BY ALAN JOCH
ORACLE FUSION APPLICATIONS
Changing the Game
Z LIN
ORACLE’S NEXT-GENERATION APPLICATIONS WILL SET NEW STANDARDS FOR BUSINESS.
hen the order processing system red-flags a customer’s
credit status, the IT department doesn’t get the customer’s
call. When a supplier misses a delivery date for a key automo­
tive assembly, it’s not the CIO who has to answer for the error.
Knowledge workers (known in IT circles as “users”) are on the
front lines when an exception occurs in an established business
process. They’re also the ones who study sales trends to decide
when to open a new store in an up-and-coming neighborhood,
which products are most profitable, how employee skill sets
are evolving, and which suppliers are most efficient. In short,
knowledge workers are masters of business as unusual.
Traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems
and other familiar enterprise applications excel at automating,
managing, and executing standard business processes. These
programs shine when everything goes as planned. Life gets even
trickier when a traditional application needs to be extended
with a new service or an extra step is added to a business
process when new products are brought to market, divisions
are merged, or companies are acquired. Monolithic applications
often need the IT department to step in and make the necessary
adjustments—incurring additional costs and delays.
Until now.
When Oracle unveiled the much-anticipated family of Oracle
Fusion Applications at Oracle OpenWorld in September 2010,
knowledge workers in particular had a lot to cheer about.
Business users will soon have ready access to analytical infor­
mation and collaboration tools in the context of what they are
working on, so they can make better decisions when prob­
lems or opportunities arise. Additionally, the Oracle Fusion
Applications platform will make it easy for business users to
tweak processes, create new capabilities, and find information,
often without the need for IT department assistance and while
still following company guidelines. And IT leaders will be happy
to hear about new deployment options, guided implementation
and setup tools, and cost-saving management capabilities.
Just as important, the underlying technologies in Oracle
Fusion Applications will allow organizations to choose among
their existing investments and next-generation enterprise
applications so they can introduce innovations at a pace that
makes the most business and financial sense. “Oracle Fusion
Applications are architected so you don’t have to do rip and
replace,” says Jim Hayes, managing director of the consulting
firm Accenture. “That’s very important for creating a busi­
ness case that will get through the steering committee and be
approved by the board. It shows you can drive value and make
a difference in the near term.”
For these and other reasons, analysts and early adopters are
calling Oracle Fusion Applications a game changer for enter­
prise customers. The differences become apparent in three key
areas: the way we innovate, work, and adopt technology.
PROFIT
PN10_Fusion.indd 15
:
THE
EXECUTIVE
’S
GUIDE
TO
ORACLE
APPLICATIONS
15
9/13/10 4:11:39 PM
GAME CHANGER #1: NEw StANdARd
foR INNovAtIoN
Core Functionality:
Oracle Fusion Applications
orchestration engine.
Flexibility like this has long-term
implications. “Because users capture
these changes at a higher metadata
layer, not in the application’s code,
changes and additions are protected
even as new versions of Oracle
Fusion Applications are released,”
says Steve Miranda, senior vice
president of applications develop­
ment at Oracle. “This is a much
more sustainable approach because
you don’t incur costly customiza­
tions that prevent upgrades and other innovations.” And
changes are easier to make: if one change is made in the meta­
data, that change is automatically reflected throughout the
application interface, business intelligence, business process,
and business logic.
Oracle Fusion Applications offer a complete
suite spanning seven critical business areas:
• Financialmanagement
• Supplychainmanagement
• Procurement
• Humancapitalmanagement
• Projectportfoliomanagement
• Sales
• Governance,risk,andcompliance
• Enterpriseperformancemanagement
Change is a constant challenge
for most businesses, whether the
catalysts are market dynamics, new
competition, or the ever-expanding
regulatory environment. And, in an
ongoing effort to differentiate, busi­
ness leaders are constantly looking
for new ways to do business, serve
constituents, and bring new prod­
ucts and services to market. In
addition, companies face significant
costs to keep their applications up-to-date. For example, when
a company adds new suppliers to a procurement system, the
IT shop typically has to invest time, effort, and even consulting
fees for custom integrations that allow various ERP systems to
communicate with each other.
