PeopleSoft demonstrations at UKOUG APPS14

It is our pleasure to share with you some PeopleSoft insights that we presented during the UK Oracle User Group APPS14 conference held from 8th - 10th December. We successfully demonstrated practical solutions and tools that transform enterprise performance. Below is a brief synopsis about our involvement.

If you require more details, please feel free to contact our PeopleSoft Consulting Practice on peoplesoft.team@kovaion.com. We will be in touch shortly to determine if we can assist you in any way with your Oracle, PeopleSoft or Fusion requirements.

UKOUG APPS14

APPS14 is the UK Oracle User Group’s Applications Conference & Exhibition 2014 and is the largest event that UKOUG delivers for this community. The conference took place from 8th - 10th December. Over 800 attendees came together at the ACC Liverpool to expand their Oracle knowledge through an extensive agenda and learn about the latest products on the market from the leading Oracle Applications vendors.

PeopleSoft @ UKOUG APPS14

The PeopleSoft agenda covered four streams (Human Resources, Financials, Global Payroll and Technology) presented over two days. Speakers from Oracle, end users and suppliers focused on product development, real world experiences and innovative ideas.

The agenda for PeopleSoft included:

·         The PeopleSoft Community Keynote was delivered by Gwennan Goriot on an update about the Oracle PeopleSoft product line.

·         Graham Smith demonstrated the PeopleSoft Portal to delegates.

·         Mark Thomas presented a session on the best practices in PeopleSoft 9.2 upgrade.

·         An open Q&A discussion lead by Gwennan Goriot allowed delegates to put their questions to Oracle

·         Roundtables brought together like-minded delegates to discuss challenges particularly focusing on Upgrades.

Kovaion presented 2 sessions on PeopleSoft and also took part in the Round table discussion.

·         PeopleTools 8.5x – The New Experience

o   Oracle-PeopleSoft is determined and bringing new features to PeopleTools. More than 1000 new enhancements have been added by Oracle on PeopleTools 8.5x (including new applications). Kovaion demonstrated the practical usage of PeopleTools Portal Technologies (Related Content), Integration Technologies (REST based service with JSON) and PT 8.54 Fluid MSS page/dashboard.

·         Automate PeopleSoft Testing

o   Application testing is one of the many challenges organizations face as part of a new implementation, upgrade or system changes. Complex as it is, testing involves ensuring that the application delivers expected results in the areas of functional specifications, user interface interactions, security and performance. Kovaion, using practical experience gained in the field, showcased the ROI on testing automation and  test methodologies. We also demonstrated the capabilities of PeopleSoft Test Framework for Regression Testing together with JMeter for Performance testing. Watch this space for the launch of our PeopleSoft Test Factory.

·         9.2 Upgrade Planning & Execution Open Discussion

o   PeopleSoft 9.2 has generated a huge amount of interest with users – with over 1,000 new features including the new fluid mobile approach. This round table focused on bringing together a number of users that have either completed or are currently undertaking an upgrade. They  discussed  their challenges from business case inception to successful deployment. Mark Thomas (Hays) hosted the discussion with Nanda Kumar(Kovaion), Graham Smith (Oxfam), Adrian Nuttall (Oceaneering) and Chris Pannell (Allen & Overy) as panel members.

  

Kovaion has been helping companies transform their IT landscape by providing services around ERP, Analytics, Cloud, Mobility and Testing.  As a trusted partner, we offer services with greater flexibility and are different by virtue of our determination, conviction and creativity in handling customer requirements. We provide niche services on the terms of consulting, implementation, upgrade, training and staffing. Let us know if we can help you or get in touch via info@kovaion.com. 

Wish you merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year ! ! ! 

Regards,

Nanda Kumar

Founder & Director

Kovaion Consulting

m: +44 (0) 75741 64244
e: nanda.kumar@kovaion.com

w: www.kovaion.com

“Had a good show at UKOUG APPS14 Conference. Follow #ukoug_apps14”

Peoplesoft Outlook Integration

What is Outlook Integration?

Outlook Integration enables integration between PeopleSoft and Microsoft Outlook to schedule meetings and appointments. It makes things easy for organizations predominantly engaged with MS Outlook to schedule meetings driven by PeopleSoft data.

Utility Benefit:

·         Keeps communications and schedules in an organised way.

·         Simple and easy to configure & maintain.

·         Increases the productivity by tightly coupling PeopleSoft data and Outlook schedule.

