Oracle Enterprise Applications –

The Roadmap to Fusion

In This Paper
• Business users are looking for modern business
applications that help them make better
decisions

• Oracle Fusion Applications are built on extensive

thought leadership around business processes
and usability enterprise APPS today
• Oracle Consulting has the experience,
knowledge and relationships to help businesses
seamlessly deploy Oracle Fusion Applications
Executive Brief
A QuinStreet Executive Brief © 2013
 Oracle Enterprise Applications – The Roadmap to Fusion
enterprise APPS today
Is your Organization ready
to change the way it adopts,
innovates and works with
technology?

Oracle Fusion Applications are

the industry’s next generation of
applications designed to respond to
business challenges, creating a new
standard for innovation and choice.
With Oracle Fusion Applications,
companies can deploy advanced
technology to tackle their most
critical application problems without
disrupting their overall IT strategy.
Organizations who are investigating
the potential for big business benefits
have some significant decisions to
make moving forward.
__________________________________

Today’s enterprise users have grown money, and there are always concerns used, and other factors such as degree
up using applications at work, at around downtime or data loss during of customization in the software,
home, and wherever they go. They these processes. On both the IT and businesses are often faced with
expect the same richness of user business sides, it means moving away deciding between an in-place upgrade
experience in their work environment from something familiar to something and a full migration to a new release
that they take for granted in their new and requires extensive analysis or new application. In some cases,
consumer technologies. Rather than of current environments, technology business may need new technologies
thinking of applications as a way of strategies, functional or departmental or functionality that simply isn’t
executing their decisions, they think priorities, and careful consideration of available in their existing footprint,
of them as a means of making better IT budgets. adding even more complexity to this
decisions. Built to work with other process.
enterprise and industry applications, For many of these organizations,
Oracle Fusion Applications have rich business needs have changed A New Approach with Oracle
capabilities and a flexible deployment significantly since their current Fusion Applications
model that opens up a significant applications were originally deployed,
amount of choices to drive business perhaps through evolution and Oracle Fusion Applications are more
value while also reducing IT costs. growth of the business into new than the next business release of
For many businesses, adopting new products or markets, through merger Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft,
enterprise software seems like a or acquisition, or through changing Siebel or JD Edwards applications.
no-win situation. Implementations regulatory requirements. Depending They are the merger of the best
can be costly in terms of time and on the application currently being functionality from those applications
with extensive thought leadership
© 2013, QuinStreet, Inc. 1
 Oracle Enterprise Applications – The Roadmap to Fusion
enterprise APPS today
from various leading experts and
industry-leading business practices “Oracle Fusion Applications
incorporated.
are next-generation business
With extensive experience supporting
Oracle Fusion Applications from the
beginning, Oracle Consulting also
applications based on open
offers clients a thought leadership
perspective as they begin to look at
standards that increase productivity
new IT solutions. Oracle Consulting
has helped clients address common throughout the organization. ”
IT challenges, some of which include
how to integrate different systems
through complex business processes, reporting. Also embedded into the Oracle Fusion Human Capital
how to manage various information applications and business processes Management: A robust set of best-
systems while also refining operations is social functionality to increase in-class human resources functionality
to stay competitive and agile and how communication and collaboration. that increases productivity accelerates
to realize the maximum return on IT Oracle Fusion Applications are built business performance and lowers
investments. to fit the way users work, allowing total cost of ownership. Applications
them to work by exception and include Global Human Resources,
Unlike traditional implementations, using notifications so tasks that need Benefits, Workforce Lifecycle
which included complete pillars of attention find the employee instead Management, Compensation
packaged software functionality, of waiting for the employee to find Management, Talent Review,
Oracle Fusion Applications deliver the task. Oracle Fusion Applications Performance & Goal Management,
modular and flexible uptake users also have access to dashboards Global Payroll, Network@Work.
options that separate the need for and key performance indicators (KPIs)
departments to implement systems throughout the applications. Oracle Fusion Supply Chain
together. This allows organizations to Management: Provides an
make changes based on their business Oracle Fusion Applications at a opportunity to lower fulfillment costs,
needs quickly and with reduced cost Glance improve customer service, accelerate
and risk. business processes and make more
Oracle Fusion Financial informed product related decisions.
The interest in Oracle Fusion Management: A complete and Applications include Product Master
Applications is understandable. integrated financial solution that sets Data Management, Distributed
Oracle Fusion Applications are next- the foundation for governance and Order Orchestration, Global Order
generation business applications growth for better decision making Promising, Inventory Management,
based on open standards that while increasing efficiency and Cost Management, Shipping &
increase productivity throughout reducing costs. Applications include Receiving.
the organization. Oracle Fusion General Ledger, Accounts Payable,
Applications have modern business Asset Management, Payments & Oracle Fusion Project Portfolio
intelligence tools embedded to Collections, Accounts Receivable, Management: Provides access
help with financial or operational Cash & Expense Management. to information and collaboration

