Future of ERP Financials: Oracle vs. Peoplesoft vs. JDE

list6654

Active Member
Does anyone have a clear and concise assessment of the future of the various flavors of Oracle Financial applications? In other words, does anyone have an idea of how the future ERP products (eg. post 8.x / post Oracle Financials) will handle Financial apps. Has Oracle given an official statement of direction in this area? When will the 3 flavors of Financials converge?

My theory would be that the 3 disparate products would be converged in the next year or two. I would like to understand now how they plan to approach this. I can't see them developing 3 different Financials much further. Different HR apps or different CRM products, yes; different financials, no.
 
Wow.

ok, you couldn't be further from the truth as far as your comment of the next 12 months is concerned. There is a statement of direction that Oracle publishes on the Knowledge Garden as well as on Oracle.com - and, I believe, under edelivery.oracle.com as well.

In effect, the FOUR product lines will continue to be developed and enhanced :

Oracle eBusiness Solutions
J.D. Edwards EnterpriseOne
Peoplesoft Enterprise
J.D. Edwards EnterpriseWorld

HOWEVER, there IS a fifth "product" that is in development currently - Oracle Fusion Applications. This product is basically a new SOA based enterprise product - keyed around the Oracle Fusion Middleware - and there have been a number of previews at Openworld and Quest Collaborate - but it is STILL very early stages for the product.

HOWEVER, there is no "convergence" of the product lines. In fact, when Oracle Fusion Applications finally appear - it will certainly not have anywhere the functionality of the existing product lines. Just like when OneWorld appeared in 1996/1997 and barely had address book and some bare financial functionality - it looked very pitiful back then in comparison to the World product line.

The new "Fusion Applications" are aimed to "replace" the prior products eventually - but this could take years before customers feel that the product is stable and reliable. In the meantime, the existing ERP products will be continued to be marketed, improved upon and utilized.

Of course, most of what I say is just my 2c opinion - but I thoroughly recommend reading the statement of direction for each of the product groups prior to making a decision.

It IS important, however, that customers should NOT be put off purchasing an ERP system "because oracle might be releasing fusion applications soon". All of the product lines that Oracle currently support will certainly have some sort of upgrade path planned to Fusion applications - and almost certainly there will be a maintenance agreement upgrade from existing product lines - especially for those early adopters.

Finally, please remember that how JDE Financials integrates with other functionality within the EnterpriseOne product, it is far different to how Oracle Financials integrates within its ebusiness product suite.

Peoplesoft tried to "converge" the JDE and Peoplesoft product line - initially with their marketing messages - but gave up as soon as they understood the complexity of the task at hand. Oracle stated from the beginning that they also wanted to "converge" the functionality of all the products into one - but have somewhat backpedaled, assinging their middleware product with the same name as their "converged" product - and pursuing a different technical model entirely.

Rest assured, however, that whatever Oracle Fusion applications look like, they'll undoubtedly utilize the same architecture blueprint of EnterpriseOne - why ? Because of who the people are that are doing the Fusion Application development ! They're mostly from the old JDE OneWorld Tools Development team !
 
Let me begin by saying that I could have done a better job in defining converge. I placed this post in the Applications forum for a purpose: I wanted an apps/functional person's opinion and not a tech opinion. Only an technical ignoramous would presume that I meant that Oracle or PSFT code would be converted to JDE ER / BSFNs / Versions, etc (converge != convert). My questions was rhetorical about the design of Financials apps. There was no truth/falsehood implied whatsoever. SO, I don't know how it would it be possible that I could be "further from the truth" to begin with.

So, for a point of clarification, I'm going to use the second definition of converge:
2. to tend to a common result, conclusion.

There is nothing I see in Statements of Direction, Product Roadmaps, etc, that imply to me that there is a specific plan for version of JDE Financials being converted to SOA architecture. I want someone familiar with JDE financials applications from a functional perspective to speak to which flavor of Financials could be or will be the dominant one (in a functional sense and not code). Maybe Jon can find something in this set of links that I haven't. I have attached a BMP of what I see in the Statement of Direction link. Please feel free to post those documents. The only thing that I see that is relevant to E1 in Prodcut Roadmaps is 8.11 being retired in 2009.

So having said that, it would seem to me (from a technical perspective and application infamiliar) that a mature business app like Financials would not be enhanced or developed beyond the next 1 to 2 years if it is going to be completely re-engineered. Quite frankly, even with my limited knowledge of Financials, I am going to go out on a limb to say that there have been few developments or enhancements to JDE E1 core Financials in the last 2 years. If there are, I would be glad to hear the contrary. Other than FMCC, I can't think of any.

So, the question is is: what distinguishes JDE FM vs. Oracle FM vs. Peoplesoft FM such that they could not converge (in design not technology)? At what point do the various flavors of Financial Management cease being distinquishable from requirements and design perspective?

Thanks, Jon, but please let others speak to these questions. While you may say that you know developers at JDE, that doesn't really answer the question I am attempting to address.
 
Attached is what I see when I look at the KG's Statement of Direction for E1 Financials.
 
Back
Top