Oracle applications

Oracle’s enterprise iPod

In its most important middleware announcement of the last few years Oracle gave IT professionals a something of a preview of how it will approach enterprise computing. And happily, whether it was intended to or not, the company also put to rest those nagging questions about whether it would ever pursue a cloud strategy.

The shiny new Fusion Middleware 11g was described last week by Oracle President Charles Phillips as a “convergence layer” that will glue together an integrated stack of Oracle products.

That stack would be comprised of the upcoming Fusion applications, (the design and function of which will be based on Fusion Middleware 11g), the company’s core database, and the refurbished series of development tools optimized to work with Fusion Middleware 11g including JDeveloper.

If Oracle could deliver a truly seamless applications stack that, as he said, “worked like an enterprise version of the iPod,” it would lift a significant technical and financial weight from the shoulders of IT.

“Vendors throwing stuff over the wall that you (IT shops) have to assemble is architecture by improvisation. Improvisation is good for jazz musicians but not so good for enterprise architectures,” Phillips said.

Wouldn’t it be a relief for already overworked IT shops to not serve as their own systems integrators for a change. They could actually spend that new-found time developing more innovative applications that take advantage of a solid software foundation.

Phillips added, although without much detail, that Oracle could further build on this integrated stack strategy once it officially gets its hands on Sun’s hardware servers. It was his hope, Phillips said, that Redwood Shores could spearhead an industry-wide movement back to selling integrated stacks.

This would not be a novel approach of course, just one brought back from the dead. One of Oracle-Sun’s chief rivals, IBM, successfully pioneered the concept of selling integrated hardware-software stacks to corporate customers decades ago. But for Oracle to successfully pursue this back-to-the-future strategy itself, never mind convince the likes of IBM, SAP and others to follow them, it will take almost perfect technical execution and a nifty piece of marketing to get people excited about the idea.

Given the tough economic times and the aforementioned over burdened IT staffs, this is not impossible. We could see an era of Stack Wars emerge. All we need now to make this a reality is for IBM, Hewlett-Packard or even Dell to buy just one or two major enterprise vendors like SAP. And that’s not an impossibility over the short term either.

Another Oracle executive, Hasan Rizvi, senior vice president, Oracle Fusion Middleware Products, said rather clearly at last week’s announcements that Oracle will provide cloud and software-as-a-service-based solutions. Yes, you read that right. Oracle really is recognizing the market’s growing interest in these technologies.

“There is a lot of focus around SaaS and the cloud the last six months. Customers want to deliver their IT systems as services,” Rizvi said, in explaining some of the cloud capabilities of the new products. “A lot of customers want to do that internally and not necessarily through a public cloud.”

So pay no attention to the vague statements of that billionaire chairman behind the curtain. Cloud computing will be part and parcel of Oracle’s next generation strategies.

Best line at last week’s Fusion Middleware announcement had to go to Oracle President Charles Phillips. Coming on stage to kick off the announcement in Washington, D.C., fully aware he was not all that far from another President of African-American decent who dresses as nattily as he, Phillips said: “I know what you are thinking, but I am not him.”

Oracle drops the E-Business Suite requirement for Warehouse Management app

Are you an Oracle user who wants all the latest warehouse management capabilities, but can’t always afford to update to the latest version of E-Business Suite?

Then today’s your lucky day.

A new version of Oracle Warehouse Management, released June 1, allows users to deploy the warehouse management application as a distributed product.  Users no longer have to be an E-Business Suite customer to use the application, as was required in earlier versions.

Oracle Warehouse Management can now either stand alone or be deployed as a module within E-Business Suite, giving customers the choice between an integrated or standalone product, according to Oracle’s Warehouse Management blog.

And that’s not its only enhancement — Oracle Warehouse Management will also be integrated more closely with Oracle’s transportation management application. According to Managing Automation, Oracle recently announced that Oracle Warehouse Management and Oracle Transportation Management have new integration points — such as load sequencing and cross docking — that indicate a plan to offer the applications together as a best-of-breed logistics management suite.

Other new capabilities with this release include advanced wave planning, task planning, demand-driven forward pick replenishment and high-volume performance, according to Oracle.

What’s behind all these changes?

Oracle Warehouse Management was originally built for industrial manufacturing and high-tech sectors. However, the product has evolved to have more appeal for higher volume environments such as wholesale distributors, food and beverage, life sciences and consumer packaged goods, according to Jennifer Sherman, Oracle senior director of logistics product strategy, in this Logistics Management article.

Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how new features such as these allow Oracle to compete with best-of- breed warehouse management systems.  If you’re an E-Business Suite user (or a non-EBS user who can now use the application), how will these extended capabilities help you?

The top 10 security risks in Oracle E-Business Suite

Users may be worried about the obvious security risks associated with putting data in a cloud, but what about those Oracle security risks which aren’t as obvious?

Collaborate ‘09 speaker Jeffrey Hare, CPA, CIA, CSA from ERP Seminars, addressed some of these risks Tuesday in his session, “Top 10 Application Security Risks and Related Best Practices for companies running Oracle E-Business Suite.”

The majority of these application risks described by Hare are internal - so, even if you’re not putting your data out on the internet, you’re certainly not free from unwanted users accessing your systems.

What did Hare list as his the top 10 risks for E-Business Suite users, and what did he recommend for dealing with them?

10. Upgrade risk: To avoid upgrade risks, Hare said end user security should be designed from scratch, using completely custom menus and sub menus. He also advised against using AZN menus.

9. Risk analysis: Hare said it’s important to look at risk analysis holistically, from outside the system to access and processes inside the system. He recommended choosing a risk analysis firm that specialized in E-Business Suite, and to make sure to take into account material risks as well as sub-material risks.

8. Relying on auditors: Be aware that many auditors do not take into account risks of sub-material fraud and often fail to look at the business process holistically. He recommended starting with Procure- to -Play, hire a firm that specializes in fraud risk to do a risk assessment beyond SOX and review their conflict matrix before hiring them.

7. Security changes- Change management process: The change management process is not something you can afford to get wrong, Hare said. It should be very specific and include menus, responsibilities, roles, request groups, functions and profile options.  All security changes should go through a change management process.

6. SQL Forms: All activity in SQL forms should go through the change management process just like an UPDATE SQL statement would, including peer review and code freeze, Hare said. All activity should be audited via trigger or log-based technology.

5. High risk fraud forms: Hare said to be aware of forms subject to high fraud risk such as banks, remit to address, locations and suppliers. Define a procedure for changes and additions such as a form and procedure for new suppliers.

4. Password hacking: Hackers can get into production applications and database accounts via a published exploit code. Hare recommended reading the white paper Oracle applications 11i: Password decryption for solutions.

3. Override of workflow policy: It’s important to have a process in place regarding delegation of authority for processes such as worklist access and vacation rules, Hare said. Figure out the allowable delegation of authority within your company, and audit and trace back your changes.

2. Support personnel access: Lack of inquiry only access and non-production support instance is a problem within organizations, Hare said. He recommends using SysAdmin Views, identify high risk single functions and SOD issues and to take the same precautions with security analysts as with end users.

1. Utilities: diagnostics: Hare stressed that no one should have access to these profile options in the production environment - they should be left off the production environment and go through the change management process.

What risks and/or best practices could you add to this list? If you’re an E-Business Suite or other application user, what has or hasn’t worked in terms of security and what do you think is worth your time and investment?

Oracle still interested in planes, trains and automobiles

As the owner of one of the world’s largest yachts and an avid racer, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison can probably handle his boat in just about any fleet.

Now, his company has released an application to help its customers do the same — in a slightly different way. Oracle Fleet Management, a component of Oracle’s newly released Oracle Transportation Management 6.0, will help users manage fleet and common carrier networks through a single platform. The tool can be used for all kinds of private fleets, including trucks, trailers and ocean freighters.

Oracle Transportation Management 6.0, announced Tuesday, is the latest update to Oracle’s global transformation management system. Oracle Transportation Management, part of the Oracle E-Business Suite, integrates and streamlines transportation planning, execution, payment and process automation in a single application across all modes of transportation, according to Oracle.

In the first major update to the management system in nearly three years, version 6.0 allows users  to manage transportation by third parties.  In an eWeek article, Derek Gittoes, vice president of Logistics Product Strategy for Oracle, says that manufacturers will be able to manage both their own drivers and those of third-party fleets  reportedly a first in the commercial software market. This release is also reportedly the first in the industry that combines shipment and asset-centric transportation solutions.

But will customers want to invest in this technology in the down economy?

