AIM

Application Implementation Methodology

By:
Shalini Singh

1
 Introduction

Oracle’s Application Implementation Method (AIM) is a proven approach for Implementing Oracle
Applications.
 It provides direct, product specific support for all of Oracle’s application product families.
 AIM is comprised of well-defined processes that can be managed in several ways to guide you
through an application implementation project.
 AIM provides the tools needed to effectively and efficiently plan, conduct, and control project
steps to successfully implement new business systems.
 AIM is very broad in its support of all of the activities within your implementation project
including:
• Planning
• Requirements definition.
• Business process alignment and modelling.
• Customization
• Interfaces and integration between systems.
• Data conversion
• Organization change management including specific support for executive,
management, and user groups.
• Application and technical architecture including network and server design.
• Reporting and information access systems.
• Security and access control.

2
 Definition

During Definition:

 We plan the project.

 Review the organization’s business objectives.
 Understand the business processes.
 Evaluate the feasibility of meeting those objectives under time, resource and budget
constraints.

The emphasis is on building an achievable work plan and introducing guidelines on how
the organization will work to achieve common objectives. Establishing scope early in the
implementation gives the team a common reference point and an effective way to
communicate. Under this, phase strategies, objectives and approaches are determined for
each AIM process, providing the basis for the project plan.

3
 Operations Analysis

During Operations Analysis:

 The project team develops the Business Requirements Scenarios (RD 050) based on
deliverables from Definition that are used to assess the level of fit between the detailed
business requirements and standard application functionality.
 Gaps are identified and new proposed solutions are developed.

The analysis results in a proposal for conducting business operations under the envisioned
application technical architecture.

4
 Solution Design

The purpose of Solution Design is:

 To develop the detailed designs for the new system to meet the future business requirements.
 Create detailed Business Procedure Documentation (BP 080).
 Support business requirements which may require building Application extensions to standard
features.

Several alternative possibilities may have been defined during Operations Analysis. The project team
carefully scrutinizes these possibilities and chooses the most cost effective alternatives.

5
 Build

During the Build phase:

 The coding and testing of all customizations and other custom software, including application
extensions, data conversions, and interfaces, is done.
 Business system testing is performed to validate that the functionality meets business
requirements, business system test, which is commonly conducted as a formal conference room
pilot (CRP) test. It validates the configuration of the new system and is performed in an
environment that closely resembles production.
 Developers produce unit-tested and link-tested program modules.
 System and systems integration tests are performed and a working, tested business system is
delivered at the end of the phase.
 the Performance Testing team creates Performance Testing components and executes the
performance tests.
 In addition, user learningware is developed and a user learning environment is set up.

Finally, during Build the production support infrastructure is designed and a Transition and
Contingency Plan (PM.030) is developed.

6
 Transition

During Transition, the project team deploys the new system into the organization. All the elements
of the implementation must come together to transition successfully to actual production.

 The project team trains the users.

 Technical team configures the Production Environment and converts data.
 During Transition, users perform an acceptance test of the new system.

Transition is a demanding experience for the project team, and in particular, for the users who have
to maintain exposure to two systems until a new production system is declared. Managing changes
and buffering your organization from negative impacts must be top priority. Preparation and
planning facilitate the transition process. Transition ends with the cut over to production, when
users start performing their job duties using the new system.

7
 Production

Production begins immediately with the production cutover. It marks the last phase of the
implementation and the beginning of the system support cycle. A series of refinements and
performance measurement steps is included in this final phase. The information technology
personnel work quickly to stabilize the new system and begin regular maintenance. They provide
the ongoing support to the organization for the remaining life of the system. During Production, we
compare actual results to project objectives and determine if improvements can be made. Controlled
system refinement begins to minimize the impact to users.

8
 AIM Processes

Initials of
documents
produced in
various
phases
BP

RD

BR
TA
MD
CV

DO
TE
PT

AP
PM

9
 Implementation Process and Documents

Gap To Be
Analysis process

CRP1 RD 010 RD 020 BR 030 BP 080 Setups CRP2/3/4...

Requirements
CRP1 is a Requirements
Phase:
demo of Vision Phase: As Is
COA,ORG
Instance Structure
Process CV 040
Definition MD 050

Customization
MD 070 Process

MD 120 Test Data

System Migration
Test Scripts
Post
Production
TE040
Support/
Maintenance Key
Migrate
Setups to
Production Document
UAT
BR 100 Go Live User Acceptance Testing
Migrate
Data to Task
Setup Doc
Production

10
Thank You

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