© 2013, QuinStreet, Inc. 2

 Oracle Enterprise Applications – The Roadmap to Fusion
enterprise APPS today
between team members to enable Oracle Fusion Applications have been customers can decide how soon the
efficient and effective project in general availability since 2011, future starts based on what’s best for
management while ensuring smarter following an early adopter period their business.
business decisions. Applications that took place in 2010. They are now
include Project Casting, Project Billing, used by more than 400 businesses that Deployment Options
Project Performance Reporting, take advantage of the features and
Project Control, Project Integration functionality that Oracle built from the One of the most compelling aspects
Gateway, and Project Contracts. ground up after gathering feedback of Oracle Fusion Applications in terms
from thousands of its customers. of delivering value at optimal cost is
Oracle Fusion Procurement: the variety of deployment options
Delivers the ability to practice smarter It’s important for businesses that are available for these applications –
negotiation, smarter buying and using Oracle applications like Oracle providing customers with the utmost
smart collaboration. Applications E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JD in flexibility and scalability to meet
include Purchasing, Self-Service Edwards, and Siebel to understand their individual requirements.
Procurement, Sourcing, Procurement that no one is forcing a move to
Contracts, Supplier Portal, and Spend Oracle Fusion Applications. Oracle Oracle offers its customers a choice
& Performance Analysis. remains committed to its customers of deployment options: on-premise,
and will continue to enhance and private cloud, or public cloud
Oracle Fusion CRM: A cloud-based support those applications and their (software as a service, SaaS).
solution that reduces administrative users.
tasks and maximizes selling time by On-premise deployments give
allowing organizations to visualize, Oracle Fusion Applications offer customers the ability to manage the
track, and harness customer new functionality and a new user applications themselves within their
information. Applications include interface, and while Oracle Fusion own environment. The decision about
Customer Master, Sales, Marketing, Applications may be the future of whether to deploy on-premise or not
Incentive Compensation, Mobile & business applications, existing Oracle often comes down to cost. Can the
Outlook Integration, and Territory &
Quota Management.

Oracle Fusion Governance, Risk

and Compliance: A platform that
delivers unified intelligence into the
status of all GRC activities, end-to-
end support for cross-industry and
industry-specific GRC processes
and best-in-class automated control
across multiple business applications.
Applications include Financial
Compliance, Issue & Risk Manager,
Access Controls, Transaction Controls,
and Configuration Control.

