FIS BULLETIN Number 3

Announcements | Calendar | Status | T&T-Q&A | Training | Inside Peek | Odds & Ends

December 3, 1996

Seasons greetings and best wishes for the new year from all of us on the Banner Team

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

GENERAL

BANNER UPGRADE: The Banner upgrade is on schedule to be installed over the weekend of December 7-8 and to be ready for use on Monday morning, December 9, 1996. Due to the installation, please be aware that Banner will not be available December 7-8. The upgrade provides some new functionality and corrects many significant Banner program errors. Unfortunately, we have not been able to complete work on one part of the upgrade. Due to a succession of problems, implementation of the Banner Contract and Grant functions has been delayed.

We are in the process of preparing a "Banner 2.0.7 User Upgrade Notes" document that we plan to distribute via email to all FIS users around the middle this week. The Notes include information about 1) New Banner Functionality, 2) Banner "Bug" Fixes, 3) Other Banner Items of Note, 4) Banner Menu Changes, 5) Recap of Important 1996 Banner Email Messages, and 6) Updated UCSC FIS Training Manual Material.

We are also preparing a printed, formatted version of the Notes, which will contain the exact same text information as the email version, plus some Banner screen shots. The screen shots are helpful, but not critical to understanding the Notes. Should you wish to view the menus, references in the email version will guide you to the appropriate ones. We are hopeful that the email version of the Notes will satisfy user needs. Service centers should receive a copy of the printed notes by Monday, December 9.

ON MONDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 9, A SPECIAL FIS BULLETIN EXTRA WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ANY LATE-BREAKING NEWS, INCLUDING ANY DELAYS IN BRINGING BANNER UP SHOULD WE RUN INTO SERIOUS UNEXPECTED PROBLEMS OVER THE WEEKEND. PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK YOUR EMAIL FOR THE FIS BULLETIN EXTRA MONDAY MORNING.

ACQUISITIONS: None

BANNER REPORTS:

CORRECTED MONTHLY TRANSACTION DETAIL REPORT (FWRDOLD): In the last issue, we reported that the "Monthly Transaction Detail" report did not include line detail of encumbrances rolled over from 95-96, even though the amounts of these "invisible" encumbrances are included in the totals. The November 30, 1996 FWRDOLD report has been corrected and will include encumbrances rolled over from 95-96. You can request a corrected October 31, 1996 FWRDOLD report from Monique Leduc (x5133 or mleduc@cats).

MONTHLY TRANSACTION DETAIL BY ACTIVITY CODE REPORT (FWRTDEA): We reported in the FIS Bulletin Extra #2a that the same problem affecting the FWRDOLD report also affects the FWRTDEA report. However, upon closer inspection, we noticed that the report is designed to only report on current period detail encumbrance transactions. This results in many instances where the reported encumbrance total does not agree to the sum of the individual transaction totals.

Based on this analysis, we are wondering if the FWRTDEA report could be made more useful. To answer this question, we would appreciate receiving your responses to the following questions:

Do you use this report? If so, how?
Do you use the Open Encumbrances detail transaction info?
Do you use the Open Encumbrances Ending Balance total?
Do you use the Ending Balance total?
Would it be helpful to have all current and prior period open encumbrances appear on the report?

Please email your responses to Vicki Gutzwiller at vickig@cats

OTHER FIS / BANNER ITEMS: None

CALENDAR OF FIS / BANNER EVENTS

Please note that period close-related dates are estimated.

PROJECT STATUS

STUDENT WORKER ACCESS TO BANNER: Resources for the development and presentation of student Banner training have been requested in order to implement this project. As soon resources are made available to complete the training program, the planned implementation plan will be circulated to Service Center managers for comment.

PAYROLL ENCUMBRANCES: We are preparing material for the discussion of payroll encumbrances. We are hoping to put on the presentation in January. Those of you who signed up to attend the presentation will be notified of the time and place where it will be held later this month.

TIPS & TRICKS / QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

TIPS & TRICKS:

FOATELE - VENDOR TELEPHONE NUMBER FORM: If there is more than one BU (business) or FAX (fax) number listed, you can find out which location the number is for by tabbing to the Address Sequence field (Seq.) and then hitting Count Query Hits (F6 to some). You can then see the details behind each address! (Courtesy of Lisa Rose)

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: None submitted over the past month

________________________
Questions or problems regarding the Banner system can be directed to:
Acquisitions, Accounts Payable - Karsen Jones kjones@cats
Ledger Reports, Fiscal Closing - Vicki Gutzwiller vickig@cats
Banner Security, Access - Monique Leduc mleduc@cats
Other questions - Kirk Lew kllew@cats

INSIDER’S PEEK AT FIS

ANATOMY OF A UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTING SYSTEM

Part 3

Filling in the scorecard. Who does what and how does it all fit together?

Now that you know all about University fund accounting and Banner/Oracle (Don't worry, you can fake it through the hard parts), we can now put some organizational faces to the different pieces of the FIS/Banner puzzle. The following groups of people play an important role in making FIS/Banner work. (in other words, they make Bannerland the fun place to be).

