Training for Upgrades

1
Training for Upgrades

• Melissa Sider
• DARC Corporation

2
Know your Audience
Location, Location, Location The three most
important things to consider when buying real
estate Know your Audience The first thing to
consider when developing training
3
Project Types

• Implementation
• Novice user base
• Want to learn all functionality to make informed
  PTT Decisions
• Upgrade Project
• Knowledgeable user base
• Want to learn New Functionality (Delta Training)
• Re-implementation
• Knowledgeable user base
• Want to learn functionality not being used
  currently

4
Project Types
5
Project Lifecycle
6
Project Lifecycle

• Project Team Training Overview
• Communicate an overview of modules and
  inter-relationships
• Identify relevant core business processes and key
  functionality
• Prepare for implementation/upgrade decisions

7
Project Lifecycle

• Project Team Training Topics
• Key business processes
• Module interaction and integration
• Setup steps
• Functional transactions
• Implementation considerations
• Interfaces and conversions

8
Project Lifecycle

• System Tester Training Overview
• Often overlooked, specialized audience
• Superset of project team and end users
• Require enough knowledge to be effective testers
• Usually required in implementation projects,
  seldom used in upgrade projects.

9
Project Lifecycle

• System Tester Training Topics
• Key business processes
• Module interaction and integration
• Functional transactions

10
Project Lifecycle

• End User Training Overview
• Ultimately validate the success of the project
• Mitigate risks of going live
• Demonstrate abilities to perform Oracle based
  jobs
• Role-based

11
Project Lifecycle

• End User Training Topics
• Detailed Functions
• Business Processes
• Inquiry and Reports
• High level overview of big picture

12
Project Lifecycle

• Training Project Lifecycle Review
• Needs Assessment
• Training Approach
• Material Preparation
• Instructor-Led Training (ILT) or Computer-Based
  Training (CBT)
• Effectiveness Measurement
• Go-Live Support
• Cost/Benefit Analysis

13
Target Audience

• Todays target audiences are
• Project Team for Upgrades
• Project Team for Re-Implementation
• End Users for Upgrades
• End Users for Re-Implementation

14
Your Training Options

• Resources
• Internal Training Initiative
• Outsourced Training Initiative
• Oracle University
• Other Consulting Organization

15
Your Training Options

• Approach
• Instructor-Led Training (ILT)
• One-on-One Coaching
• Train-the-Trainer
• Off-the-Shelf eLearning
• Custom eLearning

16
Your Training Options - Resources

• Internal Training Initiative
• Benefits
• Generally lower-cost
• Keeps the knowledge and training collateral
  in-house
• Drawbacks
• Difficult to garner the latest information (Delta
  Training) without an external resource

17
Your Training Options - Resources

• Outsourced Training Initiative - Oracle
  University
• Benefits
• Latest and greatest knowledge available
• Up to date training materials
• Complimentary education plans
• Some upgrade titles available
• Drawbacks
• Costly for large audiences or custom training

18
Your Training Options - Resources

• Outsourced Training Initiative Other Consulting
  Organizations
• Benefits
• Instructors with implementation experience in
  latest releases
• Generally less costly (to compete with Oracle)
• May offer more Upgrade titles
• Drawbacks
• May be difficult to compare apples to apples in
  the RFP process
• May be as costly, or costlier than Oracle
  University

19
Your Training Options - Approach

• Instructor Led Training (ILT)
• Benefits
• Traditionally, the most culturally acceptable way
  to train employees
• Face-to-face exposure to experienced staff
• Drawbacks
• Highly dependent on quality resources
• Difficult to schedule and deploy (depending on
  size of initiative)
• Material development and maintenance

20
Your Training Options - Approach

• One-on-One Coaching
• Benefits
• True hands-on experience for small audiences
• Can occur on a more flexible schedule
• Face-to-face interaction with experienced staff
• Drawbacks
• Higher cost per learner
• Impractical for large audiences

21
Your Training Options Approach

• Train the Trainer
• Benefits
• Garners expertise of industry experts while
  containing costs
• Can be customized to your business needs
• Can be incorporated into plans with other methods
• Drawbacks
• Effectiveness depends on quality of resource pool
• Effectiveness depends on adequate knowledge
  transfer, which is achieved through multiple or
  co-teach sessions