According to Oracle, version 6.0 should actually help customers save on transportation and fleet management costs. The tools will reduce fuel costs, support sustainability, and measure and control financial performance, according to the company.

This isn’t the first time  Oracle has used the recession to invest in niche markets or offer enterprise businesses cost effective solutions. In February, for example, it released two new risk management applications, which Oracle believes will prove  cost effective for users  in the down economy. The software giant also continues to invest in eSourcing tools — including its newly released Oracle Sourcing on Demand — which helps  IT shops to save money by negotiating online with suppliers.

How has the recession affected your Oracle-related spending? Have you been able to take advantage of any of these supposedly cost effective tools?

Oracle shores up health sciences group with Relsys deal

Oracle has certainly had its share of customers in the health services industry. Its Oracle Enterprise Manager is used in hospitals across the country, and healthcare firm AstraZenca has used Oracle intraMedia to help manage its clinical images.

Still, the software giant has never dominated the pharmaceutical or healthcare niche, according to analyst Judy Hanover in this Wall Street Journal blog post.

But that might be about to change.

Oracle announced Monday that it will acquire Relsys International — a leading provider of drug safety and risk management analysis software — in a deal that’s expected to close in the first half of this year. According to Oracle’s press release, its purchase of Relsys will further Oracle’s position in the health sciences industry:

The release also stated that Oracle and Relsys will combine to deliver a unique suite of software applications, focusing on end-to-end drug safety processes across clinical development, post-market surveillance and patient care.

Oracle showed its commitment to the industry last June, when it announced the creation of its new Health Sciences Global Business Unit. The Relsys acquisition is only the latest investment in the business unit, which was designed to provide applications in the health sciences industry. The business unit currently offers a variety of health sciences applications, including Oracle Clinical, Oracle Life Sciences Data Hub and its Siebel Clinical Trial Management System.

The Relsys purchase is also another example of how Oracle is turning away from making larger acquisitions (think BEA and Siebel), to focus on buying smaller companies in niche markets.

In October, Oracle announced it would acquire Primavera, a provider of project portfolio management (PPM) software. A month later, Oracle snatched up software-maker Haley Ltd. in a move that analysts claimed would propel it into the financial and social services industries. And, most recently, Oracle announced its plan to acquire mValent, a leading provider of application configuration management solutions.

What industry will Oracle jump into next?

Oracle’s public sector push: Is it enough?

With all the attention toward Oracle’s investment in smaller retail and manufacturing businesses, sometimes it can be easy to forget about the software giant’s market share in its largest industry — the public sector. But with government funding in the limelight now, it seems particularly interesting to consider how technology vendors cater to the organizations that affect our everyday lives.

According to Oracle, over 1,500 public sector organizations run Oracle applications. And as of Monday, these organizations have another application to add to their list of options.

Oracle’s new version of Oracle BI Applications have features that will help public sector agencies manage funds and monitor budget spending – a popular topic of conversation these days, to say the least. The software includes ETL maps and pre-built integration with E-Business Suite’s Oracle Financials and pre-built dashboards and reports especially for the public sector.

But how does Oracle’s quantity of public sector applications compare to its quality?

The last time we took a close look at Oracle’s public sector offerings, we found that it faced tough competition from smaller, more specialized companies. Forrester analyst Ray Wang said that Oracle “takes a broader approach in terms of functionality” and has a goal to “up-sell those public sector database users on PeopleSoft and E-Business Suite applications.”

However, Oracle acquired one of those smaller, more specialized companies this past October. It purchased software-maker Haley Ltd to push itself into another aspect of the public sector — social services.

In its press release, Oracle said: “By acquiring Haley, Oracle is accelerating its investment in public sector to create an integrated solution, and bring faster time to value for our customers.”

While the software giant has faced public sector competition from smaller companies, what about the competition with its rival, SAP?

Even three years ago — when Oracle purchased a utilities industry-focused software firm — the two companies were battling for public sector supremacy. And SAP has definitely had its share of success in the industry. The IT manager of the County of Sacramento, which was the first government to use SAP (and still is), recently said that “SAP has transformed our business processes over the past 10 years.”

If you work in the public sector, what do you think of Oracle’s offerings? How could they improve? What made you chose Oracle, and what other companies did you consider for your IT needs? Will you purchase Oracle’s latest BI application?

Should Oracle negotiate its nonnegotiable maintenance fee?