Oracle Fusion Applications were built on Web services and
a modular SOA foundation to ease customizations and integra­
tion activities among all applications—whether from Oracle or
another vendor. Interfaces and updates written in ubiquitous
Java, rather than a proprietary coding language, allow orga­
nizations to tap into existing in-house technical skills rather
than seek expensive outside specialists. And with SOA, orga­
nizations can extend a feature set or integrate with other SOA
environments by combining Web services such as “look up
customer” into a new business process managed by the BPEL
GAME CHANGER #2: NEw StANdARd foR woRk
Boosting productivity comes down to doing the basics right:
running business processes more efficiently and managing
exceptions more effectively, so users can accomplish more
in the course of a day or spend more quality time with the
most profitable customers. The fastest way to improve process
efficiency is to reduce the number of steps it takes to execute
common tasks, such as ordering office equipment from an
internal procurement system. Oracle Fusion Applications
Transforming Coexistence into Strategic Value
T
hemostobviouswaysOracleFusion
Applicationswilldifferfromtradi­
tionalenterpriseapplicationslieinthe
best-of-the-bestcombinationofOracle’s
currentapplicationsandleadingtech­
nologyfoundation—makingbusinesses
moreinnovativeandproductive.But
somethingelsewillsetOracleFusion
Applicationsapartfromthecompeti­
tion—organizationswillnotbeforcedto
doafull-scaleupgradetobenefit.
TheOracleFusionApplicationsplat­
formwasbuiltwithflexibilityinmind,
socompaniescanselectivelyadd
modulesifandwhenitmakesbusiness
sense.“CIOscanleveragetheirexist­
inglandscape;theydon’thavetodorip
andreplace,”saysJimHayes,manag­
ingdirectorofAccenture.
Inthemeantime,organizationscan
continuetotakeadvantageoftheir
existingsoftwareinvestmentsinOracle
Applicationsandthird-partyprograms.
16
November
PN10_Fusion.indd 16
“Thisoffersorganizationsavariety
ofchoices,rangingfromcontinuing
withexistingenterprisesoftwareinvest­
mentstoupgradingtoselectOracle
FusionApplicationsanddirectingthem
tointeroperatewiththeexistingappli­
cationsintheOraclesuite,”saysSteve
Miranda,vicepresidentofapplications
developmentatOracle.
Here’saplanforITleadersplotting
thefutureoftheirenterpriseapplications:
1. Upgrade to the latest release.
EvaluatethelatestOracleApplications
releasessuchasOracleE-Business
Suite12.1.3,PeopleSoftEnterprise
9.1,SiebelCustomerRelationship
Management8.2,andJDEdwards
EnterpriseOne9.1fortheadditional
valuetheybringtothebusiness.In
additiontogainingvaluetoday,youwill
beinapositiontoupgradetoOracle
FusionApplicationsinthefuture,ifand
whenyouchoose.
2. Adopt standards-based
technology.ConsiderOracleFusion
Middlewarefornewprojectsanddevel­
opingskillsetsintechnologiessuch
asOracleApplicationDevelopment
Framework,Oraclecontentmanage­
mentproducts,OracleSOASuite,and
OracleWebCenter.Thesetoolswillhelp
youintegrate,extend,andmanage
yourapplicationsenvironmenttoday
andprepareyoutoaddOracleFusion
Applicationsifandwhenyouchoose.
3. Adopt a coexistence strategy.Add
OracleFusionApplicationsmodulesto
yourexistingenvironmentorimplement
“pillars”(humancapitalmanagement,
sales,financials,orsupplychainman­
agementapplications)toextendthe
powerofOracleFusionApplications
intoyourapplicationsportfolio.
4. Embrace the complete Oracle
Fusion Applications suite(ifand
whenappropriate.)
2010
9/13/10 4:12:19 PM
will deliver a complete role-based user experience with busi­
ness intelligence and collaboration capabilities provided in the
context of the work at hand. “We created every Oracle Fusion
Applications screen by asking ‘What does the user need to
know?’ ‘What does he or she need to do?’ and ‘Who do they
need to work with to get the job done?’” Miranda explains.
So when the sales department heads need new laptops, the
self-service procurement screen will not only display a list of
approved vendors and configurations, but also a running list
of reviews by coworkers who recently purchased the various
models. Embedded intelligence may also display prevailing
delivery lead times based on actual order histories, not the
generic shipping dates vendors may quote.
