Introduction
Patch Solutions – PatchPay service, provides HRMS & Payroll as a service based on Oracle Fusion HCM Cloud, Oracle eBusiness Suite applications and Oracle Database 23ai. By combining the capabilities of Oracle Payroll and Oracle Fusion HCM Cloud, PatchPay offers an end-to-end enterprise class HCM & payroll solution. The Oracle Payroll application within Oracle eBusiness Suite, hosted and managed by Patch Solutions, is provided as a subscription service.
BSC – a long term partner and service provider to Patch Solutions, provides the cloud managed services and technical expertise to keep PatchPay available and secure 24x7x365, including comprehensive security management and monitoring.
Company Overview
Patch Solutions are a leading provider for Oracle HCM and Payroll consulting, support and managed services. Patch Solutions are based in Sydney, Australia and service customers globally. As a provider of mission-critical payroll and HR services, security and data protection are paramount to maintaining customer trust and regulatory compliance.
BSC provides consulting, support and hosting services for the Oracle technology stack. BSC provide the private cloud platform and management services for the PatchPay solution, including comprehensive security architecture and monitoring. BSC are based in Sydney, Australia and service customers globally.
Challenge/Problem
Following the successful implementation of PatchPay on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Patch Solutions identified several key challenges in meeting evolving customer requirements for data access and analytics:
Complex Data Access Requirements
- Customer demand for self-service analytics capabilities that don’t require Oracle eBusiness Suite technical expertise or SQL knowledge.
- Need to provide business users with access to discover payroll and HR data insights on an ad-hoc manner without the lengthly lead time to develop structured reports.
- Growing expectation for conversational, intuitive interfaces for data queries and reporting.
Traditional Reporting Limitations
- Standard Oracle eBusiness Suite reporting required technical knowledge and predefined report structures.
- Custom report development was time-consuming and required specialised technical resources.
- Limited ability for end users to explore data dynamically or ask ad-hoc questions.
Resource-Intensive Analytics Support
- Significant IT resources required to support custom reporting requests from customers.
- Manual processes for creating and maintaining complex analytical queries.
- Bottleneck in delivering timely insights to business users due to technical complexity.
Solution
Patch Solutions and BSC implemented Oracle Autonomous Database and OCI Generative AI services to transform the analytics and ad-hoc reporting capabilities of the PatchPay platform. This innovative approach leveraged Oracle Autonomous Database Select AI and OCI Generative AI capabilities to enable natural language querying of Oracle eBusiness Suite data:
Oracle ADB & Select AI Natural Language Capabilities
Oracle Autonomous Database Select AI capability provides the ability to query data using natural language in conjunction with the OCI Generative AI service. Oracle ADB provides the interface between Oracle eBusiness Suite natural language queries and the AI generated SQL statements returned to be executed on the Oracle eBS database.
- Deployed Oracle Autonomous Database serverless as a low-cost/high value solution to support the Oracle eBS NL requirements..
- Minimal effort to provision and configure Oracle ADB to support the technical requirements of the EBS NL solution.
- Scalable across multiple eBS environments and benefits from tight integration with OCI Gen AI service
- Implemented Select AI to enable business users to query PatchPay data using natural language instead of complex SQL.
- Integrated Select AI with Oracle eBusiness Suite data structures to provide contextual, business-relevant responses.
- Enabled conversational analytics that allow users to ask follow-up questions and refine their queries naturally,
Enhanced Oracle Database Base Service Integration
- Leveraged Oracle Database Base Service capabilities to support seamless integration between Oracle eBS and OCI Autonomous Database and Generative AI services.
- Provisioning simplified using multi-region service deployment to take advantage of Oracle Gen AI services.
- Utilised advanced Oracle Database features to optimise query performance and data processing
Self-Service Analytics Platform
- Native Oracle eBS interface using Oracle APEX that allow business users to access insights without technical training.
- Implemented role-based access controls to ensure users only access appropriate data for their organisation.
- Oracle APEX built in capabilities allow for user driven data exploration and export from within the web browser.
Benefits
The implementation of Oracle Autonomous Database and Select AI has revolutionised how PatchPay customers access and analyse their HR and payroll data:
Democratised Data Access
- Business users can now query complex payroll and HR data using simple, natural language questions.
- Eliminated the need for technical expertise or SQL knowledge to access critical business insights.
- Reduced dependency on IT resources for routine reporting and analytics requests.
Enhanced User Experience
- Intuitive, conversational interface allows users to explore data dynamically and ask follow-up questions.
- Real-time analytics capabilities provide immediate insights for business decision making.
- Self-service analytics empowers business users to discover insights independently.
Operational Efficiency
- Reduced custom report development time by approximately 80% through natural language querying.
- Eliminated bottlenecks in analytics delivery by enabling direct user access to data insights.
- Autonomous database management reduced database administration overhead significantly.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
- Customers can access sophisticated analytics capabilities without additional technical training.
- Enhanced ability to derive actionable insights from payroll and HR data improves business outcomes.
- Scalable analytics platform grows with customer data volumes and complexity.
Cost-Effective Analytics
- Autonomous Database eliminated the need for specialised database administration for analytics workloads.
- Reduced custom development costs through self-service analytics capabilities.
- Optimised infrastructure costs through automated scaling and resource management.
Customer Quotes
“The implementation of Oracle Autonomous Database with Select AI has transformed how our customers interact with their payroll data. What used to require technical expertise and custom reports can now be accomplished through simple, natural language questions. Our customers love the intuitive interface and the immediate insights they can access.” – John Sale, Patch Solutions
“Select AI has revolutionised our analytics capabilities. Business users can now ask questions like ‘What was our average overtime cost last quarter?’ and get immediate, accurate responses. This has eliminated the traditional barriers between business users and their data, enabling much faster decision making.” – Mark Burgess, BSC
