jde e1 advocacy issues - responses (updated 2008-11-14)

8/12/2019 JDE E1 Advocacy Issues - Responses (Updated 2008-11-14)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/jde-e1-advocacy-issues-responses-updated-2008-11-14 1/22

Responses to Questions –

The Quest JD EdwardsEnterpriseOne Advocacy

Committee

Quest Questions 90 to 119

November 2008 (Updated and Revised)

Product Strategy



Responses to Questions – The Quest JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Advocacy Commit tee Page i

Purpose

This document provides an overview of features and enhancements included in

Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. It is intended solely to help you assess the

business benefits of upgrading to current releases of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne

and planning for the implementation and upgrade of the product features

described.

Disclaimer

This document in any form, software or printed matter, contains proprietary

information that is the exclusive property of Oracle. Your access to and use of this

confidential material is subject to the terms and conditions of your Oracle Software

License and Service Agreement, which has been executed and with which you agree

to comply. This document and information contained herein may not be disclosed,

copied, reproduced or distributed to anyone outside Oracle without prior written

consent of Oracle. This document is not part of your license agreement nor can it

be incorporated into any contractual agreement with Oracle or its subsidiaries or

affiliates.

This document is for informational purposes only and is intended solely to assist

you in planning for the implementation and upgrade of the product features

described. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality,

and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development,

release, and timing of any features or functionality described in this document

remains at the sole discretion

of Oracle.

Due to the nature of the product architecture, it may not be possible to safely

include all features described in this document without risking significant

destabilization of

the code.



Responses to Questions – The Quest JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Advocacy Commit tee Page ii

Responses to Questions – The Quest JD Edwards

EnterpriseOne Advocacy Committee

BACKGROUND.......................................................................................................... 1 QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES........................................................................... 1

Q90 – General Availability of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 9.0........... .................. ........ 1 Q91 – JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Development in India.......... ................. ................. 2 Q92 – Accelerators with JD Edwards EnterpriseOne...... ................ ................ .............. 3 Q93 – Supported Databases with Oracle Fusion Applications ................ ................. .... 4 Q94 – Process for Incorporating Customer Fixes Customers.............. ................. ........ 4 Q95 – Certification with Microsoft Products......... ................ ................ ................. ......... 4 Q96 – Web-Based Training for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne................ ................. ....... 5 Q97 – New Customer Support Web Site (Oracle MetaLink 3) ................ ................. .... 6 Q98 – World A9.1 Enhancements in JD Edwards EnterpriseOne................. ............. 6 Q99 – Platform Certifications with Xe and 8.0 Releases... ................. ................. ........... 7 Q100 – Business Value of Upgrading from Xe and 8.0............... ................ ................. .. 7 Q101 – License Renewals with Oracle ................. ................ ................. ................ ............ 8 Q102 – Multiple Points of Contact with Oracle Cause Confusion........ .................. ..... 8 Q103 – The Cost of Staying Current and the Pace of Change............... ................. .... 10 Q104 – JD Edwards Integration with Microsoft Office Products.... .................. ........ 10 Q105 – Speed of Incorporating Enhancements ................ ................ ................. ........... 10 Q106 – Upgrade Path: JD Edwards EnterpriseOne or Fusion Apps?................... .... 11 Q107 – Databases for the Currently Available Fusion Applications ................. ......... 12 Q108 – Functionality and Usability of the JDE E1 Web Client......................... ......... 12 Q109 – Licensing of Overlapping/Incremental Functionality ............... ................. .... 13 Q110 – Licensing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher............... ................. ............ 13 Q111 – Upgrade Path – Proceed with 8.12 or Wait for 9.0? ............... .................. ...... 14 Q112 – Change in Licensing Model to Accommodate Broader Use.... ................... ... 14 Q113 – End of Support for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 8.9 and 8.10... ................... 15 Q114 – Planned Availability for Business Intelligence for JDE E1.......... ................. . 15 Q115 – Direct Upgrade Path from 8.0 to 9.0.......................... ................. ................. ..... 16

Q116 – Administration Tools with JDE E1........................... ................ ................. ....... 16 Q117 – Change Assistant Needs More Enhancement...................... ................. ........... 16 Q118 – Enhancing JDE E1 versus Integrating Other Products .................. ............... 16 Q119 – License Limitations in Oracle Technology Foundation ................ ................. 17



Responses to Questions – The Quest JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Advocacy Commit tee Page 1

Responses to Questions – The Quest JD Edwards

EnterpriseOne Advocacy Committee

BACKGROUND

Recent questions and comments collected by the Quest International User Group's

JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Advocacy Committee are addressed by Oracle's JD

Edwards EnterpriseOne Product Strategy organization in this document.

QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES

Q90 – General Availabi lity o f JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 9.0

Q? When will the GA date for 9.0 be finalized? The fall is a common time for

customers to complete budgets for calendar year 2008. Customers need to

know more specifics on the time line for the new release 9.0. Otherwise we

guess it will GA in third quarter 2008 for a go live date in 2009. Customers

will need to budget project funds for July 2008 to June 2009 so need a more

definite GA date. Knowing the work this will involve – we would like thoughts

on kick-starting the process by configuring the applications where we know wehave a whole lot of change (Time Entry) – maybe on 8.12? (Source: advocacy

call with Lyle Ekdahl)

R: JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Application Release 9.0 and Tools Release 8.98

became generally available in September 2008 (see this Press Release ). With

respect to future product announcements and planning, Oracle’s revenue

recognition policy imposes strict guidelines on how we communication future

product functionality and availability. We will not communicate release

schedules in terms more specific than calendar or fiscal years.

Oracle realizes that customers need lead time to evaluate and plan for adoption

of new releases. The intended scope and enhancements for a given release areestablished long in advance of the actual general availability date. To help

customers evaluate the business benefits and plan to upgrade to a new release,

Oracle publishes a series of documents at various points within the release

cycle:

JD Edwards EnterpriseOne

Applic atio ns 9.0 and Tools 8.98 are

generally available as of September, 2008




Statement of Direction – Provides a high-level description of the scope

and enhancements intended for the release. This is the earliest, forward-

looking document that is published well in advance of availability;

therefore, the actual features and functions included in the release may

differ significantly.

Release Value Proposition – Describes the intended enhancements in

the release and the business benefits of upgrading to the release. Thisdocument is also published well in advance of general availability of the

release. If customers see business value in the enhancements described in

the RVP they might begin budgetary and project planning with

contingency.

Prerelease Notes – Document provides more granular and specific detail

about enhancements included in a release. This document is also published

before general availability; therefore, the actual scope of the release may

differ. However, the scope for the release is well established by this point

in the release cycle, and customers can begin to discern value on a feature-

by-feature basis.1

Release Notes – Document is published upon general availability of the

release. This document provides the most granular and specific

descriptions of enhancements that are actually part of the generally

available release.

Q91 – JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Development in India

Q? Please comment on the Andrews Consulting Group's article regarding JD

Edwards EnterpriseOne development moving to India? There are concerns

that the development for future JDE E1 releases will be done by lessexperienced, more junior staff in India, which will directly impact the quality of

future code. (Source: advocacy call with Lyle Ekdahl)

R: The JD Edwards development resources have been globally distributed,

significantly in Denver and India, for more than five years. In fact, the strategy

to balance development resources worldwide far precedes any of the

PeopleSoft and Oracle acquisition activity. Five years of maturity, coupled with

a deliberate cross-training program and good collaboration, has yielded a

capable and experienced development organization in India. Oracle also has

established JDE E1 development teams in Argentina and China.

While acknowledging customers’ concern for continuity in the JDE E1development staff, we also point to the several benefits we intend to realize

from a globally distributed development organization:

1 For Releases 9.0 and Tools 8.98, prelease notes were not issued because of the timingand details included in the RVPs.




An influx of new talent brings an influx of creativity and new ways of

looking at problems.

Globally dispersed teams result in an extended support organization that

can truly operate 24 x 7.

A culturally diverse development organization yields software and

solutions that succeed throughout our global customer base.

Organizational changes yield career opportunities. Experienced members

of JDE E1 staff can leverage their experience by leading teams.

The bottom line – from a customer viewpoint, the organizational structure of

the development team should be transparent as long as Oracle fulfills its

commitments with regard to quality, functionality, and support. Oracle believes

it has demonstrated a good track record in this respect during the past five

years.

Q92 – Accelerators with JD Edwards EnterpriseOneQ? Could you give us a bit more information on “Accelerators”? Our

understanding is that this is another form of “Rapid Start,” designed for new

customers, not those upgrading. We have heard that specific industries now

have Accelerators. Can you please confirm that our understanding is correct?

