Date: Friday, October 17, 1997

Submitted by: Robert Maedgen, Tensar Earth Technologies Inc

Time Called: 2:30 p.m.

Location: Oracle Abernathy Offices, North Park Town Center, Atlanta, GA

I. Presentation: "Self-Service Web Applications: Customers, Suppliers, Employees"

Kristen McGregor, Oracle Corporation

Kristen's presentation focused on Oracle's newest web-based applications and how companies can use them to their advantage with their Oracle modules. She focused on three major areas:

1. Employees - Oracles web-based applications allow employees to submit expense reports on-line rather than having to submit them on paper. It also allows customization of the reports to provide new categories and other information to the user.
2. Suppliers - Suppliers can go on-line to determine when invoices have been paid rather than bothering accounts payable. Additionally, with correct access, suppliers should be able to go in through the web, and alter their vendor address, etc. so that checks can be processed more quickly.
3. Customers - Customers can also go on-line to determine when orders will be filled, what the status of their accounts are, etc. saving time for the receivables staff.

With these new web-based applications, how much information these groups can access is primarily based on customization by the company. Security can be adjusted to provide only inquiry access or access to the module-level information depending upon the needs of the company.

II. Presentation: "Process Flowcharting & Modeling - Operational Analysis During Early Phases of Implementation

Jim Crum, BOSS Corporation

Jim's presentation covered a specific tool (IDEF-0) he uses prior to setting up Oracle modules at various companies. He has a six-step process to determining a company's business processes.

1. Define requirements - Prior to implementing the team must determine the needs of the company. This will determine which modules are necessary and what set-up is to be used.
2. Determine current process flows - In order to insure that the new modules satisfy existing procedures the team needs to determine how information flows in the company. For example, to implement a new payables module, the flow of information needs to charted using the old system. This way, the team can insure that the new module satisfies these requirements as well.
3. Discover fit and gap - After determining #2, the team needs to determine how well the new module is likely to satisfy the needs of the company. Some areas may fit well but other areas may require customization.
4. Determine future process flows - Using the information gathered above, the team needs to determine how information will flow using the new module. This way, when the module is implemented, the company is already comfortable with the way information will flow using the new system
5. Determine control requirements - This is an important step, since it will determine who will have access to what information. This means the team has to determine how much information will be input and how much will be available for output to each user of a module.
6. Assess project risks - Finally, the team needs to determine potential risks of inputting the new module versus the perceived gains.

Jim's discussion is based largely on IDEF-0 which is a business process reengineering tool and is available for research on the web. If you are interested in further information, please contact Jim Crum personally as he is our newsletter editor. His address is: jcrum@sprynet.com

III. General Business - Brenda Carlton, The Tensar Corporation

1. Future meetings - Our next meeting will be held Computer Systems Authority on November 21st. Check the web page at www.atloaug.org for more information on future meetings.
2. Volunteers needed - Please volunteer to help your OAUG chapter, especially with the following:
   A) Future Meetings We still need some locations for future meetings as well as speakers. Please check with our web page, and see if you can help us out.

   B) The Atl-OAUG list server This valuable resource remains largely unused by the Atl-OAUG group. The list server is available on the internet and gives users the opportunity to place questions out on the net and get answers from other users. Check it out!

   C) www.atloaug.org We've got a web site! As our organization grows information regarding meetings, future topics of interest and members is available on the web. Members can sign up to visit the 'members only' section to view our membership roster and each member's area of expertise. Be sure to register while you're visiting our web site. Special thanks to Computer Systems Authority for providing us with the list server and web site.

   D) Newsletter Issue #2 was issued in October. Special thanks to Jim Crum as our editor. The newsletter is full of useful tips and techniques to help you with you Oracle applications. Please contribute to the newsletter by e-mailing Jim at jcrum@sprynet.com.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm.

Special thanks to Oracle who provided us with a wonderful conference space, refreshments and and the potential use of their space for future meetings.

Thirty-three people were in attendance. Companies represented:

Users	Consultants	Vendors
Tensar Corporation	KPMG Peat Marwick	DataNet
Cotton States Insurance	Answerthink	Optio Software
BellSouth Information Systems	Application Technology Services
Blue Cross-Blue Shield	Deloitte-Touche
National Distributors	BOSS Corp
Southern Co	EAS Tech
Technology Solutions (Transquest)	Lueke Consulting Group
Paragon Trade Brands	Current Assets
Vanstar

Companies who R.S.V.P'd but did not attend: B.T.N.A., Georgia Tech, Hayes Microcomputer, McKee Foods

See web page for updates, agendas, directions, minutes, list server, etc.