but
book knowledge is not enough in this business. It takes many years
of learning from your peers. There are too many to list but you know
who you are from the very beginning working with this "greenhorn"
college graduate, up through today. Anyone who says he has arrived
and knows all about this business is lying. There is so much to learn.
I'd like to thank everyone who has had an influence. I cannot leave
out my wife Linda and my five children: Dan, John, Kristin, Joe, and
David, who have put up with many days, weeks, and months of
me travelling around the world while Linda was left home holding
down the fort. The most important influence in my life journey is the
Lord Jesus Christ. May He get all the glory of all I do.
About the Reviewers
Daniel L Williams first began working with Primavera in 2001 as part of an
integration project with JD Edwards World. Since then, he has helped numerous
clients integrate Primavera with many other systems, including PeopleSoft,
Timberline, and Oracle EBS. His work revolves around helping people make best
use of Primavera and other software investments. Sometimes this involves heavy
integration; sometimes it involves customization and automation of business
processes. Sometimes it simply involves listening to people talk through their
business goals and helping them come up with workable solutions. Daniel's
background includes a Ph.D. in Physics from Caltech, many years of programming
in C, C++, and C#, and for the past decade leading numerous software development
projects oriented around Primavera. Dr. Williams is the author of Oracle Primavera P6
Version 8: Project and Portfolio Management, Packt Publishing.
I would like to thank my wife, Heather, for being the cornerstone of
our family and allowing me to pursue a career I love.
Deepak Vohra is a consultant and a principal member of the NuBean.com
software company. Deepak is a Sun Certified Java Programmer and Web Component
Developer, and has worked in the fields of XML, Java programming, and J2EE for
over five years. Deepak is the co-author of the book Pro XML Development with Java
Technology, Apress and was the technical reviewer for the book WebLogic: The Definitive
Guide, O'Reilly Media. Deepak was also the technical reviewer for the book Ruby
Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Course Technology PTR, and the technical editor
for the book Prototype and Scriptaculous in Action, Manning Publications. Deepak is also
the author of the books JDBC 4.0 and Oracle JDeveloper for J2EE Development, Packt
Publishing, Processing XML documents with Oracle JDeveloper 11g, Packt Publishing,
and EJB 3.0 Database Persistence with Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g, Packt Publishing.
Bryan Gardner has more than 15 years of experience in various areas of
construction administration, project control, and project management. Prior to
joining Critical Business Analysis in 2004, he had managed many projects in the
commercial and educational segments of construction. During that time, Bryan
gained significant insight into enterprise management systems and information
technology for construction. In addition to his years of hands-on experience with
Primavera products, in the last eight years, Bryan has consulted for many large and
medium size firms for Contract Manager and P6, including clients in the oil and gas,
engineering and construction, aviation, manufacturing, and public works sectors.
Bryan is a certified Trainer and Implementation Consultant for Primavera Contract
Management and P6. Bryan is proficient in the use of the Oracle BI Publisher and
Sybase InfoMaker report writers in conjunction with Primavera products and trains
others to be as well.
Bryan has presented on Contract Management topics at the Primavera User
Conference in 2007 and 2008 as well as the Collaborate conferences in 2011
and 2012.
Most recently Bryan has been working with the Project Controls group of a
major Canadian oil company, working their business functions and specialized
reporting requirements into the Primavera application set. Bryan works each day to
support the successful implementation and long term use of Contract and Project
Management systems, utilizing his real world and consulting experience to provide a
sensible and functional solution.
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Table of Contents
Preface 1
Chapter 1: Welcome to Oracle Primavera Contract
Management v14 11
Contracts 12
The contract in simplified terms 12
Oracle Primavera Contract Management in a nutshell 16
Don't be afraid 18
Summary 19
Chapter 2: Information Overload 21
Types of project information 22
Where does all this information come from 25
Using a hierarchical structure 27
Storage of information 29
Summary 31
Chapter 3: So Much to Manage 33
Types of information 33
Information sent or received 36
Information sent 36
Information received 36
Module Types 37
Requests 38
Notices 40
Noncompliance Notice 40
Proposals 42
Changes 42
Summary 44