master the power of qad upgrading to qad enterprise edition walter p. little, sr. enterprise...

Master the Power of QAD

Upgrading to QAD Enterprise Edition

Walter P. Little, Sr. Enterprise Applications EngineerSecond Sight Medical Products, Inc.

QAD West Coast User Group MeetingFebruary 8-9, 2016

Master the Power of QADMaster the Power of QAD

Company Background• Second Sight designs, manufactures, and sells a retinal prosthesis that restores vision to blind

people• Founded 1998 by Alfred E. Mann and others• Headquarters in Los Angeles, additional office in Switzerland• Began commercialization in Europe in 2011, US in 2013, Canada in 2014• Class III Medical Device, approved & regulated by FDA and ISO• IPO in 2014 (NASDAQ: EYES)

• QAD customer since 2007• Upgraded from SE 2007 to SE 2009 in 2010• Upgraded from SE 2009 to EE 2015 in 2015• Implemented Eagle RF Express in 2015

• QAD is used throughout the organization, mostly not customized• Manufacturing: work orders, inventory, purchasing, planning, shipping/receiving• Customer Service: sales orders, installed base (warranty)• Finance: AP, AR, GL, cost accounting, consolidation, reporting, budgeting


Why Upgrade to QAD EE?• New Financials enhances compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies

• More structured• Security more definable• Improved transaction auditing

• New Financials easier to use, yet more powerful• AP, AR screens more intuitive• Trial Balance and other views make finding specific information faster and easier• “Drill Down” on transactions

• Enhancements to Operations• Item attributes, lot trace workbench, etc.

• Better ability to integrate with other systems using QXtend• New software technology and framework .Net UI

• Excel Integration available for many Finance features, including journal entries, GL account changes, budgets, etc.


Upgrade Decision Activities• Attended WeCUG User Event in 2014• Learned about new features in EE• Learned that SE is at EOL status

• Hired Strategic Information Group (SIG) to perform operations assessment• Finance, Operations, Customer Service, Quality• More than 50% of suggested improvements had EE as a prerequisite

• Received SIG proposal/quote • Developed proposed Project Plan• Internal approval secured


Project Timeframe Considerations• Go Live timing needed to allow for 1st Month-End Close in new system

to not also be end of quarter• Middle of quarter best timeframe for participation of Finance staff• Contracts executed in Q2• Start project in July, be ready for Finance participation after

completion of Q2 close• Target Go-Live date for August month-end close • option to fall back to October month-end close if not ready in time


Project Timeline• July 1-10: Project Planning• July 10: Project Kick-Off• July 14-15: EE Installation and IQ on new server• July 20-24: SEEE database conversion #1• July 27-31: User Training (on demo database)• Aug 3-7: SEEE database conversion #2• Aug 10-14: Fit to Business / User Testing• Aug 17-21: Testing / Issue Triage / SEEE DB conversion #3• Aug 24-27: Finalize Validation documents / Implement Security in EE / Issue Triage / SEEE DB

conversion #4• Aug 25: Go/No-Go Decision• Aug 28-31: SEEE database conversion - FINAL / Validation / GO LIVE• September 1-30: Issue Triage / Set Up Consolidation / FRW Training & Implementation


Project Team• Second Sight:• IT: Project Management / Technical Implementation (1 person)• Finance: Training, Testing (Entire Department)• Operations: Training, Testing (Materials Director, Buyer, Shipping)• Customer Service: Training, Testing (Customer Service Director)

• Strategic Information Group:• Project Management (1)• Finance Consultants (1 primary, 2 secondary)• Technical Consultant (1 primary, 1 secondary)


Technical Preparation• QAD server replacement included in project scope• Allowed for concurrent SE and EE while testing• Provided flexibility for exact go-live date

• Hardware and Operating System installation & IQ• Used adapted version of IQ protocol supplied by SIG

• EE Software Installation & IQ• Installation performed by SIG and SSMP IT• Used adapted version of IQ protocol supplied by SIG

• Prepare SE pre-conversion environment• Separate environment on SE server, based on PROD instance• Includes tools and utilities supplied by QAD


Pre-Conversion• Pre-conversion performed by SIG and SSMP IT• Detailed instructions in QAD documentation• Uses a collection of tools and utilities supplied by QAD:• Checks to identify items that will cause conversion to fail• Obtains additional information needed for conversion• Sets flag in SE database indicating readiness for conversion (zero issues

remaining)

• Initial pre-conversion identified approx. 2400 issues to resolve• 2-3 causes accounted for >80% of issues

• 4 pre-conversion/conversion dry-runs were performed before final conversion


Conversion• Performed by SIG and SSMP IT• Backup and copy pre-converted SE database to EE server• Run QDT conversion tools• Conversion can take anywhere from a couple of hours to several days,

depending on the size/complexity of SE database and EE server’s hardware capabilities• Second Sight’s conversion took approx. 2.5 hours