CENTRAL CAMPUS OFFICES (AO, P&B, PO) "Bannerland Ride Designers": Consistent with their responsibilities to the campus, Central Offices help to define many aspects of Banner’s functionality. These offices are among the heaviest users of Banner. They develop various budgeting, financial, and acquisitions-related policies and procedures that may or may not involve Banner. Whether or not Banner is involved, the intent remains the same - making sure that the campus complies with various campus, University-wide, and regulatory agency processing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements. In order to perform this magic, Central Office Users work closely with FIS/Banner Users and User-Analysts to try to modify Banner to better meet campus needs.

USER-ANALYSTS (FIS) "Bannerland Ride Engineers": User-Analysts attempt to reconcile the needs of Central Campus Offices and Banner Users with the capabilities and limitations of Banner. They translate these needs into specifications ("specs") that Programmer-Analysts use to make changes to Banner’s functionality (i.e. make the rides more fun). Many times, this same information is of use to Database Administrators who use it to improve the performance of the Oracle databases. User-Analysts troubleshoot Banner problems and analyze and test Banner program updates and "bug" fixes. They also provide specialized Banner services that include security administration, production coordination, and year-end processing coordination.

PROGRAMMER-ANALYSTS (ADS) "Bannerland Ride Mechanics and Pest Exterminators": Using the information, or "specs," provided by User-Analysts, Programmer-Analysts exterminate "bugs" (i.e. things that don’t work the way they should) in Banner by correcting program code (i.e. instructions that tell Banner to do something). They also modify and create code to customize the Banner system to better meet the needs of the campus. Armed with detailed specs from User-Analysts, Programmer-Analysts write the code that produces the voluminous paper reports you have come to know and love. In addition, Programmer-Analysts create and maintain code used to process data received from other computer systems, such as the Payroll Personnel System (PPS). They are often the first to notice Banner production-related problems that sometimes occur.

DATABASE ADMINISTRATORS (ADS) "Bannerland’s Front Office Support": Otherwise known as DBA’s, Database Administrators keep the Banner Finance Oracle database in fine working shape. They are responsible for creating new tables and table indexes using specs provided by Programmer-Analysts, and for ensuring that database tables are properly structured and organized so that Banner data can be stored and retrieved quickly. Since it is possible to access Oracle databases using programs other than Banner, DBA’s ensure Banner data integrity by controlling access to the Banner Finance Oracle database. They work closely with Programmer-Analysts and User-Analysts to fine-tune the system. They also work closely with the UNIX Systems Administrators to ensure that Oracle and the UNIX operating system are also working in synch.

UNIX SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATORS (CATS) "Bannerland’s Back Office Support": For the FIS, UNIX System Administrators are responsible for making sure that the UNIX operating system used on the host computer system, named DINKY, which runs Banner is working smoothly (UNIX can be compared to the Mac OS on the Macintosh or DOS/Windows on the PC). UNIX Systems Administrators monitor computer system disk performance and disk space, and are responsible for maintaining system backup processes. They work closely with the DBA’s.

COMPUTING SYSTEMS OPERATORS (CATS) "Bannerland’s Ride Operators": The Computing Systems Operators run the many computer processes that result in printing Banner reports and vendor checks; running the programs which import electronic data into Banner, such as Payroll transactions from PPS, and export data to other systems, such as monthly ledger transaction data to Office of the President; transmitting data from Banner to the Data Warehouse; and backing up Banner data every night. System Operators perform the same tasks for all of the other campus automated systems and are at work around the clock, everyday. For FIS/Banner, they work closely with the FIS production coordinator (a User-Analyst) and DBA’s.

DATA WAREHOUSE (P&B) "Bannerland’s Souvenir Vendors": Each night, the Data Warehouse receives Banner detail operating ledger data that, after some processing, is made available to Data Warehouse/Business Objects users on another host computer named INKY (Don’t ask me how DINKY and INKY got named.) This data is accessed using a data extraction and reporting software tool called Business Objects. With it, users can create customized financial reports tailored to specific needs (or what are known as "souvenirs" in Bannerland parlance). The Data Warehouse people work closely with the DBA’s and the FIS production coordinator.

INFORMATION RESOURCE CENTER (CATS) Bannerland’s "Ticket Agents and Lost Users Room Coordinators": The Information Resource Center, a.k.a. the IRC, sets up Banner FIS accounts, assigning user names and passwords. IRC staff work closely with the Banner Security Administrator to ensure that access is provided appropriately. They make sure that users are aware of all the rules and responsibilities governing use of the campus’ computing resources. In addition, they can answer very basic questions about Banner navigation and document query (for forms like FOIDOCH), and they serve as a second line of support, after unit or service center computer coordinators, in the area of dealing with campus connectivity issues. The IRC is a good place to seek assistance if you’re lost (somewhere in Bannerland) and don’t know exactly who you need to talk to.

As you can tell, there are a lot of people involved in making Banner work.Hopefully, after having read the three installments of the "Anatomy of a University Accounting System" series, you have a better idea of the many "behind the scenes" things that take place within the campus' Banner/financial system and of the many influences that make Banner what it is (for better or worse). Be assured, this knowledge will serve you well as we continue our discussions of various Banner topics.

In the next issue:
Bannerland’s New and Improved Ride: Banner Upgrade Intrigue

ODDS & ENDS: None

Contributors: Kirk Lew, Monique Leduc, Diane Koletzke
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Please direct them to the editor, Kirk Lew kllew@cats

Financial Affairs | Accounting Offices | Campus Controller | FIS

Comments to: controller@ucsc.edu - Maintained by FIS, Updated