(Source: advocacy call with Lyle Ekdahl)

R: Calling Accelerators “another form of Rapid Start” is a gross

oversimplification. In fact, Accelerators are part of a much larger Oracle

initiative called “Oracle Accelerate” that provides industry-specific

functionality and faster time to value for customers of Oracle applications.

Although the initiative is primarily focused on helping new, midsize customerssucceed, the components of the program can be applied to any size customer

at virtually any stage of their life cycle. Oracle Business Accelerators for JD

Edwards EnterpriseOne include:

Configured JD Edwards EnterpriseOne application software, including

business processes, user roles, technical set-up, and a rapid installation

Questionnaire wizards that capture your process requirements and

configure the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne environment to your business

needs

Implementation services from Oracle Consulting Services or an authorized

Oracle partner

A Configuration Development Kit (CDK), the same one used by Oracle

and its partners, which customers can use to create and manage their own

custom configurations, for example, for multiple JDE E1 instances




Oracle OpenWorld is an excellent venue for learning more about the Oracle

Accelerate program. For general information about the Oracle Accelerate

program, refer to:

www.oracle.com/solutions/mid/accelerate.html

For specific information about Accelerators for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne:

www.oracle.com/applications/oracle-business-accelerator.html

Q93 – Supported Databases with Oracle Fusion Applications

Q? What databases will support Oracle Fusion Applications? Is there anything we

can do to influence Oracle's decision? For some customers this can be a

showstopper issue. (Source: outstanding question from questions 47 and 70)

R: Oracle has not yet made an announcement about the certified platforms for

Fusion Applications.

Q94 – Process for Incorporating Customer Fixes Customers

Q? Does Oracle have a process that customers can use to notify Oracle of code

fixes that customers have done?"

Note – This is a derivative of the originally Q82 asked at COLLABORATE 07

– Could there be a process to notify Oracle of customer fixes for bugs that

they incorporate into the next ESU? (The initial response did not satisfactorily

answer the question.)

Oracle's response to Q82 – The JDE E1 team tries to fix every bug from

every customer and all of the associated issues related to bug fixes. Pleaseremember that sometimes fixes cannot be forced in a software product. We

often experience the axiom: "One man's bug is another person's

enhancement."

R: There is no formal process for Oracle to accept code fixes from customers.

Code modifications that customers have done can be documented or attached

in a support case, which provides visibility to the Oracle engineering team.

However, Oracle does not make any commitment that the customer’s

modification will be incorporated into the code base.

Q95 – Certification w ith Microsoft Products

Q? What can Oracle do to improve the timeliness of certification for current

Microsoft products? The problems caused by not having this support can be

illustrated by supported versions of the C++ compiler:




Releases Xe to 8.10 – Supported compiler is Visual Studio C++ 6.0. This

is an obsolete product and not readily available on the market. This is why

Oracle is providing instructions to purchase and install Visual Studio

.NET 2003 then follow the downgrade instructions provided in the

manual. However, Microsoft VS .NET 2003 is also an obsolete product

which is not available on the market. It may still be available on e-Bay and

very few retailers of obsolete software products. When I tell my clientsthat they have to purchase software on e-Bay they start questioning their

decision to go with JDE E1.

Releases 8.11 to 9.0 – Supported compiler is Microsoft VS .NET 2003.

This is an obsolete product not available on the market. See comments for

Xe to 8.10 above. So, JDE is lagging in support for current C++

compilers by several releases. By the time they adopt VS .NET 2005, VS

.NET 2008 will be out (February 2008) and we will be looking at the same

problems again.

R: Oracle acknowledges customers’ request for timely certifications. The process

for planning and delivering platform certifications is complex and multifaceted.

As part of the platform planning and certification process, Oracle follows a set

of guiding principles:

Maintain a matrix of supported platform components that satisfy JDE E1

quality processes

Overlap supported versions of products to provide flexible upgrade paths

Minimize the number of mandatory component upgrades

An apparent “lag” in certification of a third party product can be the result of a

number of factors, such as an unseen dependency among components. Oracle

strives to make strategic platform decisions that provide the best stability,

upgradability, and flexibility for the greatest number of customers. Specifically

in regard to Microsoft compiler versions, Oracle plans to release a service pack

update for Xe and 8.0 that will include an up-lift to the Microsoft compiler.

