Course Overview
Owners and PMOs invest heavily in configuring Oracle Primavera Unifier business processes, cost sheets and cash flow, yet many implementations still export to spreadsheets to answer basic portfolio questions. The gap is rarely the data; it is the reporting design. Without a deliberate approach to data elements, reporting fields, user-defined reports and dashboards, leadership receives inconsistent figures from the same system and loses confidence in the PMIS.
Analytics, Reports and Dashboards is the Academy's professional course for Unifier reporting specialists. Over two hands-on days, learners design the reporting layer end to end: preparing business processes and cost structures for reporting, building tabular, summary and cross-tab user-defined reports, publishing shell and company dashboards, and configuring Unifier Analytics subject areas, analyses and dashboards. Every exercise uses a multi-project government programme dataset with contracts, commitments, payment applications and cash flow.
Target Audience
- Unifier administrators and configurators responsible for reporting and dashboards
- PMO and project controls analysts who produce portfolio, cost and contract reports
- Business intelligence specialists integrating Unifier data into executive reporting
- PMIS consultants delivering Unifier implementations for owners and PMCs
- Cost and contract managers who define the key performance indicators the PMIS must report
- Programme and portfolio managers on government and giga-project programmes
Prerequisites
- UNF-201 Cost and Contract Management, or equivalent working knowledge of the cost sheet, commitments and payment applications
- UNF-301 Business Process Design with uDesigner is recommended, or experience with data elements and BP forms
- Administrator or configurator access to a Unifier environment in your own role is helpful but not required
- Comfort with Excel pivot tables and basic reporting concepts (grouping, filtering, aggregation)
Learning Objectives
- Explain the Unifier reporting architecture: user-defined reports, dashboards, Unifier Analytics and REST web services
- Assess business process, cost sheet and shell attribute design for reporting readiness
- Build tabular, summary and cross-tab user-defined reports with joins to reference BPs, parameters and formulas
- Report across shells using company-level and program-level UDRs and shell attributes
- Configure shell and company dashboards with blocks, charts and KPIs driven by UDRs and cost data
- Set up Unifier Analytics subject areas and field mappings for business processes, cost sheets and cash flow
- Create analyses and dashboards in Unifier Analytics with prompts, drill-downs and role-based access
- Reconcile reported figures against the cost sheet, SOV and cash flow to certify report accuracy
- Package and govern reports across environments using configuration packages and a reporting catalogue
Detailed Course Outline
1Day 1 · Module 1: The Unifier reporting architecture
- User-defined reports, dashboards, Unifier Analytics and REST web services compared
- Which reporting tool answers which stakeholder question
- Reporting permissions and where report templates live
- Designing a reporting catalogue for a programme
2Day 1 · Module 2: Designing data for reporting
- Data elements, data definitions and reportable fields
- Shell attributes and company-level classifications (region, sector, phase)
- Reference BPs and linked records as reporting joins
- Status and workflow fields that make KPIs possible
- Common design flaws that break reports
3Day 1 · Module 3: Tabular and summary user-defined reports
- Creating a UDR: data source, columns and sort order
- Grouping, subtotals and summary rows
- Formula columns and conditional formatting
- Query conditions and run-time parameters
4Day 1 · Module 4: Cross-tab, line-item and cost reports
- Cross-tab reports for period and category analysis
- Reporting on BP line items versus upper form
- Cost sheet, budget and commitment reports by CBS
- SOV and payment application reporting
5Day 1 · Module 5: Cross-shell and portfolio reporting
- Company-level and program-level UDRs
- Rolling up projects by shell attributes
- Reporting on base commitments and commitment change BPs across contracts
- Scheduling, exporting and distributing reports
6Day 2 · Module 6: Shell and company dashboards
- Dashboard structure: blocks, tabs and layout
- Chart types, data sources and drill-down to records
- KPIs from UDRs, cost sheet and cash flow
- Assigning dashboards to users and groups
- Designing dashboards for executives versus project teams
7Day 2 · Module 7: Unifier Analytics configuration
- Enabling Unifier Analytics and data refresh schedules
- Subject areas for business processes, cost sheets, cash flow and shells
- Mapping data elements and custom fields to analytics
- Security and data visibility in Analytics
8Day 2 · Module 8: Building analyses and analytics dashboards
- Criteria, filters and calculated measures
- Pivot tables, graphs and performance tiles
- Dashboard prompts, navigation and drill paths
- Combining cost, contract and schedule subject areas
9Day 2 · Module 9: Data quality, reconciliation and governance
- Reconciling reports to the cost sheet, SOV and cash flow
- Diagnosing mismatches: statuses, terminal states and refresh timing
- Moving reports between environments with configuration packages
- Report ownership, naming conventions and change control
Learning Outcomes
- Design Unifier business processes and structures that report correctly from the start
- Deliver a portfolio reporting catalogue of UDRs aligned to stakeholder questions
- Publish shell and company dashboards that replace manual spreadsheet packs
- Configure Unifier Analytics subject areas and build executive analyses with drill-down
- Certify reported cost and contract figures against source data before issue
- Govern reports and dashboards across development, test and production environments
Hands-on Workshops & Practical Exercises
Reporting readiness review
Audit a set of business processes and shell attributes against a list of executive KPIs, and document the data element and status changes required to report them.
