TOP REASONS 10

TO CHOOSE ORACLE ENTERPRISERESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) CLOUD FINANCIALS

I N T R O D U CT I O NThe Oracle ERP Cloud applications in general, and Fusion Financials specifically, offer customers the first true cloud-based Enterprise class back-office platform for full accounting support leveraging the power of the Cloud Computing paradigm. The advantages are both subtle and significant as the market moves rapidly to embrace this compelling new platform.

This eBook will highlight the top 10 factors you should consider when evaluating Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Cloud Financials verses traditional ERP applications such as Oracle E-Business Suite.

FO CUS

10

Fundamentally, the cloud is an enabling technology allowing companies to shift their focus away from systems and applications management towards increasing business value added areas such as business process and enterprise performance management.

Fast forward 5 or 10 years into the future and it seems clear (and obvious) that all companies will leverage cloud based applications as opposed to investing corporate resources on such non-core areas as applications and infrastructure management – outsourcing the application management function to those service providers who are fundamentally focused on this as their core competency.

While there have been successful cloud providers in the market at a departmental level for some time, the Oracle ERP Cloud represents the first robust Enterprise Application Platform available in a fully cloud-enabled model.

RELIABILITY

09

The corollary to #10 is that a cloud model is inherently more reliable than an in-house managed platform as companies are no longer tasked with customizing core application functionality or extensions. By adopting a cloud platform, customers will immediately benefit by eliminating in-house risks.

Cloud adoption will also greatly reduce cycle times for adopting new functionality for each new release – a task which has been costly and time consuming due to in-house customizations which need to be re-engineered and tested with each new software version/release.

PERSONALIZATIONS

08

With the composer tools, customers are not constrained to accept pre-built vendor definitions, screen layouts, canned reports or inflexible process models. As a result, the implementers’ focus has shifted to one of enhanced usability/adoption in an earlier stage of the implementation life cycle. This powerful model allows for continual process improvement – that is the ability to implement for today but with confidence that the screens/data/business flow will be flexible to support future business models as they evolve.

USER INTERFACE

07

Oracle ERP Cloud applications include a complete redesign of the navigational and transactional elements which support the classic ERP and financial business flows in an easier and more streamlined manner.

State of the art web technologies embedded in the cloud applications allow for a more robust UI delivered via standard web/browser tools in a way that makes it easier to adopt and quicker to perform most back office functions.

The power and consistency of the underlying search, highly configurable role-based access controls and the powerful composers allow customer-specific data, screen and process personalizations allowing customers to quickly and easily make these applications their own.

SECURITY

06

With the increased risk and mitigation costs associated with managing and protecting both corporate and consumer data, the ERP Cloud represents a huge step forward in the task of ensuring data security/privacy in the rapidly changing world of an interconnected society.

Recent security lapses in both the Retail and Financial services sectors underscore the criticality of this risk and, in almost all cases, have revealed an internal systems management flaw as being fundamental to most security breaches. The Oracle ERP Cloud employs the latest advanced technologies for data protection at every level and includes a layer of compliance that simply can not be implemented via an in-house platform.

REDUCED IMPLEMENTATIONCOST

05

A turnkey implementation for Oracle Fusion Financials in the Cloud is 10% to 20% less costly than the classic ERP on premise implementation.

The reasons for this are twofold. First, the Fusion Cloud applications have been engineered to include the latest generation software configuration techniques to enable a more rapid and more consistent application foundation. Second, implementers are having increased success in delivering on the promise of a streamlined, best-practice model for standard business flows. This is most apparent in the core financial modules but we are seeing signs of similar success with Procurement and we expect this to carry over to Project Portfolio Management, Supply Chain Management and also the Enterprise Planning and Budgeting process.

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INTEGRATION

04

The Oracle ERP Cloud is engineered to enable a wide range of industry standard web services integration points for both inbound and outbound interfacing.

Customers are facing increasing requirements for robust and reliable application integrations and the Oracle platform delivers this capability in a proven architecture which allows for complex business-process driven integrations as well as bulk data movement.

While this is currently listed as the 4th most critical benefit it has the potential to eclipse all other benefits over the next several years as the web services platform is perhaps the most critical underlying technology enabling customers to employ a hybrid strategy for implementing cloud applications. In other words, this enabling technology is akin to the plumbing that allows for the success of a large urban development.

ENHANCEDREPORTING

03

One of most significant benefits to the cloud customer is the abi l i ty to leverage the bui l t- in transactional/multi-dimensional reporting layer via the robust Oracle BI toolset. While the cloud apps include a number of canned reports customers will undoubtedly benefit from an easy to use and powerful reporting engine which is pervasive across the full suite of cloud applications.