© 2013, QuinStreet, Inc. 3

 Oracle Enterprise Applications – The Roadmap to Fusion
enterprise APPS today
business reasonably maintain and deployment – such as application they are released. Companies that
manage the applications like Oracle updates pushed out directly by Oracle. opt for on-premise deployments, on
would in a public cloud deployment? However, the inherent flexibility and the other hand, have to do the work
When trying to account for the cost of control this approach affords is often involved in an upgrade, which might
an on-premise deployment, customers attractive to those organizations that cause them to pass on some upgrades
need to account for their total costs, need it. and lose out on functionality or other
which can include employee turnover improvements.
and training or hiring employees when Deploying Oracle Fusion Applications
there’s a skills gap. Migrating to an in the public cloud as a SaaS offering Some businesses are delaying a
on-premise deployment can be more has broad appeal. Some customers move to applications in the public
costly than other options because it find the subscription-based pricing cloud because they had a negative
usually involves upgrading elements model attractive when compared to experience with previous cloud
of the full technology stack along with traditional software licensing. From deployments. There’s also the
the applications. However, for more an IT infrastructure perspective, perception of not having control,
complex organizations with unique customers can turn to Oracle to or worries about uptime. Attitudes
requirements that demand flexibility host and maintain the applications toward SaaS applications can also vary
and the ability to extend or tailor instead of developing the skills and by application. Large customers in
the applications to their needs, the associated costs that come along with particular might avoid using financial
business value associated with this doing it themselves. Oracle has a solid applications in the public cloud
approach can be extremely high. reputation and lengthy track record because they don’t want to be the first
supporting SaaS business applications. to put their whole financial system in
A private cloud deployment can The SaaS model also allows customers the cloud.
ease the concerns many still have to devote their internal IT resources
surrounding the security and to more strategic projects that Businesses need re-assurance about
control over data in the public can help the business grow rather the cloud, and Oracle’s significant
cloud. Customers that choose a than updating and maintaining the investment and years of experience
private cloud deployment maintain applications and their underlying in its cloud infrastructure and security
the ability to enhance or even infrastructure. can help.
customize the applications. The
upkeep of the infrastructure remains Another benefit of public cloud Is it Time to Move to Fusion?
the responsibility of customers deployments is the release schedule.
who choose this approach. Private Oracle Fusion Applications customers Oracle Fusion Applications are
cloud deployments do miss out on that choose the public cloud get the modern business applications that
some advantages of a public cloud latest upgrades and functionality as offer a number of advantages to

“A private cloud deployment can ease the concerns

many still have surrounding the security and control
over data in the public cloud.”
© 2013, QuinStreet, Inc. 4
 Oracle Enterprise Applications – The Roadmap to Fusion
enterprise APPS today
Current applications have under-
utilized functionality: At many
organizations, business needs change
over time and software licensing
doesn’t always keep up. Businesses
that are paying for functionality they
use less often or not at all should
consider Oracle Fusion Applications to
find modern business applications that
fit their current needs.

IT constraints that impair the ability

to add new capabilities: Many IT
departments are still constrained by
budget and headcount reductions
of the past five years. These
current Oracle customers as well as software is meeting its business limited IT resources can delay the
non-customers. But decisions around requirements. An outdated human purchase and deployment of new
when to migrate to new business capital management (HCM) system, business applications. With its SaaS
applications are never easy and there’s for example, won’t stop a business deployment option, Oracle Fusion
a lot to consider before committing to from hiring new employees, but that Applications can remove some of the
a change. business is not filling those positions load from internal IT resources while
as efficiently as possible because it also introducing modern business
There are, however certain lacks the integration of the software applications that meet the needs of
circumstances that represent an and its business process around hiring. the business.
opportunity to further explore Oracle
Fusion Applications and consider a Older or highly customized business While some businesses might benefit
migration. applications in need of an upgrade: most from a wholesale migration to
Older applications or those that have Oracle Fusion Applications, others
Critical business needs not being been highly customized can still meet can take advantage of a co-existence
met: Clearly any application that the current business needs, but are strategy where they deploy the
isn’t meeting the business needs is they delivering all of the functionality applications to meet the business
ripe for replacement. The alternative that exists in modern business needs not being met by their existing
is to risk the introduction of manual applications like Oracle Fusion footprint. Another advantage of
or ad hoc processes to fill the gap, Applications? Many older applications co-existence is that it can also help
which increase the chance of errors lack the intuitive design and structure ease the transition to Oracle Fusion
and reduces efficiency. It’s important that Oracle Fusion Applications Applications for both the business
to keep in mind that just because an employ, come up short on analytics and IT side of the organization. When
organization is meeting its day-to-day capabilities and lack the ability to it comes to Oracle Fusion CRM
needs and carrying on with its daily communicate and collaborate within Applications, large organizations in
business doesn’t mean its existing the application. industries like financial services tend