The pervasive business intelligence serves many other busi­
ness activities across all areas of the enterprise. For example, a
manager considering whether to promote a direct report can see
the person’s employee profile, with a salary history, appraisal
summaries, and a rundown of skills and training.
This approach to business intelligence also has implica­
tions for supply chain management. “One of the challenges at
Ingersoll Rand is lack of visibility in our supply chain,” says
Mike Macrie, global director of enterprise applications for global
industrial firm Ingersoll Rand. “Oracle Fusion Applications
are going to provide the embedded intelligence to give us that
visibility and give us the ability to analyze those orders at any
point in our supply chain.”
Oracle Fusion Applications will also create a “role-based
user experience” that displays a work list of events that need
attention, based on user job function. Role awareness guides
users with daily lists of action items and exceptions. So a credit
manager may see seven invoices with discounts that are about
to expire or 12 suppliers that have been put on hold because
credit memos are awaiting approval.
Individualization extends to the search capabilities of Oracle
Fusion Applications. The platform uses Web-style search
screens powered by an Oracle enterprise search engine, with a
security framework that filters search results so individuals will
only see the internal information they’re authorized to access.
A further aid to productivity is Oracle Fusion Applications’
integration with Web 2.0 collaboration and social networking
resources for business environments. Hover-over text will reveal
relevant contact information whenever the name of a person
appears in an Oracle Fusion Application. Users can connect
via an online chat, phone call, or instant message without
User Input Key to the Success of Oracle Fusion Applications
T
he ability for Oracle Fusion
Applications to create a more flexible
and productive user experience wouldn’t
have been possible without extensive
feedback from end users. “It is very
important to us to truly understand what
our users do on a day-to-day basis,”
says Steve Miranda, vice president of
applications development at Oracle.
The first wave of feedback came
from Oracle’s advisory board, which
includes experts in specific disciplines,
such as human resources and finance.
“We brought these experts in at the
outset and asked them, ‘What do you
like and what do you not like about
your applications today?’ and ‘What
areas do you want to do better, faster,
or differently in your specific business
areas?’” Miranda explains.
Next, Oracle Fusion Applications
designers moved to the design and
feature-validation stages. They aggre­
gated the initial feedback into a set of
business requirements for each appli­
cation and then brought in real-world
software users representing more
than 700 organizations throughout
the world. Oracle engineers watched
functional users interact not only with
Oracle Applications but also with com­
petitors’ programs to gain new clues
about what works and what doesn’t
work in interface designs.
The designers took that feedback
to heart: Oracle estimates that more
than 200 design changes were made
to Oracle Fusion Applications based
directly on this usability research. This
included streamlining tasks, improving
navigation, and putting information into
role-based contexts.
The effort paid off. Analysts, cus­
tomers, and users groups alike credit
Oracle Fusion Applications for creating
a unique look and feel. “If one looks at
the [Oracle Fusion Applications] gener­
ation of ERP [enterprise resource plan­
ning] and compares it to the previous
one that we’re most familiar with, two
big differences come across to me,”
says Rick Beers, a board member at
Quest International Users Group. “One
is we’re talking about process-driven
applications where we can configure
applications and explain them to busi­
ness users in the language of business.
The other is a convergence of business
pro f i t
PN10_Fusion.indd 17
:
t h e
User feedback influenced the look-and­
feel innovations of the Oracle Fusion
Applications self-service procurement
portal’s embedded business intelligence.
intelligence and transactions. Rather
than there being two separate capabili­
ties, they’re merging into one in Oracle
Fusion Applications.”
Mark Silverstein, a principal with IT
consulting firm Deloitte, agrees. “Busi­
ness applications have historically
been one size fits all. [Oracle] Fusion
Applications [focus] on the role an
employee plays in the organization and
on giving them access to on-demand
analytics,” he says. “What it means for
our customers is they will recognize
business value faster than before.”
e x e c u t i v e
’s
g u i d e
to
o ra cl e
a p p li c a t i on s
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Under the Hood
T
echnologists looking under the
hood of Oracle Fusion Applications
will find six technical components that
combine to create these nextgeneration applications:
Open standards. Java, BPEL, and
other industry protocols build on
Oracle’s existing strategy for lowering
IT costs and risks.