This includes both operational data as well as the powerful, multi-dimensional financial ledger data available through the underlying Hyperion Essbase engine. The reporting platform includes easy to use office integration as well as standard pdf output, features which customers have come to expect.

STREAMLINED BUSINESS PROCESSES

02

The cloud model is designed to enable robust business flows in a more standard and streamlined manner. The Oracle ERP Cloud leverages “best of breed” business flows based on years of ERP expertise. Good examples of this include the built-in ability to utilize the Oracle approvals engine which is now standard across enterprise applications such that anywhere that it makes sense to have a configurable process to ensure company defined approval procedures can be enforced at the point of the transaction in a seamless manner.

Powerful functionality is embedded via transactional Business Intelligence (BI), content management and identity management at the transactional level – functions which previously require significant after-market customization. These streamlined/standard cloud-based business flows offer organizations a powerful step forward in terms of leveraging “best of breed” capability with little to no incremental effort.

THE #1 REASON TO SELECT ORACLE ERP CLOUDFINANCIALS IS...

01

The #1 reason to select Oracle ERP Cloud Financials is simply because it works. The advantages have been clear for quite some time but product maturity has now progressed to the point where a complete set of required feature functionality is available and fully operational. Leading implementation consultants such as BizTech have been working with the Fusion platform for the past two years and are now able to confidently lead customers through a successful implementation cycle in a cost-effective manner.

CO N C LUS I O NIn fairness, a true comparison between the Oracle Cloud Financials and the legacy E-Business Suite (EBS) product would have to acknowledge a number of (fairly obvious) scenarios where the legacy platform can provide an advantage:

• EBS maintains a comfortable lead in terms of breadth of functionality which translates into specific scenarios where a given customer is unable to support certain functions with the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Cloud but can do so with EBS. Oracle is moving rapidly to develop a robust integration platform allowing customers to adopt a hybrid model with both legacy and cloud applications.

• For customers with non-standard requirements for integration EBS may provide a more comprehensive ability to develop interfaces across virtually any data scenario whereas the ERP Cloud is constrained by the number of explicitly published Web Services API’s. In the long run, this is actually a strong reason to adopt the cloud model as it ensure that all integrations are constructed only via well-defined API’s with proven integrity constraints built in, however, for companies that need these additional interfaces today the ERP Cloud may come up short.

• EBS is likely to maintain an edge in terms of speed and cost to implement for some period of time as the vast number of implementers are still relatively inexperienced in the new platform and will require some time to develop rapid/reusable implementation tools. There is also a bit of a chicken and the egg scenario here where the implementers need more experience to gain proficiency but the product success needs a larger number of experienced implementers. This natural dynamic with any new product release is countered by investments on the part of a small number of leaders in the consulting ranks who are willing/able to invest in the early adoption curve to gain a competitive “first mover” advantage.

CO-AUTHORED BY BIZTECH’S ORACLE CLOUD EXPERTS: TOM SIMKISS | TSIMKISS@BIZTECH.COM

TOM CONNOLLY | TCONNOLLY@BIZTECH.COM

TOM CONNOLLY

THOMAS SIMKISS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Tom has more than 20 years of Information Technology experience, primarily in the areas of Operations Management, Large-Scale Custom and Package Software Implementations, Systems Integration and Strategic Planning. In 2001, Tom founded BizTech, a regional information technology services firm headquartered in King of Prussia, PA and focusing on applied technology solutions for mid-market companies. As CEO of BizTech, Tom’s primary responsibilities include Strategic Planning, New Business Development, Practice Development and Project Management. Tom is also the executive sponsor for BizTech’s Business Intelligence Practice. Tom’s professional philosophy is to maintain a hands-on approach to managing and delivering IT solutions. He has built his career on an ability to recognize and apply innovative technology solutions to meet the challenging needs of the business community.

Read Tom’s Blog at: http://blog.biztech.com/author/tom-connolly

Tom has more than 14 years industry and consulting experience, with roles in more than two dozen packaged software implementations, as well as experience with business process redesign and SOX compliance reviews. Tom’s specific areas of Oracle knowledge include releases 10.7 through 12.1 in Financials, Manufacturing, Project Costing and Billing, Oracle Business Accelerators, Discoverer 3.x through 10g, Reports 6i through 10g and OBIEE. Prior to joining BizTech, Tom co-founded Delphi Technology Group, Inc., a Philadelphia based IT and management consulting organization that merged with BizTech in October 2002. Tom is a member of the executive team at BizTech filling the role of COO and executive sponsor for the Finance Practice. Tom earned a Juris Doctorate from Temple University School of Law and is a CPA in the State of New Jersey.

Read Tom’s Blog at: http://blog.biztech.com/author/thomas-simkiss

TOP TEN REASONS TO TO CHOOSE ORACLE ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP)

CLOUD FINANCIALS