Your resource for Quick Tips and Tools that can help you get the most value out of your JD Edwards solutions.

JD Edwards Tools Release Upgrade – The Technology Benefits Without the Full Upgrade Overhead. 

JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools releases are smaller projects that are not too time consuming unless you have many servers in your configuration or a complex or non-standard configuration.  So if you would like to make your JD Edwards administration job a bit easier it is time to go to Tools 8.97 or higher.  One reason for moving to a later Tools Release is that beginning with Tools 8.97 Oracle has now included a great management tool named Server Manager which allows you to centrally monitor, deploy and configure all of the servers in your EnterpriseOne installation, including the deployment of new Tools Releases.  The move from a Tools Release prior to Tools 8.97 requires a bit more work than a standard Tools Release upgrade, but once it is done future Tools Release upgrades are easier and life for your JD Edwards administrators has never looked so good.

 We always recommend extensively testing your new Tools Release before deploying to Production.  It is best practice to test a Tools Release by setting up Multi-Foundation, a method of configuring your system to run both Tools Releases concurrently on your existing installation, or on a dedicated JD Edwards test bed.  Setting up Multi-Foundation involves one-time effort that can be leveraged for future Tools Release upgrades as well.

For more information on the benefits of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Server Manager or the latest Tools Releases, contact us and we will send you the must-read documents covering each JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools Release.

Tim Clauberg

Senior Solution Consultant, brij Image & Information

Going it Alone:  Upgrading JD Edwards EnterpriseOne by Yourself

Should you upgrade your JD Edwards EnterpriseOne yourself, or should you hire someone else to do it for you?  There are many technology components that make up the EnterpriseOne software suite, thus many components to be upgraded:   core Tools, updates and ESU’s, database, and operating systems.  This article will focus on upgrading your EnterpriseOne software from one major release to another; for example Applications 8.10 to Applications 9.0, which usually entails a Tools release upgrade as well.

Before you upgrade, perform an assessment of your internal skill sets to see if you have what it takes to get this task completed in a timely, predictable manner.  Let’s say your internal technology team members have a great knowledge of JD Edwards architecture and system administration (Configurable Network Computing, or CNC).  They are confident they can perform the task because they have managed the system for years, are comfortable with the technology and know that they have successfully expanded the boundaries of their skills throughout their career.   This is how great technology people are created—by addressing challenges through education and experimentation.

The questions to ask are:  What is the cost of developing those skills and how often will those skills be employed?  When will you have to upgrade again?  What is the value to the organization of developing the skills required to upgrade a JD Edwards release level? 

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne major release cycle is a new release about every eighteen months, with full support for that release (patches, fixes, upgrade scripts, tax and regulatory updates) for five years.  Tax and regulatory updates are delivered for one additional year.  On average, JD Edwards customers upgrade major release levels within the support window of five years.  If you upgrade more frequently—sticking more closely to the release cycle rather than the support window—you may opt to build much of the upgrade skill set internally.   If you tend to upgrade based on the support window the skills that you develop to perform an upgrade will not be maintained through practice and the risk of an unsuccessful upgrade increases dramatically. 

Sometimes there are changes to the upgrade process, as there was between Tools Release 8.96 and 8.97.  Regardless of your upgrade cycle, you should consider getting outside assistance with planning and preparing for your upgrade to make sure you are aware of any changes and are properly prepared for the execution.  Also, even if you are planning to outsource the upgrade, there are steps in the process where your normal JD Edwards EnterpriseOne administrative skills can be deployed, reducing the amount of outside assistance required and lowering the overall cost if you are willing and able to participate in the process.

So you are going on your own that is excellent, let me give you some simple best practices to follow. 

• Take your Time and be Meticulous – Time might not be one of your luxuries but it is essential for your first pass.  If you are already resource constrained, a self-upgrade project may not be your best option.

• Research – There are many components to the EnterpriseOne software package and they work harmoniously together.  The Upgrade Manual is a good place to start but it often does not include important information or resolutions to issues discovered after it was written. Be sure you know all about the upgrade process before you begin, including any supplemental documentation or Response Line calls opened.