For JDE E1 application releases 8.9 and later, support for Microsoft Visual

Studio .Net 2005 began with JDE E1 Tools 8.97.

Q96 – Web-Based Training for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne

Q? At COLLABORATE 07 we heard that there will be more web based training

for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. Can you please update us on where this

initiative stands?

R: Web-based training for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne is available from the

following sources:




Oracle University currently offers eight web-based, instructor-led, live

virtual classes and 29 self-paced online web courses.

education.oracle.com

User Productivity Kit currently offers ten prebuilt JDE E1 courses. The

UPK tool also allows customers to easily create their own custom training

content.

edelivery.oracle.com

Although not strictly classified as web-based training, the Advisor Webcast

series has recorded numerous presentations by JDE E1 experts.

See document 398877.1 on Oracle MetaLink.

Oracle intends to continue developing web-based training in each of these

formats based on customer demand.

Q97 – New Customer Suppor t Web Site (Oracle MetaLink 3)Q? Could you please update us on the plans for the new support website? We

understand that Customer Connection and MetaLink will be merged into a

new, more functionally rich site. Is there a schedule? Does the new site have a

name? We would like a true single-user ID.

R: Yes, Oracle is consolidating its customer support systems into a new

experience called “My Oracle Support” (also known as MetaLink 3). This web-

based experience gives you access to everything you need to support your

Oracle applications and technology products, including:

Initiating support requests

Searching for knowledge documents

Downloading product patches

Interacting with the customer community

You need a customer service identification (CSI) number, and your access to

this site will be controlled by a sign-on and password. You will designate one

or more individuals who have authority to assign sign-ons to others in your

organization. The site became available November 11, 2008.

Q98 – World A9.1 Enhancements in JD Edwards EnterpriseOne

Q? JD Edwards World A9.1 has a lot of changes that could possibly benefit JDEE1. Are JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Product Managers evaluating these World

changes to see if they would be of use to JD Edwards EnterpriseOne users?

For example, Address Book Rollup planned for A9.2. (See page 40 of the

Oracle MetaLink 3 i s Live!

metalink3.oracle.com/od/faces/index.jspx

For more information about the new

My Oracle Support (MetaLink 3) site see

www.oracle.com/support/index.html




Hensarling/Schiff presentation at COLLABORATE 08. Third bullet down on

the JD Edwards World – Plans Beyond A9.1 page)

R: Enhancement ideas and “intellectual property” are freely shared between the

JD Edwards World and JD Edwards EnterpriseOne teams. The prioritization

of individual enhancements and release schedules remain independent.

Customers are encouraged to use the Quest Enhancement Request process to

record and vote for their interest in enhancements for each product line.

Q99 – Platform Certifi cations wi th Xe and 8.0 Releases

Q? Releases Xe and ERP8 (8.0) are officially supported by Oracle until 2013. We

are already noticing large time lags in certification with other products for these

releases as compared to the 8.x releases. Since there is still a large customer

base on these old releases could the certification be done in a similar time

frame as the new releases?

R: The timing of a platform certification project for Xe/8.0 or Tools 8.9x

depends on a number of factors, such as the general availability of the platform

product, its support from third-parties, and the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne

release schedule itself. Minor platform validations, such as patch releases, can

usually be accomplished with no changes to JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and a

moderate level of testing. These validations occur perpetually. Major platform

adoptions, such as new releases, usually require code changes and significant

regression testing. These adoption projects must be aligned with the JDE E1

release cycle to ensure quality. Oracle is planning a service pack update for

Xe/8.0 that will include a number of platform certifications.

Customers who remain on Xe and 8.0 indicate a preference for stability over

technology investment. Customers upgrading to current releases of JDEdwards EnterpriseOne often take the opportunity to refresh their platform

stacks. In general, Oracle tends be more aggressive with platform certifications

on the newer releases of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. Oracle is committed to

maintaining a matrix of fully supported platform components for Xe and 8.0

according to its support lifecycle.

Q100 – Business Value of Upgrading from Xe and 8.0

Q? What advice can you offer customers who are having trouble convincing their

Business of the value of upgrading from Xe/ERP8 (8.0)? With 'support' until

2013, it can be difficult to convince the correct people why they should

upgrade.

Oracle is planning a service pack update

for Xe and 8.0 which w ill include many

platform updates.