SOA. Oracle Fusion Applications’ use
of Web services and industry-standard
frameworks ease customizations and
integration among Oracle Fusion
Applications, other Oracle applications,
and third-party programs.
Embedded business intelligence.
Business intelligence underpins each
screen in Oracle Fusion Applications,
rather than being a separate special­
ized tool for business users.
Enterprise 2.0. Oracle Fusion
Applications adapt familiar collabora­
leaving the main application, reducing the time required for
an accounts payable staffer to resolve a mismatch between an
invoiced charge and the service record, for example. Addresses
of suppliers, customers, or partners will also initiate hover-over
text to show contact details and Web-based maps.
Finally, Oracle Fusion Applications will promote a new way
of working with purpose-driven communities that can bring
new efficiencies to everything from cultivating sales leads to
managing new projects. As soon as a lead or project material­
izes, the applications will automatically gather relevant partici­
pants into an online community that shares member contact
information, schedules, discussion forums, and Wiki pages.
“Oracle Fusion Applications will allow us to take it to the
next level with embedded Web 2.0 tools and the embedded
analytics,” says Steve Printz, CIO and vice president, supply
chain management, at window-and-door manufacturer Pella.
“[This] allows those employees today who are processing trans­
actions to really contribute to the success of the company and
become decision-makers.”
GAME CHANGER #3: NEw StANdARd foR tECHNoloGy AdoptioN
As IT becomes a dominant component of how businesses run
and compete, organizations need to lower the cost of imple­
menting applications and introducing new application features.
In the past, rolling out new code often required creating a test
bed system, moving beta code to a separate system for user
feedback, and—once all the revisions were made—moving
version one of the software onto production systems, where
business users could finally get the needed new features.
Oracle Fusion Applications will use a dedicated setup
manager application to streamline this process. First, the setup
manager will help scope out the project, querying users about
their requirements. “From those questions and answers we
determine the steps and the order of those steps that will enable
that task,” Miranda says.
Next, system utilities will assign tasks to owners, track
completion status, and monitor the overall status of a program­
ming effort. Oracle Fusion Applications can then recommend
Web services that allow users to migrate setup choices and steps
18
November
PN10_Fusion.indd 18
tion and social networking resources
for business environments.
Role-based user experiences. Exten­
sive usability testing with users from
around the world gives Oracle Fusion
Applications an intuitive and produc­
tive user experience.
Software-as-a-service-ready. Oracle
Fusion Applications can be deployed
on premises, in a public or private
cloud, or in a combination of the above.
across all the various deployments of the application.
Those setup capabilities automate the migration from test
systems to production systems, as well as between different
business units that may be using the same application. “The
self-service ability of the setup manager helps business users
change setups with very little intervention from the IT team,”
says Ravi Kumar, vice president at IT services company Infosys.
“That to me is a big difference from how we’ve viewed enter­
prise applications before.”
For additional flexibility, organizations will be able to adopt
Oracle Fusion Applications modules in either of two modes:
a single-instance alternative uses one database for all Oracle
Fusion Applications, while a “pillar mode” creates separate data­
bases to underpin each application. This means IT departments
running any one of Oracle’s applications or even third-party
applications can plug Oracle Fusion Applications modules into
their environment and see additional business value created on
top of their existing systems.
And Oracle Fusion Applications offer a hybrid approach
to deployment. The applications are all software-as-a-service­
ready, so customers can choose on-premises, public or private
cloud, or a combination of these to suit their business needs.
It’s that combination of flexibility and a roadmap for the
future that may be the biggest game changer of all. “The Oracle
Fusion Applications architecture allows us to migrate our
company at a pace that’s consistent with our business strategy,
whereas before we might have had to do it with a massive
upgrade,” says Macrie of Ingersoll Rand. “We’re looking forward
to that architecture to really give us more flexibility in how we
migrate over time.” <>
AlAn Joch is a new England-based technology writer.
>> For more inFormation
Oracle Fusion Applications
oracle.com/us/products/applications/fusion
Oracle Service-Oriented Architecture
oracle.com/us/technologies/soa/
2010
9/13/10 4:13:02 PM