·         Fast, effective and two-way integration keeps processes simple and reduces duplication

Sample Business Scenarios:

·         In Talent Acquisition Manager (TAM) manage interview schedules, interview directly in MS Outlook with updates applied on candidate records. Quickly link emails, schedules interview and adds attachments to candidates

·         MS Outlook can be integrated with PeopleSoft HR Notification to schedule meetings.

·         Absence takes can be requested by entering absence requests through Microsoft Outlook.

Implementation Steps for outlook plug in:

·         Install the PeopleSoft Outlook Plug in

·         Configure outlook menu in PeopleSoft settings and option add on menu. (Refer fig 1 for configuration details)

·         Make Setups based on each module (TAM, Absence Management, ePerformance etc.)

Prerequisites for PeopleSoft outlook Plugin:

To enable the communication and interaction between Microsoft Outlook and the PeopleSoft system, following are required:

·        The Microsoft Add-In—Represented in the PeopleSoft Outlook menu and handles all of the communication and information within Microsoft Outlook.

·        The PeopleSoft Outlook URL Handler—An external Windows application that allows you to drill into Microsoft Outlook directly from the PeopleSoft system.

How to get the PeopleSoft Outlook Plug-in?

The plug-in can be found as compressed files in the PeopleSoft path: "<<PeopleSoft Installation HomeDirectory>>\src\DesktopIntegration". Users can extract the various integration objects (Outlook Add-In, Outlook URL Handler or Word Add-In) and install.

PeopleSoft Outlook Menu:

After installing the PeopleSoft Outlook plug-in, user can see in the outlook, a new menu option PeopleSoft as shown in below screen.

Configuration: User can define the integration options with PeopleSoft and the other required setups like server details, User ID, Email Account, etc.

Based on the features selected, the relevant appointments, tasks, scheduling etc. will be possible from outlook. All the features that can be used from PeopleSoft to Outlook are covered under Enterprise components-Desktop Integration

}  Task- A task is a way for something to be queued up and put into the user’s tasks.

}  Task Queue- You can use the queue to manually add tasks to a user's Microsoft Outlook task list.

}  Appointment- Define the defaults for the user's appointments, invitations, and calendar.

}  Appointment Queue- To review the appointment queue, monitors integration transactions, or manually adds/updates meetings and appointments.

}  File Transfer- Set up file transfer registration.

}  File Transfer Queue- To review what you previously defined as defaults in your file transfers.

}  Address Book- To Register your address book.

}  Dynamic Displays- Dynamic Displays allow the display of information from your PeopleSoft system alongside items in Microsoft Office. You can use Dynamic Displays to show any information contained within the PeopleSoft system and those displays can optionally be shown automatically alongside the Microsoft Office items.

PeopleSoft and Outlook Integration Solutions

Out of Box integrations

   Out of the box, Oracle-PeopleSoft calendar integrations are available for modules like Absence      Management, ePerformance, Talent Acquisition Manager.

Let’s look at the calendar Integration with TAM.

Calendar integration with TAM: PeopleSoft delivered the setup for integrating TAM with    outlook. Three options are provided to user: Full Integration, Partial Integration and No   Integration.

Navigation: Setup HCM > Install>Product Specific>Recruiting Installation

• Full Integration: It is a two way integration between Microsoft Outlook and PeopleSoft which updates data changes in PeopleSoft when changed from Outlook.

• Partial Integration: Sends two notifications to the applicants: .ics attachment and regular notification. Send’s regular notification to Interviewers.Below screen shots show the mails received by the applicant triggered by selecting Partial Integration while scheduling the interview of the applicant.

Below screen shots show the mails received by the applicant triggered by selecting Partial Integration while scheduling the interview of the applicant.

• No Integration: Disables calendar integration with outlook

• Customization: It is possible to integrate Outlook with People code using Icalendar.Icalendar is a file format which allows Internet users to send meeting requests and tasks to other users. Below is the sample code 

