Millennium Frequently Asked Questions

Please send any questions to Wanna VanCuren at wanna.vancuren@wwu.edu or call extension 2992. She is available to provide clarification, alleviate concerns, answer and/or redirect questions to the other implementation team leads regarding Finance/HR Data Warehouse project.

 

Q: Who is Millennium and what is FAST Finance?
A: Millennium is a software company www.mcsl.com that developed FAST Finance, FAST HR and FAST Student. Millennium partnered with Oracle and has access to the Oracle Partner network. In WWU, we have implemented FAST Finance and FAST HR.

Q: How do I benefit from the implementation of a data warehouse?
A: After completing the user training, you will be able to run standard reports or ad hoc queries directly from this data warehouse. This tool will give you the power to create and share your own Web-based ad hoc reports without burdening IT, and without having to know any complex query language.

Q: What is an ad-hoc query and how is it being used?
A: Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means "for this purpose". Therefore, an ad-hoc query refers to a query created to extract specific information for a specific purpose. With this data warehouse tool, you will be able to customize your own specifications and create your own queries or reports based on the information you required. An ad-hoc query can also be saved and shared with other end-users.

Q: Will I be able to run my usual Banner financial reports after this data warehouse goes live?
A: Yes, all existing Banner financial reports will still be available within the Banner Finance. However, you may find some reports in the new Finance/HR data warehouse that will be more useful than the existing Banner reports.

Q: Will reports from the data warehouse replace all Banner financial/HR reports?
A: It is not the current plan to replace ANY Banner financial/HR reports immediately. However, when we continue using this tool and our end-users become more familiar with the functionalities, it is expected that more and more reports will be generated from the data warehouse instead of going through the report development cycle in Banner.

Q: Will this impact or change my Banner access?
A: No. Your Banner access will remain the same. In addition, you will have access to the data warehouse tool for standard reports and ad-hoc queries. Please note that access to the data warehouse tool will need approval from your supervisors and/or managers. Your access will also be determined by level of security assigned based on your role.

Q: How do I obtain access to the data warehouse?
A: Your supervisor/manager will approve your access and submit an access request to the data warehouse support analyst. Detailed procedures will be developed prior to going live and will be communicated to all potential users at that time.

Q: I have heard that we already have a B.I. (Hummingbird) HR Query database. Why do we need to have another one?
A: Our current in-house B.I. HR tool is still in a fairly infant stage and will require significant amount of development in order to fully meet WWU’s needs. This tool is being used mainly by the HR System Analysts and is not designed for end-users. Our intent for this project is to implement a user-friendly and turnkey HR module so most of the HR standard reports will be available for general users. Since we are also planning on implementing the Finance module, end-users will now be able to link the HR information directly to the finance data for more thorough analysis.

Q: Do I need training in order to use this data warehouse?
A: Yes. Training is part of the implementation plan and a training team will provide instruction on how to run standard reports and ad-hoc queries. The time frame for training will be July to October 2010 depending on different groups and/or departments.

Q: When will this data warehouse be available for us to use?
A: Our project plan is to have the data warehouse fully functional by end of June 2010. The team will phase in all other end-users between July to October 2010 as training is accomplished.

Q: I have also heard of the Banner Finance/Budget Initiative project. What are the differences between these two projects? Are they the same?
A: No, they are not the same - these are two separate projects. The Banner Finance/Budget Initiative Project has many phases with the main objective of utilizing the Banner system more efficiently and effectively. Phase I focuses on collapsing the 14xxx funds in Chart 1 (the University) into fund 10200 and automating the budget load and granting users the ability to allocate their budgets between accounts using Banner Self-Service (Web4U) and Salary Planner. The Finance/HR Data Warehouse project focuses on the implementation of a data warehouse tool that will allow users to more easily query financial and budget data, both from Banner and non-Banner systems and produce ad-hoc reports. The data warehouse tool will also be useful for reconciling budget and staffing information.