Oracle Technical Consultant

In this article we will explain the technical career path as an Oracle Technical Consultant. What do we mean by a technical consultant, what are the perquisites to work as an Oracle Technical Consultant, What are the skills required to take this role and what roles and responsibilities are integral part of being a technical expert in Oracle. At the end of the article we will try to explain the career path.

Defining an Oracle Technical Consultant:

Technical Consultants are the professionals adept in technical skills and have the knowledge of the Oracle Code and Oracle coding language that is Oracle PL SQL. They understand the coding standards prescribed by Oracle and have a deep understanding of the entire Oracle implementation life cycle. Compared to Functional Consultants, the technical Consultants need not be expert in any specific domain like Finance, HR, Manufacturing, and Procure to Pay, however understanding of domain and business processes enables the technical consultant to come with standard and sustainable solutions.

Expected Skillsets of Oracle Technical Consultant:

Technical Consultants generally have educational background and experience in computer science as IT Experts, Engineers or Software Developers. They must possess good understanding of Oracle technical areas like PL/SQL, OA Framework, (Java, JSP, XML), Forms, Reports, Workflow, Programming Skills, and a good understanding of databases like Oracle 8i, 9i, 10g,11g and other collaboration and quality tools like Mercury IT Governance, PVCS, Mercury Quality Center (MQC) and Service Desk.

Roles and Responsibilities of Oracle Technical Consultant:

Extending Oracle Applications:

Main role of Technical Consultant is to do customizations, extensions, modifications, localizations or integrations to the existing product and also develop reports using the Oracle Reports to cater to business specific reporting needs. Technical consultants are expected to work on development activities and managing custom application development projects, customization and extension of Oracle Applications.  To able to excel in this role, technical consultants are expected to be proficient in underlying coding language with a thorough understanding of the underlying technical architecture of Oracle Applications.

Technical Oracle Consultant is expected to work closely with Functional consultants to understand the requirements and then undertake technical design and produce software component designs and specifications as per the functional design. Once the software components are developed then he needs to test the components viz. reports, work flow, interfaces, customizations, data migration scripts etc. He is also required to carry out audits and participate in technical walk through. Major work involves producing unit test plans and documenting the test results, creating test data and testing environments for unit testing, undertake the production of system documentation, to report progress and issues to the team leader in a timely manner. 

Oracle Database Management:

The role also requires a solid understanding of database management, patching, tuning and recovery in standalone and clustered environments especially if the project team is not large enough to have dedicated roles for all the different functions. They are often required to act as a trusted technical consultant for customers to select, prepare and support products within their organizations, along with technical problem resolution, the design and implementation of solutions for contracted services.

Pre-Sales Oracle Technical Enquiries:

Oracle Technical professionals can be of invaluable assistance to pre-sales project teams, and can help with their expertise to come up with the right solutions for the client. If you are working for a consulting organization and as you move up the ladder of your understanding of the technical architecture of Oracle Applications, you will be increasingly asked to assist in pre-sales support including preparing the project proposals and responding to RFPs (Request for Proposals).  Working on such tasks and learning the skills required for this can add more nuggets to your career. This also opens the doors for you to attend customer opportunity and strategy meetings and you can get a chance to present solutions from a commercial and business perspective.

Handling Request for Proposals (RFPs) Requests:

Clients that are planning to implement Oracle and need technical services will call for proposals from a pool of empanelled vendors. RFP’s generally have a structured framework detailing the scope and work of the proposed project and asking vendors for their proposals along with cost estimates/resource requirements regarding the work to be done. Response to a RFP constitutes of a technical solution architecture supported by the framework to implement the proposed solution. It is often corroborated by case studies; proof of concept, demo or mockup to provide assurance that vendor has the requisite capability to handle the proposed assignment.

Cost, budget and financials and Resource management are the integral parts of an RFP that often becomes the basis for selection of a particular vendor. Vendors also support RFP’s with the credentials, testimonials and references from their past clients to prove their credibility for the proposed assignment. As a typical response to a RFP, includes a substantial technical component, the value that can be added by an Oracle Technical Consultant in this process is immense. Oracle Technical people will be able to analyze the client’s customization requirements, and think through a framework to create a solution using their knowledge and experience.

Quality Management & Quality Center in Oracle Implementations:

Technical consultant is responsible for managing the quality of the code and development work to ensure that the code works first time right and the end users do not face any issues when the code is move to the production environment. To meet this he should be proficient in the development and coding standards prescribed by Oracle. He must have an understanding of best practices while designing forms, reports and customizations on Oracle and should invariable use them for coming with a sustainable solution for the client. He also needs to take care of the performance issues, that is to ensure that the program created is able to provide the desired outcome in a reasonable optimum possible time.

Technical ERP Documentation by Oracle Technical Consultants:

Technical documentation is an important piece of any ERP implementation.  They are perquisite for understanding and translating requirements so that all the teams involved in the project are on the same page. They validate that the requirements have been properly understood and translated to solutions as intended by the business. They are also the only media to ensure IP retention with the company when the consulting team leaves the project and there are requests for either enhancing or reworking on the component designed earlier. Oracle Technical Consultants are expected to deliver quality documentation at the every stage of the project where they get involved.

In the next series of article we will explore how an Oracle Technical Consultant can learn from his early career periods and transition into managerial roles as he matures in Oracle Implementations.