R: The best business case for upgrading to a current release of JD Edwards

EnterpriseOne stands on the merits of what the upgrade can do for your

business, rather than the fear of running out of support. Although many of the

“benefits” afforded by the new releases might be difficult to quantify in dollars

and cents, they are nonetheless relevant to a positive business case. For

example, JDE E1 Tools delivered Server Manager, which reduces the time and

effort an administrator needs to spend attending to JDE E1 tasks. Similarly,the new Plant Manager and Financial Management and Compliance consoles

provide insight into operational data that never existed before. Each new JDE

E1 release contains more functionality and more opportunity to add weight to

the case for upgrading. We see this trend reflected in the numbers of

customers upgrading. The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Upgrade Resources site

(now at Oracle Metalink) has a wealth of resources to help you evaluate, plan,

and execute an upgrade. In particular, the Upgrade Value Proposition document

provides a description of the major applications and tools enhancements

included in each release.

Q101 – License Renewals wi th Oracle

Q? License renewal issues seem to be common, particularly for JD Edwards'

customers renewing with Oracle for the first time. Would it be possible to have

a “License Ombudsman” sort of role available from Oracle?

R: We see fewer issues with license renewals. Anytime a customer has a problem

with a license renewal they can contact their maintenance renewal

representative at Oracle. If a customer does not know who their representative

is they can call their local Oracle Customer Care number. Customer Care has

direct access to Oracle Support Services who can then resolve any license

issues. The management team for Support Services essentially acts as anombudsman when renewal issues do occur.

Q102 – Multiple Points of Contact with Oracle Cause Confusion

Q? Customers seem to have multiple points of contact with Oracle now -

applications, database, other. Or they don't know who to contact. Is there

anything that could be done to standardize or simplify this? The problem with

multiple Oracle contacts is customers get five different answers to the same

question (depending if they are from sales, development, technology, support,

leadership, Oracle University, etc.). Please also consider: Factors influencing answers is depth of knowledge – i.e. new to JD

Edwards, but many years with Oracle vs. new to Oracle, but many years

with JD Edwards.

The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Upgrade

Resources site has a wealth of resources

to help you evaluate, plan, and execute an

upgrade.




Time lines – sales is "do it now"; development is "we're working on it and

need time"

Some simply do not respond (i.e. training courses).

R: We have heard this comment before from customers, particularly in the early

period following the acquisitions. Oracle is a large company— over 80,000

employees. There are huge technology and application groups that operate

essentially autonomously. On top of that is the mix of development, customer

support, and sales/consulting. JD Edwards and PeopleSoft employees have

needed to learn how to work differently amid this structure, as have our

customers and partners. Your primary points of contact should come from

your account team. There are likely to be different contacts for applications

and technology, but they should be working in concert to address your

requirements holistically. Of course, some account reps are better at doing this

than others.

There have been a few organizational changes that should help. Ed Abbo, the

Senior Vice President responsible for the Applications Unlimited product lines,

is much more engaged with the field than his predecessor was. This will serverto align product development more closely with the field.

Also, JD Edwards' development is working more closely with the development

groups from Oracle technology and other application lines. This is deliberate

because we want to provide more value to our customers. For example, in

addition to his JD Edwards responsibilities, Lenley has acquired the additional

responsibility of Business Intelligence across all products lines. This has

resulted in his cooperation and frequent meetings with the Oracle technology

group and teams from the other application product lines.

You may get different answers from different sources but Oracle is trying to do

better! For example, Buffy Ransom of Oracle Customer Support comes toLenley's staff meetings and customer focus meetings to share information.

Representatives from different areas are meeting more often so that when

answers change they get out to everyone on a regular basis. Also, Buffy has

inherited a few new teams across the organization, so the support experience

should become more consistent for all customers.

Customers who have a very broad footprint of Oracle applications and

technology products might consider a program called Oracle Advanced

Customer Services to engage the services of a dedicated support person. This

consulting service would be like having your own Oracle employee to navigate

support issues into the right Oracle organizations. The engagement can be set

up as long-term or temporary. This arrangement has been very successful for

many customers, particularly in the process of upgrading.



Responses to Questio ns – The Quest JD Edwards Enterpris eOne Advocacy Committ ee Page 11

1) Process for collecting, vetting, and approving enhancement requests

– We believe we have made good progress in working with Quest to

establish the tools and processes that facilitate enhancement requests and

their weighting. If a customer perceives that a particular enhancement

request is stagnant, it could be that the enhancement has a relatively low

priority among the JDE E1 customer community at large. We encourage

you to utilize the Quest Enhancement Request system and its built-in voting system to prioritize requests.

