Integrate Your Infrastructure

presented by Oracular and IBM

Thursday

September 26, 2002

Agenda• Welcome and introductions

• Becky Carson, Documentation and Training Specialist

• WebSphere overview • Dan Marshall, IBM-WebSphere Specialist

• WebSphere success story: Xcel Energy• Jim Glynn, Manager of J.D. Edwards Practice

• Nancy Pellowski, Business Planning, Finance and Process Consultant

• Lunch and drawing for gift certificate

General Info– Breakfast snacks, coffee and juice in next room,

help yourself– Bathrooms located– Seminar expected to last until 11:30-noon– Lunch following presentation

• Drawing for Oracular polo shirts, a wind jacket and a $100 gift certificate for Best Buy held during lunch

– Oracular mugs, calculators and pens, please take!

Oracular, Inc.• Since 1988, serving as Midwest IT services partner to

manufacturers, distributors, service companies, and government

• Offices in Minneapolis, Oshkosh and Milwaukee

• Services through five practices:– IBM-WebSphere/Lotus– J.D. Edwards– PeopleSoft– Oracle– e-Business, including custom application development

Consulting Services• Strategic leadership and ongoing support in:

– Project management

– Software implementation

– Application development

– Network and systems design

– Training / support

– Web services including development, design

– Hosting (high security 24/7 availability)

– Software Reseller

Oracular Customers• Xcel Energy• 3M, Kawasaki, Shopko• North Dakota Legislative Council• South Dakota State University, CyberStudy101• LeFebvre Trucking, Lakeville Motor Express• Oshkosh Truck Corp., Pierce & McNeilus• Plexus, Weisman Enterprises• Stora-Enso, Appleton Coated, Georgia-Pacific• Trek Bicycle

Oracular Solutions• Oracular provides

– Knowledgeable technical architects– Experienced Business Analysts– Skilled Programmers– Creative front end designers– Dedicated Professionals– End to end, cost effective solutions

WebSphere Expert

• Dan Marshall of IBM – See Inserted packet to follow along

SLU Tracking and Reporting System

What is an SLU?

• Xcel Energy formed by the merger of Northern States Power and New Century Energies– Organizational structure includes new “Shared

Services” business unit

What is an SLU?• Merger includes multiple legal entities now

managed under five Operating Business Units:– Retail– Delivery– Energy Supply– Energy Markets– Enterprises

What is an SLU?• Shared Services business unit provides the

following to the five Operating Business Units:– Corporate Communications– Property Services– Human Resources Services– Strategic Sourcing

What is an SLU?• The Service Level Understanding (SLU) is

an agreement between the Shared Services Business Unit and the Operating Business Unit.– Service to be performed by Shared Services– Sets forth optional vs. required services– Aids in budgeting for services

The project

• Why this project?– Two different business needs

• Service Billing view of financial information which conforms to SEC regulations

• The SLU view of charges to Xcel Energy Operating Business Units for services provided

Service Billing• Designed to support SEC regulations and

view of Legal Entity– Some Legal Entities cross Operating Business

Unit lines• NSP-MN• NSP-WI• PSCo• SPS• CLF&P

SLU View• Delivery• Retail• Energy Supply• Energy Markets• Enterprises

Total BU View Across Legal Entities

PLUS Corporate BU’s

•CFO

•General Counsel

What’s the difference?

• Service Billing– Charges by DEPARTMENT (JDE Business

Unit)

• Service Level Understanding– Charges by SERVICE PERFORMED

Why not just use the G/L?

• As information progresses through the G/L processing– Detail (Service/Service Component) is lost– Transactions are rolled together (prior to JDE

and within JDE)– JDE BU Service Component

(not a 1:1 relationship)

The Burning Question:• BU wants to know

– What specific services did we receive?– How much (volume)?– What was the total cost per unit?

• Answer with the old system:– We don’t know…we can only answer ‘Who’

Where did “A” come from?

The Problem

▪ Service Level Understanding

▪Tracking

▪And

▪Reporting

▪System

The Solution

STARS

Objective of STARS

• Track and report information to support a view based on Service Component as laid out on the SLU Agreement between the Operating Business Unit and Shared Services

Project Constraints• Detailed Information is lost through the JDE

process, therefore the detail cannot be extracted solely by manipulating the existing data

• Current Labor Entry (PTRS) does not support ease of entry on the Service Component level.

• Not allowed to have modifications to the existing Service Billing/Allocation processes

Philosophy of the Solution

• Retain DETAIL plus the info sent to JDE

• Use the same RULES to predict the destination of the dollars

• Report on the Operating BU view using the above detail and predictions

Nuts and Bolts• Data Feed

• Labor Reporting

• Integration with mainframe Time system

• Cost Calculations

• Reporting

Data Feed

• Non-Labor Data Feed– Five Feeder Systems Identified

• Passport (non-labor invoices)

• Concur (employee expenses)

• Aperture & Realms (lease/imputed rent)

• Aviation (flight charges)

• Manual JDE Journal entries

Data Feed

• Feeder System Information imported to the ‘STARS Repository’

• Detailed service component retained

• Charge destination (JDE BU, 8-digit WO, or Subledger) identified on detailed record

Labor Reporting• Business requirements indicated a need to replace

PTRS Labor Entry system.

