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FINDINI 3.2.9 Release: Oracle Financials System Availability and Release Details top
This weekend the Oracle Financials applications will be upgraded. Here are the anticipated system outage dates and times and details on some of the enhancements:
Oracle Financials Outage
Due to FINDINI Release 3.2.9, Oracle Financials will be unavailable starting on Friday, October 16th at 6:00pm until Monday, October 19th at 6:00am.
Vendor Request Form Enhancements
The following enhancements will be made available within the ‘Vendor Request’ responsibility as of October 19, 2009:
SSN/TIN Validation when Requesting a New Vendor
If you are requesting a New Vendor within the Vendor Request Form, the system will now validate whether or not the SSN/TIN is currently utilized by a Vendor within the system. If the SSN/TIN does not exist in the Vendor Master, the system will allow the Requestor to continue filling out the form. In the event that the SSN/TIN does exist, the following message will appear:
This should further assist requestors in searching for pre-existing vendors. An additional search function for SSN/TIN is in the works!
Reactivating a Vendor and/or a Vendor Site
Additional functionality has been created to allow a Requestor to reactivate a Vendor or a Vendor Site. The functionality has been added to accommodate requestors who would like to reactivate a Vendor or Site without submitting a new request.
To REACTIVATE a VENDOR
Step 1: Search for Vendor to Reactivate
Step 2: Click on the ‘Inactive Date’ of Vendor
Step 3: If one of the sites that is listed is the site you wish to use, click on the ‘ReActivate’ button next to the ‘Site’ – this will reactivate both the Vendor and Site. If you will need to request a New Site, you need to click on the ‘ReActivate Vendor Only’ – this will reactivate the Vendor so new sites may be applied to it.
Step 4: Enter a ‘ReActivate Reason’ as well as your Tub/Org/Approver (these are all REQUIRED fields). Click ‘Submit’.
Please note: if you are reactivating a Vendor only, no information will be contained in the ‘Site’ area on the form.
Step 5: Request will forward to your Approver
To REACTIVATE a VENDOR SITE (for an ACTIVE VENDOR)
Step 1: Search for Vendor to Reactivate Site
Step 2: Click on the ‘Sites’ button of the Vendor
Step 3: Click on the ‘Inactive Date’ of Vendor Site
Step 4: Enter a ‘ReActivate Reason’ as well as your Tub/Org/Approver (these are all REQUIRED fields). Click ‘Submit’
Step 5: Request will forward to your Approver
Please send any questions regarding this enhancement to the UIS Helpdesk at 617-496-2001 or via email at uis_helpdesk@harvard.edu..
J-Initiator Plug-In Transition to Java Runtime Environment (JRE) Plug-In on October 19 top
Users of the following forms-based applications will no longer require the J-Initiator to work with Oracle Financials:
- Applications Administration
- Budget Tool
- CAPS
- Cash Management (CMRA)
- CSMA
- General Ledger
- Payables
- Receivables
- CREW financials reporting will be unavailable from 8:00pm, Friday, Oct. 16 (our usual down time) to approximately 1:00pm, Monday, October 19. This includes:
- Financials
- Grants Management
- Student Data Warehouse
- CAPS
- The DWCENPRD & HDWUTS databases for ad hoc & exporting will have the same outage as CREW reporting above
- The CREW nightly data load including both financials and HR is cancelled on Friday, Oct. 16. A special load of financials data, along with the usual HR load will run on Sunday night, Oct. 18
- CREW Human Resource reporting will also be unavailable on Saturday until approximately 5:00pm
- Run HRACCDP222 for any department(s) you would like (you may filter on Empl Class and exclude LHT’s --- but these are optional parameters)
- Choose Excel for the Output Type
- Select Report: License Information
- Date Issued indicates when the form was [electronically] signed
- Expiration Date indicates when the form needs to be re-signed by the employee
- The ability to print one article or the entire issue
- The ability to email an article to colleagues
- An updated look and feel for the publication
- The CREW RPT 5.10 report release is scheduled for October 16. See article 5 for details concerning report and data model enhancements.
- Release date for system-to-system (S2S) submissions to support the “FFATA” versions of Grants.gov forms TBD. NIH is planning to transition to the new forms in February.
- updates on projects underway to build or improve University administrative systems;
- information about new University policies, procedures, and forms;
- reminders about upcoming deadlines and cut-over dates;
- tips and tricks for working more easily or productively.
Users will now use the Java Runtime Environment, or JRE Plug-in, in place of the J-Initiator. This change was first reported in the August e-News; this issue also explains how to install the latest version of the JRE plug-in.