2) Pace at which the JDE E1 team can develop and test the

enhancement – Obviously this depends on the size and complexity of the

enhancement. We do our best to ensure that our development resources

are fully utilized and working efficiently on enhancements that have the

highest value to our customers.

3) Schedule which a completed enhancement can be delivered to

customers – In a “big bang” release model, many enhancements are

developed over a relatively long period of time—perhaps 18 to 24

months—and delivered as a large release. In this model, even if Oracle

completed an enhancement early, it would likely “sit on the shelf” until the

rest of the release was available. In an attempt to “please all of the people

all of the time,” JD Edwards team has begun releasing valuable

enhancements intermittently between major releases. These can most

recently be seen in our JDE E1 Tools Release Updates, Consoles, Business

Accelerators, Localizations, and integrations to other Oracle applications.

Not all enhancements are appropriate for this type of intermittent delivery,

but this is one way we can accelerate the rhythm of delivering value.

Q106 – Upgrade Path: JD Edwards EnterpriseOne or Fusion Apps?

Q? When will we hear more about Fusion functionality? For long term planning,

we need help deciding an upgrade path of JD Edwards or Fusion.

R: Fusion is a very broad concept. When you speak of “Fusion” you should think

of three things: Oracle Fusion Architecture, Oracle Fusion Middleware, and

Oracle Fusion Applications.

Oracle Fusion Architecture is a standards-based technology blueprint

that details the linkage between enterprise applications, middleware, and

grid infrastructure technologies. Focusing on architectural integrity and

openness for business applications and business information, it defines

the technology components required for Oracle Fusion Applications.

Look closely and you will detect a shift toward the principles of Fusion

Architecture in the latest JDE E1 releases; for example, service-oriented

architecture and integrated business intelligence.




Oracle Fusion Middleware is a family of middleware products that

enables your organization to run, secure, adapt, and expand its business.

It is the world’s fastest-growing family of middleware solutions, spanning

everything from service-oriented architecture (SOA), portals, and process

management to application infrastructure, identity management, content

management, and business intelligence.

Again, looking at recent JDE E1 releases you can see a shift towardadoption of Oracle Fusion Middleware components such as Oracle

Application Server, Oracle Portal, Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher,

and so on.

Oracle Fusion Applications are the next generation of enterprise

applications Oracle is building, designed to unify best-of-business

capabilities from all Oracle Applications in a complete suite delivered on

Oracle’s open technology. Financial Management and Procurement are

likely to be the first applications available.

Q107 – Databases for the Currently Available Fusion Applications

Q? For Fusion applications available already, what databases are they on?

R: Some additional Fusion apps will be built to support multiple databases. This

question is related to "what databases will the new ERP support?" ( Issue 93 )

Q108 – Functionality and Usabi lity o f the JDE E1 Web Client

Q? What are your plans to increase HTML functionality/usability prior to 9.0?

R: We typically deliver functionality such as web client enhancements in JDE E1 Tools releases. Therefore, if you are looking to take advantage of

enhancements to the web client without upgrading your applications release,

you should upgrade your Tools release to 8.97 or 8.98. Most of the web client

enhancements in 8.97 and 8.98 can be realized by users of application releases

8.9 through 9.0. These enhancements include:

Adoption of the “Swan” interface, which is Oracle’s standard

application interface for aesthetics and consistency of interface

components.

Performance improvements, particularly in the areas of large grids and

performance over wide-area networks

Many usability enhancements, such as import/export to/from the grid

The Release Notes documents for Tools 8.97 and 8.98 explain which

enhancements apply to a particular application release and which apply to all

releases.

See the Release Notes for JDE E1 Tools

8.97 and 8.98 for a list of recent web client

enhancement s that can be r ealized in J DE

E1 application releases 8.9 through 9.0.




We have additional enhancements planned that will make the JDE E1 web

experience even richer as users come to expect more and more from a web

interface.

Q109 – Licensing of Overlapping/Incremental Functionality

Q? There is often an overlap of components (i.e. data relationships). Can we buy

incremental functionality? Example: Will you discount it if a customer already

owns the module Procurement and Subcontracts Management?