import PT_MCF_MAIL:*; /*Declare variables*/ Local string &dateStr = DateTimeToLocalizedString(%Date, "MM/dd/yyyy"); Local string &dateStamp = DateTimeToLocalizedString(%Datetime, "MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss"); /*Receiver and sender email id*/ Local string &mail_to = "susan.silvia@kovaion.com"; Local string &organizer = "Madhur.mohini@kovaion.com"; Local string &desc = "TEST"; &dateStr1 = DateTimeValue(&dateStr | " 2:00 PM"); &dateStr2 = DateTimeValue(&dateStr | " 5:00 PM"); /*Prepare date formats required for .ics format*/ &tempTime = DateTimeToTimeZone(&dateStr1, "Local", "UTC"); &dtstart = DateTimeToLocalizedString(&tempTime, "yyyyMMdd'T'HHmmss'Z'"); &tempTime = DateTimeToTimeZone(&dateStr2, "Local", "UTC"); &dtend = DateTimeToLocalizedString(&tempTime, "yyyyMMdd'T'HHmmss'Z'"); &tempTime = DateTimeToTimeZone(%Datetime, "Local", "UTC"); &dtstamp = DateTimeToLocalizedString(&tempTime, "yyyyMMdd'T'HHmmss'Z'"); Local string &str = Char(13); Local string &icalstr = "BEGIN:VCALENDAR" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "PRODID:-//Prod ID//PeopleCode vCal 1.0//EN" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "VERSION:2.0" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "METHOD:PUBLISH" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "X-MS-OLK-FORCEINSPECTOROPEN:TRUE" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "BEGIN:VEVENT" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "ATTENDEE;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;RSVP=TRUE:MAILTO:" | &mail_to | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "ORGANIZER:MAILTO:" | &organizer | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "DTSTART:" | &dtstart | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "DTEND:" | &dtend | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "LOCATION:Conference Room" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "TRANSP:OPAQUE" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "DTSTAMP:" | &dtstamp | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "CATEGORIES:Meeting" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "DESCRIPTION:Meeting Request" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "SUMMARY:" | &desc | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "X-MICROSOFT-CDO-BUSYSTATUS:BUSY"| &str; &icalstr = &icalstr |  "X-MICROSOFT-CDO-IMPORTANCE:1"| &str; &icalstr = &icalstr |  "X-MICROSOFT-DISALLOW-COUNTER:FALSE"| &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "X-MS-OLK-AUTOFILLLOCATION:TRUE"| &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "X-MS-OLK-CONFTYPE:0"| &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "PRIORITY:5" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "BEGIN:VALARM" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "TRIGGER:PT15M" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "ACTION:DISPLAY" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "DESCRIPTION:Reminder" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstring | "END:VALARM" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "END:VEVENT" | &str; &icalstr = &icalstr | "END:VCALENDAR"; Local PT_MCF_MAIL:MCFOutboundEmail &email = create PT_MCF_MAIL:MCFOutboundEmail(); &email.From = &organizer; &email.Recipients = &mail_to; &email.Subject = "Task " | &desc; &email.AddHeader("", "method=PUBLISH"); &email.AddHeader("", "charset=UTF-8"); &email.AddHeader("", "component=VEVENT"); &email.ContentType = "multipart/alternative"; rem &email.ContentType = "text/calendar"; Local PT_MCF_MAIL:MCFBodyPart &text = create PT_MCF_MAIL:MCFBodyPart(); &text.Text = " "; &text.ContentType = "text/calendar"; Local PT_MCF_MAIL:MCFBodyPart &iCal = create PT_MCF_MAIL:MCFBodyPart(); &iCal.Text = &icalstr &iCal.AddHeader("content-class", "urn:content-classes:calendarmessage"); &iCal.AddHeader("content-ID", "calendar_message"); &iCal.ContentType = "text/calendar;method=PUBLISH; charset=UTF-8"; Local PT_MCF_MAIL:MCFMultipart &mp = create PT_MCF_MAIL:MCFMultipart(); &mp.SubType = "alternative; differences=Content-type"; rem &mp.AddBodyPart(&text); &mp.AddBodyPart(&iCal); &email.MultiPart = ∓ &resp = &email.Send();

Limitations of PeopleSoft Outlook Integration:

• The integration is compatible with Microsoft Outlook 2007 or higher.

• Not compatible with all type of calendars like lunar calendars.(Icals).

• The debugging options are limited with Icals as the errors messages generated are generic. In-depth Icals knowledge along with PeopleSoft skillset is required to debug. 

Author,

Susan Silvia

Kovaion-Peoplesoft Consulting Practice

Email: susan.silvia@kovaion.com

Peoplesoft Paycheck Modeler

Paycheck modeler is a new Self service feature in Peoplesfot HCM 9.2. Employees can use Paycheck Modeler to simulate their own paychecks through a self-service web application, investigate their own what-if scenarios, and answer most of their own questions without having to call your payroll department.