• Minimum Technical Requirements – Go through them carefully and do a formal hardware sizing to make sure you deploy the proper infrastructure.

• Document, Document, Document your entire process – (Take notes)

• Have a ‘Plan B’ – Know who you can call for help and communicate with them while you are still in the planning stage.

For more information on planning your upgrade project, contact us for a free JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Upgrade Planning session.

Tim Clauberg

Senior Solution Consultant, brij Image & Information

Oracle Critical Patch Update - July 2009

The letter below was recently sent to Oracle customers. However, the Oracle Critical Patch Update Advisory – July 2009 (Doc ID857871.1) explains that “There are no items reported in the July 2009 Critical Patch Update Advisory” for JD Edwards customers.
________________________________________
July 14th, 2009
Oracle Critical Patch Update July 2009

Dear Oracle customer,

The Critical Patch Update for July 2009 was released on July 14, 2009. Oracle strongly recommends applying the patches as soon as possible.

The Critical Patch Update Advisory is the starting point for relevant information. It includes the list of products affected, pointers to obtain the patches, a summary of the security vulnerabilities for each product suite, and links to other important documents. Supported products that are not listed in the “Supported Products and Components Affected” section of the advisory do not require new patches to be applied.

Also, it is essential to review the Critical Patch Update supporting documentation referenced in the Advisory before applying patches, as this is where you can find important pertinent information.

The Critical Patch Update Advisory is available at any of the following locations:

Oracle Technology Network: http://www.oracle.com/technology/deploy/security/alerts.htm

Oracle, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards products: https://metalink3.oracle.com/od/faces/secure/km/BrowseResults.jspx?fid=15948.1

Oracle BEA products: http://www.oracle.com/technology/deploy/security/alerts.htm

The next four Critical Patch Update release dates are:

October 13, 2009
January 12, 2010
April 13, 2010
July 13, 2010

Sincerely, Oracle Security Alerts

Accelerating Enterprise Application ROI

In an era of strict financial management discipline, why do companies still fail to generate sufficient returns in a timely fashion from their enterprise application investments? In most cases, the answer is a lack of an effective enterprise application training platform that supports software implementations and upgrades throughout the entire project lifecycle. Through interviews with service providers, this white paper identifies the most important capabilities of an effective enterprise application training platform. The white paper also examines the pressures companies and their project managers confront when tackling enterprise application implementations and upgrades.

The discussion includes a close look at the five factors—business alignment, communications, training, measurement, and support and reinforcement—that determine the success or failure of enterprise application implementations and upgrades. The conclusion reached is that using an effective enterprise application training platform to address these critical success factors allows an organization to reduce the time required to realize—and often exceed—the expected returns on their enterprise software investments.

To receive your copy of this free White Paper, click here.

Les Herod

VP of Client Services, brij Image & Information

Clarification on Extended Support for EnterpriseOne 8.11

Make your Executives Happy with Nice, Clean Looking EnterpriseOne Reports

If you are on EnterpriseOne 8.9 or above and notice your reports font is not what you would like.  Sometimes the Times New Roman Font is not as clear as you would like.  This can be easily change by using the  Work with Fonts application P98980.

 

Update either the Domestic language or the language selected via the User Profile (P0092) application.   The preferred Font to use and default in Report Design Aid is Arial.

Tim Clauberg
Senior Solution Consultant, brij Image & Information

 

Speed up access to JD Edwards World Programs in A7, A8 or A9 releases

Users of the World product could give their interactive programs a speed boost by allowing users to access some of the system files as a “Pre-Open”.  The definition behind this is when you setup a group of files to be pre-opened (see figure 1 below), those files are opened when the users logs into World and they stay open until they log off.  This only works on interactive programs, not batch.  There are numerous files (security file, address book, branch plant constants, order activity rules, business unit master, etc.) that are opened & closed numerous times during the course of the day, that if they’re opened only once at sign-on, then interactive programs using these files will not have to perform the open & close on those files because it’s already happened.  The initial log-on & log-off will take a little longer than usual, but the time saved during the working day offsets this minor slowdown. 