© 2013, QuinStreet, Inc. 5

 Oracle Enterprise Applications – The Roadmap to Fusion
enterprise APPS today
to move more slowly and adopt a co-
existence strategy. Such companies
“Many customers are adopting
might look to add Oracle Fusion Sales
Cloud, for example, to their existing Oracle Fusion Applications to
footprint without replacing their core
CRM system because Oracle Fusion
Sales Cloud has the features and
meet specific needs within their
“sizzle” that salespeople love.
business.”
Co-existence is made easier thanks to
the work Oracle has done integrating The result was a deployment of a A specialty food supplier with an
Oracle Fusion Applications with other number of Oracle Fusion Supply aggressive acquisition strategy found
applications. Oracle’s development Chain Management applications itself with multiple sales systems and
team created integrations for Oracle including Oracle Fusion Product Hub, sales models. It explored options
HCM Cloud, for example, so it works Oracle Fusion Distributed Order for a front-office solution that could
seamlessly with Taleo, PeopleSoft Orchestration, and Oracle Fusion bring everything together and found
and Oracle E-Business Suite. More Global Order Promising. The benefits a fit with a number of Oracle Fusion
integrations developed and supported of the deployment include reduced Sales Cloud solutions, including
by Oracle will follow. supply chain lead times, intelligent Oracle Fusion Sales, Oracle Fusion
order routing, a decrease in order Transactional Business Intelligence,
Fusion Success Stories entry and processing errors, and the Oracle Fusion Customer Hub,
ability to publish a Web-based parts Oracle Fusion Partner Relationship
Many customers are adopting Oracle catalog and customer portal. Management, Oracle Fusion Mobile
Fusion Applications to meet specific Sales, and Oracle CRM Desktop for
needs within their business. Other For an independent oil and gas Outlook. It also deployed the Oracle
customers are adopting a broader company that wanted to gain insight Fusion Marketing application from
footprint, replacing large parts of their into its workforce, forecast future Oracle Marketing Cloud.
current application footprint. talent needs and measure the impact
of its performance and goals, its The end result was enhanced account
One of the world’s largest aerospace analysis led to Oracle Fusion HCM planning and collaboration, improved
companies needed to address its high Applications. The applications it partner channel management,
operating costs, a lengthy order-to- adopted included Oracle Fusion increased adoption of the tools by
close process, and issues around Talent Management and Oracle Fusion the sales force, increased sales force
collating product information on Transactional Business Intelligence. productivity, and enhanced application
orders and fragmented product data The results of the deployment include extensibility.
that led to non-standard, duplicate improved alignment of individual
product information. It turned to employee goals, improved employee How Oracle Can Help
Oracle Fusion Applications after development, and increased employee
working with Oracle to examine engagement, which numerous studies Every business environment is unique,
its existing footprint, discussing its have shown can lead to improved but few businesses can thrive in an
business processes, and mapping its customer service, better product or environment where their applications
needs to Oracle Fusion Applications. service quality, and cost effectiveness.1
aren’t meeting their critical business

© 2013, QuinStreet, Inc. 6

 Oracle Enterprise Applications – The Roadmap to Fusion
enterprise APPS today
needs or where IT constraints or older Applications, as well as the customers Oracle Fusion Applications on-
applications are making it hard to that were part of the initial adopters premise or in the cloud and help
innovate and make timely decisions. that first deployed them, and from customers gain new efficiencies and
the reference architectures created improve business processes.
Oracle Consulting works with to guide Oracle Fusion Application
businesses to understand their critical deployments. The experience, skills For more information on assessing
business needs, assess their current and knowledge Oracle Consulting your current environment and
application footprint, and develop a brings to the table also includes planning a move to Oracle Fusion
strategy for introducing Oracle Fusion intellectual property around Applications, visit the Oracle
Applications where they make sense. integration and more Consulting Services website at: www.
Oracle Consulting has knowledge oracle.com/Consulting.
gleaned from its partnerships with The power of these skills and product
the development teams at Oracle knowledge allows Oracle Consulting
that created the Oracle Fusion to help business successfully deploy

i
http://kevinkruse.com/employee-engagement-research-master-list-of-29-studies/

© 2013, QuinStreet, Inc. 7