R: If you have licensed a particular application module then you receive

enhancements to that module as part of your maintenance fee. If new

functionality is delivered as a new module, then you must acquire a license to

that new module. For example, in JDE E1 9.0 the HCM Time and Labor

module includes an enhancement that allows employees to correct past time

cards. If you have licensed a previous version of Time and Labor, and if you

are current on maintenance, you are licensed to use this enhancement.

Conversely, JDE E1 9.0 offers an entirely new application module calledProject and Government Contract Accounting. To use this module you must

pay to license it. (Your account team may make different arrangements.)

Q110 – Licensing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Q? Stand-alone BI publisher functionality – one has to have red stack for

imbedded use and must license otherwise. Why is this different?

R: Beginning with JDE E1 Tools 8.96, and improved in 8.97 and 8.98, Oracle has

provided integration between JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and Oracle Business

Intelligence Publisher. This integration allows customers to use Oracle BIPublisher to design output templates and to publish reports from JDE E1 data.

To use this functionality, customers are required to hold a license for Oracle BI

Publisher. Customers can acquire the license in the following two ways:

License Oracle Technology Foundation (“Red Stack”), which includes a

limited license of Oracle BI Publisher for use only with JDE E1

Acquire a full-use license of Oracle BI Publisher, which can be used

with JDE E1 or any data source within your enterprise.

In the Technology Foundation (“Blue Stack”) module that contains IBM

technology components, there is no equivalent to Oracle BI Publisher.




Q111 – Upgrade Path – Proceed w ith 8.12 or Wait for 9.0?

Q? I am on JDE E1 8.0 and currently going to release 8.12. Should I wait until

9.0?

R: Customers can determine the optimal upgrade path and timing better than

Oracle can. There are typically two major factors to consider when evaluating

the timing and target release for an upgrade:

1) Additional functionality for business benefit

2) Support horizon – The support horizon for JDE E1 8.12 is published:

Premier support will end in April 2011, with Extended and Sustaining

phases following. If your strategy is to maximize the support period,

that’s a good reason to look to 9.0. But if you already have an

investment in an upgrade to 8.12 and it contains all the functionality

you need, then finishing your 8.12 upgrade might make the best

business sense for you.

Q112 – Change in Licensing Model to Accommodate Broader Use

Q? Will you change the licensing model? As we acquire new companies we would

like the ability to use functionality available in additional products.

R: Oracle provides a licensing model that allows you to create custom bundles

and thus take advantage of multiple application and technology modules. Speak

with your technology and applications account teams about the best way to fit

an Oracle licensing model for your enterprise. We are the application

development guys. In December 2007 there was a re-organization in the Oracle

R&D area that has helped to bring the technology and applications

development teams closer together. But on the sales side there are still

independent technology and applications account representatives, and it will

continue this way for the foreseeable future.




Q113 – End of Support fo r JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 8.9 and 8.10

Q? When will support end for releases 8.9 and 8.10?

R: The support life cycle for each JD Edwards EnterpriseOne product release is

published in the Oracle Lifetime Support Policy: Oracle Applications .

Release 8.9 – Support for updates, fixes, security alerts, and upgrade

scripts expires in September, 2008. Oracle will continue support customers

through Year End/1099/W2 processes. Updates for tax, legal, and

regulatory requirements will extend through September 2009.

Releases 8.10 – Support for updates, fixes, security alerts, and upgrade

scripts expires in June, 2009. Updates for tax, legal, and regulatory

requirements will extend through June 2010.

Releases 8.9 and 8.10 are on five year, not five plus three support model;

therefore, an Extended Support period is not offered. The sustaining

support period continues indefinitely. Under Sustaining Support customers

retain access to Oracle Support as well as existing electronic software

updates (ESUs) and Tools updates.

Oracle has communicated these support dates in a letter to customers. Release

8.9 and 8.10 customers can engage with Oracle Consulting Services for

additional support. If you have a go live date that is impacted by these support

dates, we encourage you to work with Oracle Consulting Services to mitigate

risk. Oracle has created contingency programs for customers, including a

certain length of bridge between their release and their go live. Oracle

Consulting can provide a number of support options.

Q114 – Planned Availability for Business Intelligence for JDE E1

Q? What is the planned priority and availability of OBIEE and BI per recentannouncements?