Once you have the JRE plug-in, follow these steps to start working with the JRE Plug-In Oracle Financials:
1. Log into the Oracle Financials Gateway page and click the button labeled "Oracle Login via PIN".
2. Enter username and password for PIN.
3. When the Oracle Financials Home Page displays, click on responsibility required to do your work.
4. A dialog box for installing the JRE you need on your desktop will appear on the screen. Click the "Accept>" button on the Java Setup dialog box to start the installation process.
5. Click the "Finish" button on the Java Setup dialog box to complete the installation.
6. You are set to go. No other actions are required for using Oracle Financials.
Users should note that they will be able to tell whether they are using the JRE or the J-Initiator from their Oracle application screens:
Indicates that the user has the JRE Plug-In installed
Indicates that the user is using the J-Initiator
Note that after you have the JRE Plug-installed, you may see the following dialog box the next time you log into Oracle Financials:
Users should check off the “Always trust content from this publisher” box to disable this message.
A Note About Applications that May Require a Lower Version of the JRE Plug-In: It is possible that some users may use an application either within Harvard or from an external vendor resource that may also use the JRE Plug-in, albeit a lower version. Oracle Financials works with version 1.6.13 and above. If you try to access another application that uses a lower version of the JRE plug-in, you may not be able to access the resource. If you encounter this problem, please see the JRE Plug-In Troubleshooting Guide found on the Financial Applications Website. Please note that you may require assistance from your local desktop support personnel with this issue.
Please send any questions regarding the JRE plug-in to the UIS Helpdesk at 617-496-2001 or via email at uis_helpdesk@harvard.edu.
CREW Outage Information for October 17 - 19, 2009 top
The CREW Reporting and Ad Hoc environments will be unavailable as follows during the software release of CREW FIN 3.2.9 & APP 1.5.6:
Please send any questions regarding the CREW Outage to the UIS Helpdesk at 617-496-2001 or via email at uis_helpdesk@harvard.edu.
Human Resource Reporting News top
EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION:
Reminder for employees to update emergency contact information in PeopleSoft. There are 2 reports currently available in CREW:
HREMREE036 – Individual Emergency Contacts: This report allows users to view emergency contact information for any active employee in their department.
HREMRDP037 – Departmental Emergency Contacts: This report gives departments the ability to look-up emergency contact information for employees in a particular department. This information can be used to conduct a data audit of emergency contact information for a department.
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT:
HRACCDP222 [Departmental-Accomplishments Profile (HON, LIC)] is the CREW report that you can run to find employees that have filled out the Confidentiality Agreement.
In order to find those who employees, you will need to do the following:
When you open your results, filter on Accomplishment = HU Confidentiality Agreement
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the UIS Helpdesk at 496-2001 or uis_helpdesk@harvard.edu.
Thank you,
The Harvard Human Resources, Information Systems and Analytics Reporting team.
October 2009 CREW Financial, Sponsored, CAPS, and Student Release Items top
| Category | Module | Report, View or Object | Description | Release | Actual or *Target Release Date |
| Accounts Payable | Data Model | OPO_Vendors_V | Change the way the view is populated from an incremental load to a full trunc and load nightly | CREW FIN 3.2.9 | *10/17/2009 |
| Accounts Receivable | REPORT | ARISITE141: Inactivated Customer Sites | Decommission report from CREW | CREW RPT 5.10 | *10/16/2009 |
| Capital Asset Management | Data Model | SSN Consolidation | Increase security around SSNs and refresh reports to capture latest back-end structure changes | CREW FIN 3.2.9 | *10/17/2009 |
| Chart of Accounts | Data Model | DW_OBJECTS_D_V | Update the nightly load mapping logic to recognize updates to HHSM_INELIGIBLE and MTDC_INELIGIBLE flags | CREW FIN 3.2.9 | *10/17/2009 |
| CREW Application | CREW APP | CREW Schedule Page | Fix issue where clicking the "Save" button more than once will generate an exception error page | CREW APP 1.5.6 | *10/17/2009 |
| General Ledger | REPORT | GLECOMP177: Extra Comp Detail Report | Decommission report from CREW | CREW RPT 5.10 | *10/16/2009 |
| General Ledger | REPORT | GLEIEXX175: Estimated Income from Endowments (EIE) | Decommission report from CREW | CREW RPT 5.10 | *10/16/2009 |
| General Ledger | REPORT | GLPYCOR185: Payroll Default Correction Rpt | Decommission report from CREW | CREW RPT 5.10 | *10/16/2009 |
