Which Oracle Product Is Right For Me?

We are often asked by potential clients to help them navigate through the wide selection criteria for Oracle Primavera P6 Professional. Better understanding of the various options available within the Primavera product set can mean the difference between a fruitful long-term investment and a less satisfactory one, so weighing up the pros and cons is a hugely valuable exercise in itself.

At first glance, many of the products seem to overlap – especially when reviewed at a high level – with some features and functions provided across several of the options available. However, your final selection will inevitably come down to some relatively simple choices.

Bring it back to basics

Assessing which product is right for you is not always a straightforward process, but it is possible to narrow down the selection by asking two essential questions:

1. How configurable do I need the product to be? Or, to what extent do I need to be able to change the way the software works off-the-shelf in order to meet my actual business and functional needs?
2. Can I host my product in the Cloud, or does it need to be based on-premises? Or, is using Oracle Primavera in a Software as a Service (Saas) cloud solution an advantage, or does a fixed install at your place of business better suit your needs?

If the answers to the questions above are pointing towards the ‘not all that configurable’ and ‘I can be in the cloud’ then reviewing demonstrations of Primavera Cloud (previously known as Prime) and Aconex would be the best place to start considering your requirements against the software’s out-of-the-box functionalities.

These tools are a powerful combo between them but they’re not quite as configurable as the others. Primavera Cloud, for example, could be categorised as a ‘swiss army knife’ solution in that it has plenty of functionality, with each individual component perhaps not as extensive as a specialized software product designed specifically for that one purpose.

If, on the other hand, the answer to those questions is leaning towards the expectation that you’ll require a mid-to-high level configurability and/or you can exist in the cloud, then P6 and Unifier is worth further investigation.

Both of these products are highly configurable, Unifier even more so than P6 in that it comes with capability straight off the bat but can also include some of your own custom variances to accommodate bespoke business processes within the project controls function.

Find the right balance for your project controls needs

Each product has its own strengths and specialities; some can offer a basic solution to a particular challenge, whereas another might give you greater potency and control in that area.

Take Cost Management, for instance:

• P6 will allow you to assign costs to an activity and create baselines and budgets, but it only offers a limited exchange rate functionality and has no concept of transaction and project currency. Cost management exists, but on a very basic level.
• Primavera Cloud, on the other hand, does include a specific Cost Management function, but a very simple one which is essentially a collection of web-based spreadsheets that cannot be allocated to activities in a plan.
• Aconex will allow you to combine assigning costs to budgets whilst tracking transactions and currency, but it isn’t very flexible and cannot be tailored to specific business processes. This would make it a quick and easy tool to implement for construction projects, where it might only be used for one project and then discarded.
• Unifier, however, does all that Aconex can do – and more. It’s fully customisable in ways that the above options fall short, but needs time and expertise in setting up and takes much longer to get up and running. As a result, it tends to be purchased by owners rather than contractors and used on a company level across many projects, over a longer period of time.

Whatever your objectives and priorities, there is sure to be an Oracle product for you. Our advice is always to carefully consider your requirements to ensure that your needs are met by whichever solution you choose.

The ultimate test will always be how effectively your projects are managed and, ultimately, delivered, but with the right research, consideration and consultation beforehand, you'll be leaving far less to chance - and putting more power in your hands.