No limits on software choice for Oracle manufacturing users

So says Jesper Andersen, senior vice president Oracle ERP and applications strategy – and ex PeopleSoft general manager. At a post Oracle OpenWorld event for the UK market, he said: “Our strategy is to invest in all existing product lines whi9le at the same time building our next generation system. This is not just something we’re saying: we’ve organised ourselves specifically for this.” Promised for delivery in the coming months are further developments for PeopleSoft Enterprise 9.0, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 8.12 and even World 9.1. Indeed, CRM and supply chain developments have already been shipped for the PeopleSoft system, and a new business intelligence publisher is due out soon, along with more industry-specific modules. Additionally, platform developments include coverage now for DB2, SQL Server, Sybase and Informix on the database and BEA Weblogic and IBM Webphere for middleware. Meanwhile, for the JD Edwards world, Andersen says it’s all about maintaining the stability that was the original attraction of the system. Recent introductions have included web services interfaces for easier integration with other systems, electronic signatures functionality and again, industry-specific upgrades. Beyond all that, Oracle is talking about more CRM (customer relationship management) on-demand, with software provided as a hosted subscription service and advanced analytics provided ‘out of the box’. It’s also talking about the next release of Oracle E-Business Suite at Release 12, due to ship within the next 12 months – with the emphasis on improving global operations and management while also providing a better user interface featuring automated secure enterprise search facilities in line with PeopleSoft developments. Other developments will include easier XML-based reporting, role-based business analytics and dashboards, and what Andersen calls “sustainable integration” – meaning standards-based web services integration using Oracle’s data hub technology that, for example, makes it feasible to consolidate item masters and associated business processes from multiple systems. And then there’s Project Fusion, which Andersen still styles as Oracle’s bid for the next generation enterprise system, covering all applications and how they’re organised and navigated. How different will it be? Andersen gives just one example: “Think about system configuration: we can do better with a more modern, declarative tool set and a new database infrastructure.” He also hints at developments like Web 2.0 and AJAX, and adds that this is already underway: “The Fusion Middleware suite is complete and the Fusion user interface design is nearly complete.”