Oracle E-Business Suite has a 
deep and successful history across many industries and businesses of varying size. I, for one, have spent more than 15 (Oracle) years using, upgrading, enhancing and implementing new versions, custom components and specialized processes motivated by ever-increasing demands for operational efficiency. In my time spent working with a large variety of industries and clients, there is always one common thought….my needs are unique and require sometimes extreme variations from the standard features of the product.
So let’s talk about your needs.
All companies need a system that tracks money….cost, spend, tax, profit, loss, etc.
All companies need a system that supports operations…labor, assets, efficiency, compliance, process, data etc.
All companies need a system that can be effectively utilized by people…accountants, buyers, assemblers, service providers, managers, CEOs, etc.
I can say without reservation that all enterprise software products support these needs to varying degrees and client satisfaction.
Now let’s talk about your satisfaction. Satisfaction is a very personal assessment of a systems’ ability to support assigned tasks with reliable and profitable output. Profitable to the individual, the process, the manager and the company.
Here’s the rub, often (not always) the perception of low profitability is directed to missing system controls, inadequate functionality, inflexibility or non-compatibility. We have now circled back to my needs are unique.
EBS has been very accommodating to unique needs by allowing customization of forms, functions, procedures, integrations, etc…..RICE and CEMLI. While this accommodation has supported client profitability on the surface, it has also added overhead cost and pushed businesses into a system corner where it becomes increasingly difficult (and costly) to absorb new functionality and versions. This can add up to a stagnant operation held hostage by customization for unique needs.
Now what? Sometimes a needed change is simply procedural, but sometimes the change needed is systemic. This is where Oracle Cloud offers a great opportunity. The Cloud product has incorporated core EBS functionality and enhanced the user experience with ideas from other products such as PeopleSoft and JD Edwards using newer ideas, development tools, and platforms. What this brings is a solution with high satisfaction. Oracle Cloud may be perceived as a restrictive solution if viewed only from the perspective that it does not allow customization to the extent available from EBS, but that would be a narrow view.
This solution has embedded extensive security and control to the user level. It is highly configurable, reliable and accessible across many devices and provides real-time analytics. However, it does require an honest assessment of needs vs wants and willingness to accept new methodology. When deploying this solution, the elimination of most extensions and customization returns a much faster implementation path and the configurable functionality positions the business to support and improve core processes.
So why am I glad to move from EBS to Cloud? Not for the obvious reason of less development work and lower support cost, but for the resulting satisfaction level. Clients frequently express concern for change management and capability early in the cycle but, when willing to accept change, find that the new process is equal or better than before. The ability to accept product updates is easier than ever and user satisfaction ends up at a much higher level. For these reasons, I have embraced Oracle ERP Cloud without looking back.