 It enables employees to get the answers for their pay check related queries accurately and quickly with out contacting the payroll administrator. Employees can use the Paycheck modeller to calculate the effective overtime bonuses, or benefit changes.

Business Benefits:

• It enables employees to take payroll related decisions without calling the payroll department.
• The Paycheck modeler allows an employee to perform what-if scenarios on their pay based upon the last confirmed regular on-cycle payroll.
• When an employee is working on large amounts of irregular overtime and want to estimate a check with the overtime pay included, paycheck modeler is helpful. Paycheck Modeler is easy to use and has many configurable features that allow the Payroll Administrator to manage what employees’ see, who can access the modeler and even how often an employee can execute the modeler in one day.
•  To protect the live payroll production data from impact, paycheck modeling data is stored in temporary work tables. Model paycheck results are automatically cleared when the user exits the paycheck modeling component, and modeling history is not retained for future access.
• To prevent modeled checks from being offered as real paychecks or proof of pay, and to protect personal and pay information, a model check printout contains no data that identifies either the employee or the company and the watermark says Estimate.
•  Employees can view a pie chart of the results by using Paycheck modeler, also the totals and details of their modelled earnings, taxes and deductions.
• Employees can print a Paycheck Modeling Audit report to view the changes made this session

The following example   will  show how we can  update  the tax withholding status from Single to married will reflect on his/her paycheck who has just got married.

Employee will need to Navigate to the following link in the PIA to understand and see how exactly the changes will work after the modifications are carried out

Navigation: Main Menu -> Self Service -> Payroll and Compensation -> Paycheck modeler.

     Step 1:Select the check box “Yes I have reviewed and agree to the terms and conditions above”.

Step2: The earning step shows all the standard earnings of the employee from Job record and picks up the pay rate based upon the last confirmed paycheck. The earnings step allows to add/edit/delete any earnings.

Note:- The value of Earnings should have a value that is greater than zero to move on to define the deductions 

Step 3: The deduction step shows all the standard deductions. It works same as earnings. Employee can add/edit/update the deductions. Garnishments are special consideration here, as employee is not allowed to update the garnishments but can set it to zero.

Step4: Employee’s tax information can be updated in the tax step, state and local taxes are set up, based on the current tax information. In this example the employee wants to update the tax withholding status from Single to Married. By clicking on the Edit Icon for the federal tax as shown in the screen shot. Same should be updated in both the state and local tax information.

Step5: Calculate step calculates the model check based on the changes made. Once the employee has made changes, the “Calculate My Modeled Check” button is available on the Paycheck Modeler – Calculate page. The Next button remains unavailable until after the user selects the Calculate My Modeled Check button. When the modeled check is calculated, a message appears and the Next button becomes available.

Step6: The mock paycheck will now appear on the Paycheck Modeler, the results are based on the changes that are done by the employee in the previous 5 steps. Related Actions allow to navigate to other pages. Related actions- drill down the related actions and have a screen shot that covers the related actions along with the PIE Chart to clearly showcase the actions as well.

Step7: The Print My Modeled Check option generates a model of the paycheck with new changes, which doesn’t show any details of the employee such as name or EmplId so that the employee cannot use it for any other purpose.

This is how the output looks when the employee clicks on Print My modeled check displayed.

This is the output displayed to the employee on clicking Print My Changes button.

Limitations:

 Paycheck modeler is available for North American Payroll only and currently is only available to US employees.

Author,

Shubha Rohit

Kovaion -Peoplesoft Consulting Practice

Email: shubha.rohit@kovaion.com

PeopleSoft Interwindow Communication

What is Interwindow Communication?

     Interwindow Communication (IWC) is a frame to frame messaging event  which enables field change as  they occur in the same browser window e.g. communication between different pages.     IWC can work in the same pagelet or in different pagelets.Pagelet can work as subscriber or publisher for some other pagelet.

Business Benefits

•  Allow pagelets to pagelet interaction with each other  in Homepage/Dashboard,WorkCenter and Pivot Grid.
• No Application designer changes involved
•   A business analyst  can specify the fields required for using as subscriber or published
•    Not dependent on Related Content, Workcenter or Integration Broker. 

    Sample Business Scenarios

•      Recruiters can create IWC pagelets for applicants - like updating the candidate status will immediately reflect in the dashboard.
•      Managers can create IWC pagelets for employees. There will be no need to change the values  again  and again in different pagelets, for viewing employee data like employee absence  request will immediately update the balances and can be seen on the dashboard.