| Oracle Security | REPORT | OSUSERS116: Active Users Report | Decommission report from CREW. (Replaced by new report OSUSRIN223, released in June 2009.) | CREW RPT 5.10 | *10/16/2009 |
| Sponsored | Data Model | SSN Consolidation | Increase security around SSNs and refresh reports to capture latest back-end structure changes | CREW FIN 3.2.9 | *10/17/2009 |
| Sponsored | REPORT | GMPRJCT084: Segments | Add ARRA Stimulus flag parameter and output field to identify sponsored awards funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) | CREW FIN 3.2.9 | *10/17/2009 |
| Sponsored | Data Model | APPROVAL_REQUIREMENTS | Update OGM_REQUEST_APPROVALS and OGM_AWARD_APPROVALS columns: Conflict_Status, Conflict_Status_Cd, and Conflict_Status_Description, to be consistent with recent GMAS updates | CREW FIN 3.2.9 | *10/17/2009 |
| Student | Data Model | OSTU_STU_BAL_MONTH_V | Point-in-Time data capture for reporting | CREW FIN 3.2.9 | *10/17/2009 |
| Student | Data Model | SSN Consolidation | Increase security around SSNs and refresh reports to capture latest back-end structure changes | CREW FIN 3.2.9 | <*10/17/2009 |
HUBS Update: End User Training and New Project Forum top
With Go-Live for the Wave 2 Tubs just over a month away, the HUBS team is looking towards the training of their users. The training of the Wave 2 Tubs will begin in November 2009 and last through February 2010. The Tubs and project team will be working in concert to provide both Tub-led and project-team led training courses. This approach will allow tubs who lead their own training to slightly tailor their training materials while the project team/CWD will offer both single and joint-Tub sessions.
The project iSite now includes a Forum Page which hosts a discussion board for questions about the project. Feel free to post your questions about the project here!
Also, make sure to check out the HUBS section on Eureka, the Center for Workplace Development's Learning Management System. Found under the Financials drop-down menu, the HUBS section contains online courses, work instructions for webforms, reports, and business rules, and now contains work instructions for SmartView Analytics.
A New Look and Updated Functionality for e-News! top
e-News readers were polled last year concerning their use of e-News and asked to provide suggestions for improvement. The vast majority of users were happy with the information found in e-News. Readers made several excellent recommendations to improve the electronic newsletter, including:
Beginning with the November 2009 issue, e-News will include this additional functionality and sport a modern new look:
Readers will be asked to send in their comments after next month's issue. Thanks again to everyone who responded to the e-News survey!
Upcoming Releases top
FY2010 FINDINI Releases
A software release to the Oracle Financial Applications, known as a "FINDINI release", is done every two to four months. Each upgrade introduces needed bug fixes, enhancements, and technical upgrades into Harvard's financial systems. Generally, releases are performed on weekends to assure maximum availability during the business week. Most outages occur from 6 pm Friday evening-6 am Monday morning.
The next FINDINI release, 3.2.9, is scheduled for October 16-19, 2009. Please see article 1 concerning the anticipated system outage and new functionality. Users of Oracle forms-based applications should also see article 2 concerning the JRE Plug-In.
The Oracle Financial Applications are:
| • General Ledger & ADI | • Electronic Shop and Pay (ESP) |
| • Budget Tool | • Harvard Crimson Online Marketplace (HCOM) |
| • Accounts Receivable | • Capital Projects Services (CAPS) Automated System |
| • Cash Management (CMRA) | • Chart Security Maintenance Application (CSMA) |
| • Accounts Payable | • Chart of Account Validator (CoA) |
| • Web Voucher | • Web Reimbursement |
| • Procurement Card (Pcard) | • Online Vendor Form |
CREW FIN Releases
The next CREW FIN release, 3.2.9, is scheduled for October 17-19. Please see article 3 for system outage information.
HR and CREW HR Release 25
HR Release 25 is scheduled to be released in December, 2009. Please check future issues of e-News for more information.
CREW Reports
In addition to the CREW Financial and CREW HR releases which correspond with the FINDINI and HR releases listed above, changes and enhancements to new and existing CREW reports are also released monthly.
GMAS Releases
About the e-News top
The Center for Workplace Development publishes this electronic newsletter for users of Harvard University's financial, HR, and reporting systems, policies, and procedures. The e-News is generally published on or around the 15th of each month.
It contains:
We welcome questions and suggestions for improvement from readers. If your questions are of general interest, we will answer them in future issues.
Please send comments, questions, or suggestions for improvement by email to us at: admin_systems_enews@harvard.edu.
For information about subscribing or unsubscribing to the eNews notifications, visit our who gets the eNews page.