The future of project controls is no longer on the horizon—it’s already here, and Artificial Intelligence drives it. At a high level, the type of organization and IT strategy that your company adopts determines the path you can take with AI. With Oracle’s Smart Construction Platform, including a rich variety of options such as Oracle Primavera Cloud, Primavera P6 EPPM, Unifier, Aconex, and others, there are two main approaches: the SaaS route and the hybrid route. This diversity ensures that you can find the perfect fit for your needs.
If your organization fits the SaaS model, you can utilize Primavera SaaS products and Oracle Cloud technology, allowing you to take full advantage of pre-built solutions, such as the Construction and Engineering Intelligence (CEI) solution, which can save you significant time.
On the other hand, if you have different scenarios—such as working with multiple database versions, being hosted in non-Oracle environments, or using various ERP systems and technologies—you will need to follow a hybrid approach and leverage the Oracle data platform.
To learn more about the current AI capabilities in Oracle Primavera and what we’ve done to get AI in your hands, predictive analytics to prevent schedule delays, and the future roadmap for project controls, check out our latest webinar, Reinventing Project Controls: AI Meets Oracle’s Primavera Smart Construction Platform.
Whether you’re planning large-scale infrastructure, energy, or capital projects, this session reveals how AI-driven insights are adaptable to your needs. You can empower project managers, planners, and schedulers to make faster, smarter decisions, whether using on-premises EBS, JDE, or adopting the latest Cloud ERP applications. From predictive analytics to intelligent scheduling, discover practical ways to integrate AI into your workflows—and unlock a new era of project delivery success.
The SaaS Route
Upon examining these two strategic avenues more closely, several notable distinctions emerge. In the realm of commercial Software as a Service (SaaS), the journey toward implementation is far from being entirely seamless or plug-and-play. Organizations must dedicate substantial time and resources to meticulously standardize their data. This process involves ensuring that data is uniformly formatted and consistently maintained, as well as rigorously assessing the quality and integrity of the information flowing into data lakes. While this task requires careful attention, its complexity pales in comparison to the challenges posed by a purely hybrid model, which often necessitates a complex interplay of on-premises and cloud-based systems, leading to greater integration hurdles.
For public sector organizations seeking robust CEI analytics, the BOSS framework provides a promising pathway to access essential software tools. Although this framework currently faces limitations regarding compatibility with specific secure networks, it is crucial to recognize that Oracle is attuned to these challenges. They are actively working on enhancements designed to broaden its compatibility. An announcement regarding these significant advancements is eagerly anticipated in the near future, which could dramatically enhance the accessibility and effectiveness of CEI analytics for public sector entities.
The old Construction Intelligence Cloud (CIC) analytics product comes with numerous pre-built pipelines for the main Primavera products. It includes a variety of out-of-the-box visualizations, all based on years of construction and engineering expertise. It also offers several native AI functionalities. Recently, the Cloud Advisor has incorporated machine learning capabilities.
A significant advancement in this area is that Oracle has actively engaged with the industry through research programs, speaking directly with existing customers to understand how they utilize data and what they wish to achieve with it. By collecting and anonymizing customer data, Oracle has trained its machine learning AI tools on this information.
The initial release of this new functionality focuses on safety and safety monitoring, with plans for the next release to address scheduling. These updates provide pre-built features that can analyze projects and prioritize action steps to minimize safety incidents. Essentially, this machine learning capability reviews the projects in your database and highlights essential insights that may not be otherwise apparent.
The Hybrid Route
Let’s move on to the second route: the hybrid route. If you have a non-standard SaaS environment—such as using SAP, ERP, or a combination of multiple ERPs across your organization—this approach may be suitable for you. This is especially true if you have some on-premise products and some SaaS products, or if you’re operating in hybrid environments or secure defense settings where everything needs to remain off the public cloud. These factors often lead organizations to consider a hybrid solution.
Getting AI in your Hands
Before you begin using AI tools, there are several vital steps to take. First, you need to purchase the necessary software subscriptions. There are two key components to consider: the CI analytics user license subscriptions and the required product data source subscriptions. The latter is essential for establishing the data pipeline that feeds systems like P6, Unifier, or Aconex into your analytics.
Next, it’s beneficial to collaborate with a partner who can help you clarify your objectives, assess your current systems, and outline the steps needed to achieve your goals. Opting for the CEI route can simplify much of the process, but it’s still crucial to approach implementation in a structured and knowledgeable manner. This is why having a partner is so valuable.
While the out-of-the-box product is excellent, you may find that you need custom reports, complex dashboards, and other specific outputs that management requests monthly. Keep in mind that when you first acquire the tools, you’ll be embarking on a learning journey.
When it comes to combining data sets, the results can be impressive. It’s important to note that all pre-built pipelines into the data warehouse are included as part of your subscription. Additionally, you can incorporate external data from third-party applications using flat files. While this option has some limitations, it allows you to access and combine different data sources.
With this capability, you can create comprehensive dashboards with a variety of graphical outputs. It’s essential to consider the specific data you’re trying to visualize, as there are numerous ways to present that data effectively. We can develop custom dashboards tailored to individual users based on their specific roles, taking into account their access rights and the security measures in place. Each user will only see the data to which they are permitted access. This approach allows you to roll out these tools to a large number of users, empowering them to take control of their data.
In Conclusion
Incorporating a robust data integration platform, such as Oracle, not only streamlines the consolidation of diverse data sources but also enhances performance and reduces latency, making it particularly effective for large datasets. Moreover, by utilizing advanced AI capabilities, organizations can unlock deeper insights and transform both structured and unstructured data into actionable intelligence, ultimately driving more informed decision-making and fostering innovation. Whether you are going the Oracle SaaS or Hybrid route, AI is available to aid your organization in tighter project controls.
As mentioned above, for those interested in further improving project management, our latest webinar, “Reinventing Project Controls: AI Meets Oracle’s Primavera Smart Construction Platform,” covers essential topics such as predictive analytics for schedule delays and the future roadmap for project controls. This session will provide valuable insights into harnessing AI for enhanced project outcomes.
