If you’ve picked up an IT magazine within the last eight years or so, you’ve probably noticed an advertisement that goes something like this: “The best-run companies run Oracle applications.” I’m glad to be able to report that the Church uses Oracle databases and runs Oracle’s PeopleSoft enterprise applications. The software applications designed to support accounting, purchasing, payroll, accounts payable, human resources, general ledger, and other business functions are complicated, large, and usually do not require the latest Java or .Net features. These are the applications “that pay the bills.” They are known as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software packages. ERP applications offer multiple integrated modules running in a single database, and they usually offer multiple methods of integrating custom or third-party applications. We use PeopleSoft, which is an ERP recently purchased by Oracle. PeopleSoft, like all ERP applications, is big and complicated, but the amount of business functionality it delivers out of the box is incredible. For an idea of how complex it is, consider that the Church runs 32 separate modules of PeopleSoft HR/payroll and financials applications in two separate Oracle production instances. The HR/payroll database contains 16,000+ tables, and the financials database has 19,000+ tables. These applications support or interface with just about every single Church software application. The various PeopleSoft modules are naturally integrated, and PeopleSoft offers a wide range of integration options for third-party or custom applications. We are using these integration tools to help our customers leverage PeopleSoft functionality in some interesting ways. PeopleSoft is unique in the ERP world because it is also an excellent development platform. Leveraging the toolset to customize the application or create new modules is supported and encouraged by the vendor. Those of us on the PeopleSoft team take great satisfaction in the long track record we have for knowing our customers and their business, and for our expertise in maintaining the Church’s ERP software. The PeopleSoft team is truly an agile development team. In the following examples, I highlight some of strengths of the PeopleSoft software and our team. It is important to note that the ways we use PeopleSoft can be categorized as follows: 1. Expanding the use of delivered PeopleSoft modules 2. Exposing the functionality and business rules through Web services 3. Developing custom modules that leverage the PeopleSoft architecture Global HR Rollout Everyone using the same PeopleSoft HR system. The financial system has been global for several years. Now, we are rolling out the human resource system to all the area offices. This will eliminate redundant systems, provide needed visibility to management, and make it easier for our areas to do their work. There are more opportunities to roll out new PeopleSoft modules and leverage existing modules. Internet Mission Office System (iMOS) Web services from PeopleSoft The iMOS system is going to make working in the mission office much more productive. There are several financial functions that missions need to manage that cannot be done by our accounting team locally. We have teamed up with the Java development team to provide Web services from PeopleSoft Financials, and they have developed a tailored missionary-friendly application that presents a simplified user interface for the mission office end-user. This is a great example of leveraging the complex business rules inherent in PeopleSoft and exposing them to external applications. Missionary Card Custom module built in PeopleSoft Missionaries send their money into the Church accounting system, and then the Treasury Card Services team sends the funds they need to their individual missionary debit cards. This process can get fairly complex with 50,000 missionaries coming and going, lost cards, and each mission’s different country requirements. The original system was a hodgepodge of Fox Pro and MS Access applications that generated an ACH file that loosely integrated with the accounting system. We built this system in PeopleSoft in just a few months. We were able to do it so fast because of the financial nature of the system, the relationship we have with the end-users, the easy fit with our financials applications, and the truly agile way we like to develop software. This was a custom module or “bolt-on” to our PeopleSoft financials database that leverages the infrastructure, the security, and the other related elements of PeopleSoft so that the developers could focus on the new functionality. Other examples of quick-turnaround, custom bolt-on modules that leverage the PeopleSoft development platform include the Church-Service Missionary, Automated Reward Tool, and the Workforce Planning modules in the HR/payroll database. Our team mission is to help the Church leverage the investment in PeopleSoft ERP software. There are times PeopleSoft isn’t the right solution. But, when the requirements contain financial or human resource elements, the proposed end-user is already using PeopleSoft, and when the system must interface with PeopleSoft, chances are good that an existing module or a custom-developed PeopleSoft solution may be the best choice. The business of the Church runs on PeopleSoft, and I enjoy discussing how we can best leverage this ERP software. As a team, we are happy in our supporting role. Clay Christensen is a development manager for the Church.
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