     Development Pre Requisites:

•      Pagelets should be registered in the current portal system.
•      Pivot grids should be published as pagelets.
•      Get the HTML Field Name for Publishing and subscribing field.

           As can be seen in the figure below the HTML Field Name is: RECRUITER_ID.

      Users can manually define the HTML field name of PeopleSoft fields in Page Field Edit Box Properties- General Tab

      Configuring IWC for Workcenter/Homepage/Dashboard

    1.1)     Configure IWC for publishing message.

                  Go to IWC Configuration Page.

                  Navigation: Main Menu>Peopletools >Portal>Interwindow Communication

                  Or alternate way to access IWC page is

                  Navigation: Main Menu>Portal>Structure and Content

                  

       HTML Field name should be same as what we got during inspect element.

1.2)   Configure IWC for Subscribing   message

     Configuring Workcenter for Pivot Grids

   2.1)  Configuring IWC for publishing pivot grids

            Navigation: Main Menu>Peopletools >Portal>Interwindow Communication

            Add a new value for pivot grid pagelet.

 2.2)   Configuring IWC for subscribing pivot grids

          Navigation: Main Menu>Peopletools >Portal>Interwindow Communication

          Add a new value for pivot grid pagelet.

       IWC is ready for test.

              

        Above diagram shows that based on the filter values selected in Frame: Kovaion IWC Test, Pivot      grid got updated in Frame: IWC Test

     

    

       Above diagram shows that based on the value selected in frame: Kovaion Interwindow Comm1, grid   in the second frame: Kovaion Interwindow Comm2 got populated with Job ID details.

      Best Practices:

•      While creating PS query with prompts, always provide unique text id.
•      Provide page field name in edit box properties will make the work easier while configuring IWC.

       Limitations:

•     A subscribing pagelet should be completely loaded before it consumes a publishing message
•     Works for fields at level zero only.

Author,

Madhur Mohini

Kovaion -Peoplesoft Consulting Practice

Email: madhur.mohini@kovaion.com

Peoplesoft- Mouse Over Popup Feature

Peopletools 8.51 provides a new feature which allows users to quickly access the additional information of an Employee/Applicant by just mouse hovering on name of that employee.

PeopleSoft provides the flexibility to configure this mouse over popup page in a way that is useful for users and user groups within the organization. It can be used to set up a popup page that includes employee information such as a picture, job title, department, supervisor's name, and work location. Or, when performing certain business processes, it would be beneficial to have a popup page that includes contact information, such as an email for an employee or applicant. An email address can be associated with an icon by clicking on which it initiates an email notification, an address icon which navigates to Google maps.

Business Benefits:

• Quick Access to additional information of an Employee/Applicant without navigating away.
• While accessing the job data component if benefit selections of that employee is displayed as a pop up page it will be beneficial for the administrator.
• While accessing the Absence management components it’s advantageous to view the holiday schedule of the employee.
• The email id of the employee is displayed on the Pop up and clicking on which , initiates an email
• The contact address of the employee is displayed on the pop up and clicking on which navigates to Google maps to locate the address

The configurations for the Mouse over Popup are simple with 3 steps:

Step1: Mouse Over Field Definition

Navigation: Main Menu -> Set Up HCM -> Common Definitions -> Mouse Over Popup -> Mouse Over Field Definition 

Used to define mouse over popup fields and supporting fields that will be available in the Mouse Over Page Design component and can be used with the mouse over popup page.

Step2: Mouse Over Page Definition

Navigation: Main Menu -> Set Up HCM -> Common Definitions -> Mouse Over Popup -> Mouse Over Page Definition

Used to create the mouse over page designs by defining the fields for the first column and second column.

Step 3:Mouse Over Component Setup

Navigation: Main Menu -> Set Up HCM -> Common Definitions -> Mouse Over Popup -> Mouse Over Component Setup.

In the component set up specify the popup type and mouse over ID for the components to utilize the feature.

The components for which the mouse over pop up feature needs to be enabled can be associated with a Mouse Over ID, and can be used as per need.

Limitations:

§  Each column can display only 7 fields.

§  When the employee’s picture is included on the mouse over popup page, the image will display in column 1 and no other fields will appear in that column.

§  Only a set of limited fields are available for display in the mouse over page. Others can be added by making customizations.

§  Not compatible with mobile applications.

Author,

Shubha Rohit

Kovaion -Peoplesoft Consulting Practice

Email: shubha.rohit@kovaion.com