Project Partners Blog

Project Partners has been delivering integration between Primavera and Oracle E-Business Suite Projects applications since 1998.  We’re excited that Oracle has released its own integration between these project management applications, and pleased to provide a high level, introductory overview in this article.  You will find more detail in future blogs on this topic.

Architecture and Terminology

The terminology for the integration packs is relatively new, so let’s start with an overview.

Oracle defines Application Integration Architecture (AIA) as a standards-based approach to integrate end-to-end business processes across a broad range of applications.

The Oracle AIA Foundation Pack is a comprehensive SOA based integration product that delivers a Common Object and Shared Service library and it sits on the Application stack. It provides an architecture blue print for SOA-based integration, pre-built standards-based content for integration, and programming models to achieve superior performance.

AIA Process Integration Packs (PIPs) are pre-built integrations built upon the AIA Foundation Pack. PIPs are products that implement a specific set of business processes between specific applications.  In this article we are exploring the integration between Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle Primavera P6.

Oracle AIA Process Integration Pack Architecture

Who Owns What Data?

Oracle architected the Primavera P6-EBS Projects PIP to take advantage of the inherent strengths of Primavera P6 and Oracle E-Business Suite applications, regarding data ownership and data flows. 

Oracle E-Business Suite Projects Applications own the Global Objects and the financial data for a project.  One global Planning Resource List is required in Oracle E-Business Suite Projects.

Primavera owns the scheduling and progress information for a project. Each Primavera installation supports one currency.

Because different entities follow unique business processes and like to manage their projects in different ways, the new integration model allows organizations flexibility in managing the project creation and update cycle.  Organizations can choose to create projects either in Primavera or Oracle Projects knowing synchronization will occur between the two applications while honoring the stringent business processes of both products.

The Process and Data Flows

The Primavera P6-EBS Projects PIP offers several options for integration.  You can choose to use Oracle workplans or financial plans in conjunction with Primavera’s Work Breakdown Stuctures (WBS), as well as fully shared structures, partially shared structures or only financial structures.  In the remainder of this article we will discuss fully shared, workplan-enabled integration. We will be discussing other configurations in future blog articles.

Workplan-Enabled Project Integration, Shared Structures

A shared structure has the same workplan and financial structure.  Users can create a project either in Primavera P6 or in Oracle Projects.  Projects created in P6 will include a WBS, tasks, and resource assignments, and can use the interface to create a workplan in Oracle Projects. For projects created in Oracle Projects, the Oracle workplan structure is always transferred as WBS nodes in Primavera P6.  In this configuration, actual cost data is always sent from Oracle Projects to Primavera P6 to manage the financial progress of a project.  Calculation of Percent Complete and Estimate to Complete (ETC) is always managed in Primavera P6.  Activities and resource assignments are initiated in Primavera P6 and transferred to Oracle Projects, and can then be updated in Oracle Projects with the updates transferred to P6.  The Financial plan can be generated in Oracle Projects either manually or from workplan resources, and can be transferred to Primavera P6 as current budget attributes of the WBS node.

Getting Acquainted

The screenshot below shows the use of the Primavera P6-EBS Projects PIP for a project that is workplan enabled, with shared structures.  The Integration Dropdown menu is utilized to synchronize the project between P6 and Oracle Projects.

In this scenario the following project status elements are transferred from P6 to Oracle Projects: Project Structure, Project Header, WBS and Tasks, Resource Assignments, and Dates.

Data Flow From P6 to Oracle Projects

The following screenshot shows the transfer of Actuals from Oracle Projects to Primavera P6.  Both raw and burdened Actuals can be transferred from Oracle Projects to P6.

Data Flow from Oracle Projects to Primavera P6

Learn More

For more details of the Primavera P6-EBS Projects PIP integration, reference future blog articles, or contact us at info@projectp.com

Copyright 2010, Project Partners LLC

Authors: Kimberly McDonald Baker and Tamim Kulaly, PMP