Oracle software purchases carry with them a host of options and choices for buyers — cloud computing and SaaS, choosing between multiple applications that serve the same purpose, and a never-ending list of updates and upgrades. 

There is, however, one thing that never changes.

That is Oracle’s 22% annual maintenance fee, a nonnegotiable fee that Oracle president Charles Phillips describes the company as being “sticklers” on in this Information Week article.

But is it time for Oracle to rethink its policy?

That’s what some experts are thinking, especially as the economy continues to fall and more organizations are trying to save money and  turning to third-party support.  One such expert is Information Week’s Bob Evans, who wrote an “open letter” to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison explaining why Oracle needs to change its ways. 

Evans made some interesting points in his plea to Ellison. First, he says that even if Oracle doesn’t change the fee structure, it should at least change its name, since Oracle has admitted that the fees are actually used for product development rather than maintenance. 

He also asks Ellison to move away from his traditional, rigid maintenance fee system in these changing times — because if not, it will hurt Oracle in the future:

“The longer you dig in and tell CIOs that you’re not interested in the wicked expense challenges they’re facing, the longer they’re going to remember that when the current recessionary climate fades and new alternatives gain strength,” Evans writes.

At such a high price, how does Oracle maintenance even rate among its customers? One user quoted in the Information Week article, the CIO of Santa Fe Natural Tobacco, complains of poor and slow service from Oracle’s global support center. But just a couple of months ago, Oracle support received high marks in a UK Oracle Users Group survey.

Oracle isn’t the only company with high maintenance fees. SAP recently announced that it will increase the fees for SAP Basic Support customers — who currently pay 17% of net licensing fees – to 22% by 2012, right in line with Oracle. But according to Forrester analyst Ray Wang, with SAP you’ll actually be getting more when paying more, unlike its competitors.

Are you getting what you pay for from Oracle maintenance fees?

Oracle integrates J.D. Edwards, CRM On Demand, gets closer to Fusion

Oracle CRM users have much to look forward to with the new release of Oracle CRM On Demand, including an unlimited number of custom objects, a single-tenancy option and a disaster recovery service.

But another group of customers may have reason to be excited as well.

J.D. Edwards users will finally see their software integrated with Oracle’s, just four years after the PeopleSoft acquisition. As part of the latest Oracle CRM on Demand release, users will soon have the prepackaged integration with J.D. Edwards EnterpriseOne.

Will J.D. Edwards users really want that integration?

 J.D. Edwards users have had mixed views about Fusion applications; however, many of the uncertainties had to do with the fact that most of the Fusion apps’ functionalities were simply unknown.

But now, many of these unknowns are becoming a reality, starting with Oracle’s CRM Fusion products.  The first Fusion application — Oracle Sales Prospector, “a new social CRM application designed to enhance CRM and the productivity of sales professionals” — was previewed back in June.

Also, earlier this month, Oracle senior vice president and Fusion development head Thomas Kurian told Information Week that 450 customers will soon begin to test an early version of the Fusion application suite that is near completion. Kurian also said that Oracle will release a beta version of the application suite this year. The final version — which, as planned, combines the best features of applications like Siebel, J.D. Edwards and E-Business Suite – will be offered both as a full product suite and as individual applications.

If you are a J.D. Edwards (or Siebel or PeopleSoft) user, do you plan to migrate to Fusion applications? Why or why not? Has your strategy changed over the past few years? What are the major factors influencing your decision? Would you prefer to purchase the whole suite or just pick and choose applications?

SOA in ‘09: Dead, alive or in search of new meaning?

January 1, 2009 could be considered a big day in the Oracle world — a fresh start, new year and the chance to start practicing your Oracle New Year’s resolutions, whether they be to focus on cloud computing, open source projects or virtualization.

But according to the Burton Group’s Anne Thomas Manes, there’s one thing you should keep off your resolution list this year. In fact, if you ask Manes, she has a whole new take on what Jan.1 marks:

The demise of SOA (service-oriented architecture).

In her recent blog post, “SOA is Dead, Long Live Services,” Manes writes that a recent downfall of SOA is a result of it being “wiped out by the catastrophic impact of the economic recession.”

But is there any truth to this?

While some of Manes’ readers agree with her, many others are skeptical. One commenter writes:

“It’s my feeling that a hurting economy will actually drive MORE adoption of SOA principles across an enterprise, not less… if your budget has been slashed (or will be slashed)… then I suggest that you MUST consider moving, albeit in a measured approach, towards knocking down the vertical application stovepipes and towards an SOA approach.”