R: Oracle is excited about this latest generation of business intelligence

technology and how JD Edwards EnterpriseOne customers can benefit from

it. Simply put, we are building a consolidated data warehouse for all Oracle

applications. The business intelligence applications will draw data from this

consolidated warehouse, and the Oracle enterprise applications such as JDE

E1 will feed data into the warehouse using adapters. Therefore, the first order

of business is to build the adapters that will feed JDE E1 data into the

warehouse. The first priority is to build a JDE E1 adapter for financial data.

This obviously has the broadest applicability to our customer base. We plan to

have this adapter available during Oracle fiscal year 2009. After the financials

adapter, we plan to build an adapter for order management data. Ideally we

plan to pursue a schedule of two adapters per year. We are eager for customers’

input about which adapters to build. Use the Quest Enhancement Request

system and the Quest Tech SIG to voice your requirements.

Refer to Oracle Lifetime Support Policy:

Oracle Applications for more details on the

support life cycle f or each JDE E1 release

With OBIEE and BI, we are bui lding a

consolidated data warehouse for all Oracle

applications.




implementing and maintaining the interface. This leads to failure to offer any

but exorbitantly priced alternatives to provide the functionality we need.

R: Oracle’s stated strategy for applications and technology products is to deliver

solutions that are “Complete, Open and Integrated.” To that end, Oracle has

amassed a portfolio of applications and technology products that provide a

broad range of general and industry-specific functionality.

When considering enhancements for a new JDE E1 release, particularly major

enhancements, product strategy managers are faced with the decision to build

the functionality natively within JDE E1, to integrate with another Oracle

product, or to integrate with a non-Oracle partner product. Each decision must

be evaluated on it is own merits against criteria such as:

The complexity and level of engineering effort to build natively in JDE

E1

The viability and cost of integrating with an existing Oracle product

The viability and cost, including royalty, of integrating with a partner

product

The relative advantages and disadvantages to customers with respect to

complexity, maintainability, and cost

It would be a disservice to customers to generalize all new JDE E1

functionality into one approach: build, integrate, or partner.

Oracle acknowledges customers’ request to keep solutions simple to implement and

manage.

Q119 – License Limitations in Oracle Technology Foundation

Q? There is concern on overly-restrictive integration functionality available under

Red Stack licensing. The policy states that a restricted license can only be used

to integrate JD Edwards to JD Edwards. That doesn’t make much sense

because JD Edwards is already integrated.

For example – An unrestricted BPEL license would be required for JDE to

accept a flat file. Then an unrestricted OAS license would be needed to run

the unrestricted BPEL license. Together, these could easily run $100,000

to $250,000 or more.

Can Red-Stack integration capacity provide connectivity to all software sold

under the Oracle umbrella?

R: Oracle does not consider the Oracle Technology Foundation license “overly

restrictive.” On the contrary, taken as a whole, Oracle Technology Foundation

provides JD Edwards EnterpriseOne customers with a robust infrastructure,

development tools, integration technology, database, web middleware, and




reporting tools necessary to support a JDE E1 implementation. From a pricing

perspective, the Oracle Technology Foundation package represents a

significant discount compared to the list price of its individual components,

and the limitation to use the components only with JDE E1 is commensurate

with this discount. We expect customers to discover ways to employ the

components of Oracle Technology Foundation to meet their business needs.

Some of these implementations will be contained within JDE E1 and fall within the license limitations of Oracle Technology Foundation. Some will

expand beyond JD E1. Expanded use equates to expanded value, and

expanded value equates to expanded license fees. The expanded value and

expanded fees still provide a positive return on investment. Customers should

engage with their Oracle account team to discern specific use cases and their

licensing implications.



Response to Questions – The Quest JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Advocacy Committee

Revised and updated: November 2008

Author : Ly le EkdahlContributing Authors: AJ Schifano

Editor: Rudy Lukez

Oracle Corporation

World Headquarters

500 Oracle Parkway

Redwood Shores, CA 94065

U.S.A.

Worldwide Inquiries:

Phone: +1.650.506.7000

Fax: +1.650.506.7200

oracle.com

Copyright © 2008, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

This document is provided for information purposes only and thecontents hereof are subject to change without notice.

This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any

other warranties or conditi ons, whether expressed orally or implied

in law, including impl ied warranties and conditions of merchantability

or fitness for a particular purpose. We specifically disclaim any

liability with respect to this document and no contractual obligations

are formed either directly or indirectly b y this document. This document

may not be reproduced or t ransmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without our prior w ritten permission.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.

Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 0408

jde e1 advocacy issues - responses (updated 2008-11-14)

Documents