22
Your Training Options Approach

• Off-the-Shelf eLearning
• Benefits
• Excellent alternative for self-motivated learners
• Pick and choose topics that apply to your
  organization
• Drawbacks
• Not specific to your business
• Limited availability for upgrade titles
• No face-to-face interaction with experienced
  professionals

23
Your Training Options - Approach

• Custom eLearning
• Benefits
• Excellent alternative for self-motivated learners
• Can be developed for delta-topics, specific to
  your business
• Drawbacks
• Costlier to develop without in-house resources
• No face-to-face interaction with experienced
  professionals

24
Training Resources

• Classroom Facilities
• Instructors/Facilitators
• Materials

25
Training Resources Classroom

• Accommodations Seating, Computers, Chairs
• Demonstration White Board and Markers, Flip
  Chart, Overhead Projector, NetMeeting or similar
  tool
• Office Supplies Stapler, Name Tents (Paper)
• Connectivity Network Ids, Oracle System Ids with
  Responsibilities, jInitiator, URL Loaded on
  Desktop

26
Training Resources - Instructors

• Skills and aptitude
• Oracle application knowledge
• Willingness and interest to train others
• Communication and Soft Skills
• Good verbal communication skills (articulate)
• Comfortable with speaking to groups as large as
  30 people
• Patient/Personable
• Possess an ability to handle difficult situations
• Demonstrate an ability to think on their feet

27
Training Resources - Instructors

• Facilitation and Delivery Skills
• Time management techniques for the classroom
• Presentation skills
• Complete Oracle application training
• Note Resources selected may come from any level
  with your organization.

28
Training Resources - Materials

• Custom Materials Traditional Courseware
• Audience End Users
• Best Use End User Training
• Advantages Totally custom to the NEW way you do
  business
• Drawbacks Potentially expensive to develop,
  deploy and maintain
• Oracle Tutor
• Audience Project Team or End Users
• Best Use Starting point for material development
• Advantages Provides a framework of materials,
  topic lists and labs
• Drawbacks Current version lacks screen prints,
  not as functionally based as prior releases and
  standard format tends to be lengthy, depending on
  the topic

29
Training Resources Materials

• CBT Courseware
• Audience End Users
• Best Use End User Training or Navigation
• Advantages Can be customized, easily deployed
• Drawbacks Expensive to develop, deploy and
  maintain
• Process Documentation
• Audience End Users
• Best Use End User Training
• Advantages Clearly outlines your specific
  processes, can be used to highlight process
  CHANGES, Inexpensive to maintain and deploy
• Drawbacks Require maintenance, Require
  finalized processes prior to the training stage
  of the project

30
Training Resources Materials

• Labs/Hands-on Exercises
• Audience End Users
• Best Use End User Training
• Advantages Totally custom, easily adapted to NEW
  functions
• Drawbacks Require a database and seeded data,
  Time required to create valid and reliable labs
  can be costly
• Case Studies
• Audience End Users or Project Team
• Best Use Project Team Training
• Advantages Can be customized, easily deployed
• Drawbacks Require a database and seeded data,
  Development time required for well-thought-out
  case studies

31
Training Resources - Materials

• Quick Reference Guides
• Audience End Users
• Best Use End User Training
• Advantages Can be customized, easily deployed,
  Short development cycle
• Drawbacks Not as thorough as traditional
  training materials
• See sample on the next page.

32
Training Resources - Materials
33
Low Cost Alternatives

• Avoid cumbersome training guides Have
  instructors teach end users from process
  documents, labs or quick-reference guides
• Stick to the deltas Dont allow your sessions to
  be lengthened with review of concepts already
  known to the audience
• Get with the plan Understand your requirements,
  their priorities and the budget you have to spend
  make your plan and stick to it

34
Common Issues

• A Mixed Audience Upgrade team requires upgrade
  training, plus new staff needs basic training
• A Limited Budget Need low-cost solutions to get
  your team properly trained
• Lack of Planning Good trainers are in-demand,
  plan accordingly
• Misunderstanding of Effort Training requires
  effort, not an off-the-cuff attitude use a
  training checklist for resources