Contract register report
Build a parameterised UDR joining base commitments, commitment changes and payment applications to produce a contract status register by contractor and CBS.
Monthly cost cross-tab
Create a cross-tab report of committed, invoiced and paid values by period and cost category, then reconcile totals to the cost sheet.
Programme dashboard build
Design a company-level dashboard with project roll-up by region, commitment exposure charts and drill-down to individual records.
Analytics analysis lab
Map custom fields to Unifier Analytics subject areas and build an analysis with prompts, a pivot view and performance tiles for cash flow variance.
Capstone: executive reporting pack
Deliver a complete reporting solution for a multi-project programme (reporting catalogue, UDRs, a shell dashboard and an Analytics dashboard) and present a reconciliation proving the figures, assessed against the professional rubric.
Duration
Delivered as two full days in the classroom, or as four live online sessions of 3.5 hours scheduled across one or two weeks.
Delivery Methods
Online
Live virtual classroom in four 3.5-hour sessions, with individual Unifier and Unifier Analytics lab access and instructor review of each report build.
Classroom
Two-day public course at the Academy in Riyadh and regional venues, with a dedicated multi-project Unifier reporting environment per learner.
On-site Corporate Training
Private cohort at your premises, building reports and dashboards on your own Unifier configuration, KPIs and executive reporting requirements.
Assessment Method
- Practical capstone reporting pack assessed against the Arkan professional rubric (design, accuracy, usability and governance)
- End-of-course examination (40 questions, 75% pass mark)
- Continuous practical assessment of workshop deliverables
- Minimum 80% attendance
Certificate Awarded
Arkan Academy · Professional
Arkan Professional Certificate: Analytics, Reports and Dashboards
Awarded to learners who meet the attendance requirement, pass the examination and achieve the rubric standard on the capstone. Carries a unique verification ID and 14 recorded learning hours.
ID · ARK-UNF-303-XXXXXX
Career Benefits
- Position yourself as the reporting and analytics lead on Unifier implementations
- Deliver the executive visibility that owners and PMOs cite as the main return on their PMIS
- Bridge project controls and business intelligence roles with a recognised professional credential
- Reduce reliance on manual reporting and demonstrate measurable productivity gains
- Strengthen your profile for senior PMIS consultant and PMO analytics positions
Recommended Next Course
Professional Competencies Achieved
- User-defined report designAdvanced
- Dashboard design and KPI definitionAdvanced
- Unifier Analytics configurationPractitioner
- Reporting data model designPractitioner
- Cost and contract data reconciliationAdvanced
- Reporting governancePractitioner
Talent Development & Career Opportunities
Distinction graduates of this course are typically considered for PMO reporting and analytics workstreams, executive dashboard rollouts and Unifier Analytics deployments on multi-project government programmes.
Participants who achieve an overall assessment score above 90% graduate with Distinction and may be enrolled in the Arkan Talent Development Program.
Outstanding graduates may receive:
- Internship opportunities
- Exposure to PMIS implementation projects
- Mentorship from senior Arkan consultants
- Recommendation letters
- Career guidance sessions
- Candidate referrals to partner organizations through Arkan Talent
- Opportunities to participate in PMIS deployment, PMO setup and digital transformation projects
Disclaimer: Enrolment in the Talent Development Program and any of the opportunities above are not guaranteed and do not constitute an offer or promise of employment. Exceptional performers may be considered for future project opportunities based on business needs, individual performance, availability of suitable roles and client requirements. Referrals and placements remain subject to the selection processes of Arkan and its partner organizations.