Last spring — well before the start of the economic recession – SearchOracle.com surveyed nearly 500 readers about the priorities and challenges in their organizations. One of the questions asked about the readers’ SOA plans for 2008. An overwhelming majority (68%) said they either didn’t have or didn’t know their 2008 SOA plans, with the rest citing plans to implement SOA within the next three years.

Economy aside, it seems that SOA — or at least its meaning — is in a state of uncertainty. Manes goes on to say that the “great failed experiment” is “survived by its offspring: mashups, BPM, SaaS, Cloud Computing, and all other architectural approaches that depend on ‘services.’”

What do others think? Here are some more notable theories:

• Dhananjay Nene, in his post SOA ain’t dead but it certainly is transforming, disagrees with Manes’ idea that rearchitecture is required for successful SOA. The software engineer says that SOA has “never been healthier” and is just going through a transformation that includes less enterprise control, vendor-driven hype and top down approaches.

• Blogger Sebastian Stein says that now is the time to focus on trying a more business-driven SOA strategy, in which “services do not have to be implemented by technology at all.” Andy Mulholland predicts  the “resurgence of SOA, used more as Services Oriented Business Architecture” in 2009.

• Many just see this controversy as confusion or disagreement about what the term “SOA” actually means. Jack Vaughan of SearchSOA.com points out that Manes essentially said that “services are good; it’s just SOA that as a term is bad,” but that point seemed to be lost. Vaughan goes on to say: “There is a lot in a word, and SOA is not a bad one. It’s everyone’s job to build good apps and good integrations. If you feel like discarding SOA as a buzz word, go for it - no need to ‘kill’ it.”

And it sounds like Oracle is doing something right when it comes to SOA technology — whether built or bought, Oracle technology  was just positioned as a leader in three new Gartner Magic Quadrants, including Application Infrastructure for SOA Composite Application Projects and New Systematic SOA Application Projects.

What do you think of the term “SOA”? What are your SOA plans for 2009? Even if you aren’t planning for an SOA anytime soon, are you considering it in the long term? Is your organization taking any baby steps by buying products that are SOA-enabled or running any pilots? Or do you think that SOA is dead — or was never “alive” at all? Let us know what you think.

Are Oracle’s Critical Patch Updates really that critical?

You most likely saw some of Tuesday’s pressing headlines about Oracle’s latest Critical Patch Update, such as “Oracle planning Patch Tuesday whopper” and “Oracle plans massive update for Tuesday.”

But just how massive — and critical — are these patches, really?

It’s a question that’s been asked before but certainly deserves to be asked again, especially as Oracle continues to grow, acquire more companies and products, and in turn, find more security vulnerabilities

This Critical Patch Update has 41 security fixes. These include fixes for vulnerabilities in products ranging from Oracle 9i to Oracle 11g, including the former BEA WebLogic Server and Portal, Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Application Server and JD Edwards Tools. Oracle also recently had a problem with its Cluster Ready Services, spurred by a change in the world’s time standard to adjust for the slowing of the earth’s rotation.

This “Patch Tuesday whopper,” however, seems relatively modest compared to previous patches, such as the 101 fixes in October 2006, and definitely equivalent to recent updates like the 36 fixes just three months ago.

With all these patches also comes the question: Should you apply them?

According to Oracle, yes. In its prerelease announcement to customers this month, “Oracle strongly recommends that customers apply fixes as soon as possible.”

But many DBAs and Oracle experts think differently. When we asked the question last year to see just how much DBAs really care about Oracle’s latest Critical Patch Update, many responses were consistent with a survey that found two-thirds of Oracle users never install the critical patches.

One concern is that while these patches are meant to fix problems, they can also cause some of their own. Oracle expert Don Burleson addressed this just a couple of months ago, when an Oracle user asked him for advice on when and how to apply Oracle Critical Patch Updates.

Burleson’s advice?

“You DON’T have to apply patches, and sometimes patches can CAUSE unplanned issues.  The best practices are always to conduct a full stress in a TEST environment before applying the patches in production… I wait for major releases and re-install at-once, and I only look at patches to fix specific issues.”

What’s your approach with Oracle’s patch updates? Are they worth the time and effort? Have your experiences with these patches changed at all in the last year, or are they still the bane of your existence?