A word of warning.  Please realize that you want to temper this with some reality as well.  You don’t want to try to pre-open every file each user will use.  You will want to pre-open those they access excessively (like business unit master) but not transaction type files (like sales order detail) unless that user is in that file all day long.  This process will put permanent locks on those files for each user, so copying those files will be a little more difficult for your IT staff (difficult but not impossible).

 

To set this up:

• The security officer needs to access the G944 menu option 16 (see figure 2 below).  There are some predefined Pre-Opens, and they located in the F0095 file.  Depending on which version of World you are using the Pre-Open file names will be different.  Create your own or use the predefined ones.
• Once you’re done with creating your own, or finding the predefined ones you want to use, the security officer will need to apply them by using the G94 menu option 2.  Inquire on a user, tab down to User Type, and add the Pre-Open type you want the user to use.  Once you’ve added it, they will have to sign-off and back on again for the change to occur.  Removing it from the user profile will stop the Pre-Open as well (after the user has logged off the system).

 

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

Tom Kirkley

Senior Technical Specialist, brij Image & Information

In your manufacturing environment, are you using the correct Primary Unit of Measure?

An issue seen with many JD Edwards users are items being setup with the wrong primary unit of measure.  The primary unit of measure must be the lowest stocking level or costing level, especially in the manufacturing environment.  Materials are stocked in inventory in their primary unit of measure.  Trying to issue materials in lower unit of measure is a financial/costing issue as well as a stocking problem. 

Michael Wilken

Senior Application Specialist, brij Image & Information

Two peas in a pod: Order Status Codes and Order Activity Rules

Order status codes and Order Activity Rules go hand-in-hand. When setting up process steps that advance the order status we should whenever possible specify the Next Status in the process.  Sometimes this is not possible and then we must rely on tight Order Activity Rules so process setups are not skipped.

Michael Wilken

Senior Application Specialist, brij Image & Information

Are you running all the necessary reports before publishing financial statements?

All reports should be run at least monthly. Where possible, it is recommended that all reports should be run weekly, and scheduled on a night attendant.  The Unposted Batches Report should be run and all relevant batches be posted before publishing financial statements.

Financial Integrity Reports

AR to GL by Batch

AR to Account Balance by Account ID

AR to GL Receipts

 

 A/P Original Doc to G/L by Batch  

 A/P Payments to G/L by Batch  

 A/P to G/L by Offset Account  

A/P Payments to A/P w/ Update

 

Unposted Batches

Transactions to Batch Headers

Batch to Detail

Company by Batch Out of Balance

Batches Out of Balance

Companies in Balance

Intercompany Accounts in Balance

Accounts Without Business Units

Account Balance Without Account Master

Transactions Without Account Master

Account Balance to Transactions

 

Fixed Assets to GL

Unposted Fixed Asset Transactions

Fixed Asset Transaction Integrity

GL to Fixed Assets Integrity

Kevin Beck

Senior Application Consultant, brij Image & Information

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Avoiding Abnormal System Behavior with Server Preventative Maintenance

Are you experiencing abnormal system behavior?  Are you spending hours trouble-shooting to find there was a simple solution?

Through regularly scheduled preventative maintenance you can alleviate possible system instability and save time.  For Windows based environments, we recommend server reboots once a week. For Unix environments the general rule of thumb is a reboot a month. As for AS400,  once a month may be a bit much, we recommend an IPL once a quarter.  Regular scheduled maintenance is key.

One of the benefits of rebooting your server on a regular basis is to ensure there are no memory leaks.  If you begin to have memory leaks, you may experience abnormal behaviors within the system.  These abnormal behaviors may then lead to hours of trouble-shooting and wasted time.  A great way to make sure your system gets rebooted when necessary is to set it up on an automated schedule.  "Set it & Forget it!"

Tim Clauberg

Senior Solution Consultant, brij Image & Information

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CNC Report Card
Find out where your technical strengths and weaknesses lie, and identify JD Edwards resources that can help you strengthen your team!  Simply complete the attached form by rating yourself on each of the areas listed.  Once submitted, someone from our team will contact you to review your results. 
CNC Report Card