If your organization is project-centric, you may use one of the most common applications like Primavera, MS Project, or Excel (the most-used PM tools) to manage your projects. In most instances, the Project Schedules and Estimates are manually re-entered into a Financial ERP system for cost collection. Project Managers lose track of their projects as cost and schedule get disjointed and out of sync. As a result, project deliverables are missed; and resource utilization is not optimized.

This is where the three products I will mention will eliminate double entry of data and streamline data entry to save time and reduce errors.

1. OP3:  An out-of-the-box integration product that delivers tight, bi-directional integration between Primavera Enterprise P5 or P6 and Oracle E-Business Suite Projects applications. Consultants familiar with Primavera and Oracle have spent years building this product. The solution allows organizations to develop their Project Structure in Primavera, schedule and cost load the project, and then transfer the structure into Oracle EBS Projects applications, eliminating dual data entry. Data transfer of financial “actuals” takes the reverse direction. SPI, CPI, and EV can provide the Project Managers with true insight into their project status.

2. Excel Integration: Microsoft Excel is still the most-used Project Management tool worldwide. Allowing users to use Excel as a front-end UI to create simple project schedules and allow resource loading is very powerful. The best feature is you can check out projects from Oracle and work offline, then check the project once you are in your office. This eliminates the loading of data into cumbersome forms.

3. Microsoft Project Integration:  This is a very slick addition to the MS Project tools Menu. Project Managers can use MS Project to create their project structure, resource loading the project, and then load it to Oracle ERP. The beauty of this is that the resource dictionary is imported from Oracle and thereby centrally controlled. In addition, financial “actuals” and other attributes can be downloaded from Oracle into MS Project to allow Project Managers to make sound decisions.

Any of these solutions will streamline data entry and an organization’s business processes.