– Enter Time by Service Component

– Assign Time to one or more:• Legal Entity/Entities and • Operating Business Unit(s)

Or:• Specific JDE BU or tracking work order

SEC Implications•Easier to be

accurate•Uses existing

approved methodologies

•No filings!

Integration with TIME• Information is stored in the STARS repository (as

its own record type)

• Transmit information to TIME (mainframe)– Exact information as is transmitted today in a flat file

format

• Extract Loaded Costs from TIME– TIME processes detailed entry and returns loaded cost

as a flat file

Recap so far…• Available information in STARS Repository:

– Detailed information from non-labor feeder systems with Service Component and JDE BU/Obj/Subl/WO/etc.

– Labor details with Service Component and JDE BU/Obj/Subl/WO/etc.

• So what next???

Cost Calculations• Goal: Assign the Service Component Dollars to

the correct ‘bucket’.• Two ways:

– Direct charges to the BU• One to one

– Allocated charges to the BU• Simulate the final outcome

• May require simulation of LE allocation first

Cost Calculations

• Simulating the outcome:– Use the logic and rules in the Allocation tables

and Service Billing AAI’s to calculate the correct ‘bucket’

Cost Calculations• Overview of the logic

– Charges may be allocated among several legal entities

– The charges to each legal entity may then be allocated among several Operating Business Units

Cost Calculations

• Our task:– Allocate each transaction to the Operating

Business Unit level

Reporting• Each transaction,

once the allocation is simulated, is added to a reporting workfile.

• Records are grouped for reporting:– Operating BU

– Portfolio

– Service

– Service Component

Shared Services Summary

BU-DIRECT BU-Allocated TOTAL

Portfolio X

Service 1

Service Component 1A

Service Component 1B

Service Overheads

TOTAL Service 1

Service 2

Service Component 2A

Service Component 2B

Service Overheads

TOTAL Service 2

Portfolio Overheads

TOTAL Portfolio X

Portfolio Y

Portfolio Z

Shared Services Overheads

TOTAL SHARED SERVICES

SLU Customer Summary

TYPE 1:LE DirectBU Direct

TYPE 2LE Direct

BU Allocation

Type 3LE AllocationBU Allocation

Type 4LE

AllocationBU Direct

Is the servicecomponent

known?

Is the serviceknown?

Is the portfolioknown?

Yes

Yes

Yes

That leavesShared Services

Overheads

No

NO

No

The Technical Side

Tools and Programs

Development Tools• Oracle

– Database tables– PLSQL Flat file import/export– Error reports– Employee refresh from PeopleSoft– Automated e-mail error notification to users

• DOS– Scheduled .BAT files to control Oracle processes– FTP scripts

Development Tools• WebSphere

– User Interface applications• Time Entry

• Setup and Matrix Maintenance applications

• JD Edwards OneWorld– Detail data repository table

– Allocation simulation by reading JDE tables

– Reporting workfile with calculated data

– SLU Monthly Detail and Summary Statements

Development Objects• New Tables

– Oracle• STARS Master Repository of Data

• Labor Reporting Account Matrix

• Feeder System Conversion Table

– JD Edwards• Replicated Master Repository

• Statement Workfile

Development Objects• Data Integration:

– Oracle• Flat file import from conversion table (feeder

system data) to Repository

• Flat file export to TIME

• Flat file import of loaded cost data from TIME

• Flat file export to JDE Repository

Development Objects

• Data Integration– Feeder systems

• Flat file Export of loaded costs from TIME

• Flat file Export of Concur data

• Flat file Export of Aviation data

• Flat file Export of Passport data

Development Objects• Interactive Applications

– WebSphere• Time Entry application

• Matrix maintenance application (to maintain account designations for charges)

• User maintenance application

• Setup tables maintenance applications

Development Objects

• Batch Applications– JD Edwards OneWorld

• Batch jobs to simulate allocations, populate reporting workfile and print Operating BU statements

Objects Schematic

Impact on JD Edwards

• No impact on upgrades

• No impact on standard or modified JDE code

• Objects created are not linked to any existing JDE process

Project Summary• Planning and Design phase allowed the architecting of the

best possible solution

• Project objectives met without intruding on existing processes and systems

• WebSphere tool allowed the development of web-based applications with complex logic and functionality

• Close working relationship between Xcel Energy team and Oracular team assured mutual success on the project

Q & A

Wrap Up• Feedback forms to fill out inside your

folders

• Lunch in next room

• Drawing for prizes……– To enter - drop business card in jar in back of

room