Oracle to take Sigma Dynamics business intelligence into new business areas

Paul Rodwick, vice president of product management in Oracle’s business intelligence unit, refuses to name specific developments but gives examples of the new system solving problems in purchasing and shipping. “We expect to introduce a range of applications to allow real-time decision making over time, and also the technology will be used by partners and customers to create their own specialist applications,” he adds. “It is a core enabler for applications that Oracle will deliver.” Rodwick points to the current trend of buying into business intelligence applications and insists that Oracle has identified a trend among companies now wanting to move beyond harnessing historical data to information on what’s happening right now. “Sigma Dynamics was already embedded in Oracle Real Time Decisions. It was originally introduced by Siebel Systems [now Oracle owned] about one year ago,” says Rodwick. Hence, the system is already integrated with some Oracle systems on the former Siebel side, and works with Oracle’s BI suite. It can also link to non-Oracle data sources, using the openness of its J2EE architecture. “We’re also integrating it into our Fusion middleware suite so that it will be even easier to integrate with other systems,” says Rodwick. The difference being that instead of the existing point-to-point connections, there will be full Fusion ESB (enterprise service bus) connection, enabling the system to observe events flowing across that bus. Will manufacturers want all this? Business intelligence is fast becoming an important agenda item in all sorts of companies, with analysts forecasting fast growing spend – and some even naming it the number one spending priority world-wide. Setting aside exactly how important it is, business intelligence makes a lot of sense for manufacturers. As Rodwick says: “There is a lot of data already out there in companies’ existing operational systems. The best way to get competitive advantage is to understand that data – and what customers, suppliers and partners are telling you. “Companies want to move away from fragmented views of information and want to connect from the supply to the demand chain, to be able to understand the impacts of manufacturing on customer satisfaction. “Oracle BI already enables pervasive use across organisations. It’s not just about analysts: it’s about providing every person from senior execs to front line employees with correct information in time to effect the business performance.”