Training• SIG conducted on-site training• Used demo database• Training focus was on Financials• Heavy leverage of QAD-supplied training guides and user guides• General GL, AP, and AR• Operations aspects that directly affect financials were included (e.g. entering

new suppliers)• Training was hands-on as much as possible


Fit-to-Business / User Acceptance Testing• Used converted database from 2nd conversion dry run• Consultant worked directly with each member of Finance:• identify additional needed setup and issues to resolve• more detailed hands-on training

• Excel spreadsheet used to manage setup and issue resolution tasks


Users, Roles & Security• Stated goal was equivalent access level to that of SE• Overhaul of security & implementation of segregation of duties functionality

is a separate project at SSMP

• Security model is fundamentally different from SE to EE!• SE Model

• Menu based, Group based, Domain level, Initial setup is access granted• Most functionality has browse, inquiry, maintenance

• Access to maintenance = access to create, modify, delete• EE Model

• Screen based, Role based, Entity level, Initial setup is access denied• Operations functionality still browse, inquiry, maintenance• Financials functionality changes to separate create, modify, delete, view


Users, Roles & Security• Conversion turns SE groups into EE roles• Conversion was inconsistent in putting users in roles, had to confirm manually• All SE users – active and inactive – were made active in EE during conversion

(fix this ASAP after go-live conversion!)• Conversion retains setting if menu item in SE corresponds with menu item in EE

• Mostly Operations functionality

• Conversion does not “guess” if menu item in SE does not correspond with EE equivalents• Mostly Financials functionality

• Ultimately, had to manually confirm entire security setup• Expect to need to tweak security settings after go live


Validation• Operations functionality was formally validated, Financials was not• Used existing SE requirements and validation as starting point• Much was directly reusable due to Operations functionality not being very

different• Most changes to validation protocol involved changing menu numbers, screen

names, etc.

• Leveraged SIG Validation Toolkit• Validation execution took one business day• All system issues discovered during validation execution were able to

be corrected immediately and re-tested


Cutover / Go-Live• Create new pre-conversion environment / take SE offline• Make necessary changes to pre-conversion SE environment to result in zero

issues reported by QAD pre-conversion tools• Run pre-conversion tools• Create final financial reports (TB, AR/AP Aging, Inventory Valuation, etc.)• Run conversion• Run post-conversion utilities on EE• Create financial reports and check against final SE reports• Perform any additional setup required before go-live• Create Validation environment and run validation protocol• Install Production EE clients and GO!


Post Go-Live• Day-to-day transaction processing mostly smooth• Daily stand-up meetings to ensure timely communication of any

issues found• Some adjusting entries needed to be made to address GL transaction

posting issues during conversion• Some of these required Progress queries to complete

• Consolidation and FRW were functionality areas we felt could be addressed post go-live• Consolidation presented challenges, took all of September to get it working


Consolidation Setup• Consolidation is very different in EE• SE – copies transactions over to consolidation domain• EE – posts period balances to consolidation domain

• Our experience was that consolidation was difficult to set up and get working• COA cross references set up had conflicts with restrictions in EE• Encountered some bugs in exchange rate functionality and had to implement

workarounds


Financial Report Writer (FRW)• FRW implementation consisted of three main activities:• Setup• Training• Report design and implementation

• SIG consultant and SSMP IT set up report cube and COA cross references• SIG consultant trained Finance department• Finance department created analysis code ranges and reports


Overall – What Went Well?• Consulting firm’s experience and knowledge• Internal support for the project stayed consistent throughout• Personnel not directly involved were understanding when lower priority

projects received less attention• Project team was fully engaged and able to communicate effectively,

make decisions quickly, and stay flexible• Project scope was effectively managed• Internal knowledge of how QAD works (including at the database

level) is much higher• Project was on time and on budget


Overall – Lessons Learned• Dedicate more effort toward training and user acceptance testing for

Operations functionality• “Everything looks fine” does not necessarily mean everything is fine.

Make sure to have specific testing deliverables assigned to project team members• Dedicate more time and effort toward security setup before go-live• Don’t underestimate the amount of time and effort needed to get

consolidation up and running


Strategic’s High Level RecapWhat Went Well…• Second Sight staffed the project with the right team to support the QAD

implementation.

• Walter was a dedicated internal project manager that was very organized and detailed. Per our Project Manager: “Walter was so proactive and capable.”

• Good participation by the Second-Sight Team. Made decisions, resolved pre-conversion issues and performed post conversion set-up/configuration on a timely basis.


Strategic’s High Level RecapKey Strategy Taken by Second Sight to Ensure Success…

• Ensure adequate project staffing.

• Everyone focused on meeting the desired Go-Live date

• Project had the support of Senior Management

• Leverage previous Validation package


Thank You• Questions / Comments?

master the power of qad upgrading to qad enterprise edition walter p. little, sr. enterprise...

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