This is part One of a Three-Part Series on dispelling the myths behind moving to Fusion SaaS and strategies for success.
Last year, I ran a survey about how people were using eBusiness Suite. The strong response provided valuable insight into their current use, views on moving, and plans to either move or stay where they were.
The high-level finding was that people think moving to Fusion SaaS is simply too hard, so I thought I would write about what I hear behind that headline when I talk to organisations individually or when giving my “Should I stay or should I move?”presentation, where I look at the questions an organisation should be asking.
“It’s too hard” is not one answer; it is a series of concerns and myths, which I will cover here. In my next two blogs, I’ll also provide strategies such as governance, change, phasing, to help you succeed in your implementation if and when you decide to move to Fusion.
My survey targeted E-Business Suite customers, but the findings are relevant to all Apps Unlimited customers: EBS, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Hyperion, and CRM.
First, I want to make the point that if you have a genuine business reason why not to move to Fusion, then that's okay, as long as you can articulate why.
Here are some of the Myths that I’ve heard:
“Oracle is Forcing Me”
The first myth is that Oracle is forcing you to move, and that's just not true. All of Apps Unlimited has at least 10 years, whichmeans Oracle will give you 10 years’ notice when you must move, and that 10-year clock has not yet started. So, you can stay if you have a good business reason for doing so.
“Staying on EBS means avoiding the decision.”
Not really a myth, but something I hear a lot is: “It’s not my problem”
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“Let’s wait until I retire; then it is someone else's problem,” or “I'm retiring at the end of the year; the new CIO can look at it,” or “Not on my watch.” Another comment I hear is, “Because we've been given at least 10 years to move, I don't have to think about it. We can just stay here. I don't have to do anything at all, and that includes any assessment,” or “We can just kick the problem down the road.”
Staying where you are is a valid strategy, but only once you have assessed the options, pros and cons for your organisation.
“Fusion won’t have enough functionality.”
Then I hear, well, “the functionality in Fusion isn't as good as what I've got in my current system”.
Chris Leone, who took over from Steve Miranda as head of Oracle Applications, would tell you a completely different story. He would say that the functionality is ahead of what you had in Apps Unlimited, except in (limited use cases) small areas. Some of the Apps Unlimited do have very specific industry functionality, you see that a lot in JD Edwards with construction and food & beverage and PeopleSoft organisations talk about losing the functionality of PeopleTools. Fusion does not have the Property Manager module that was in EBS.
Fusion is based on Modern Best Practice, which isn’t about removing functionality; it is about giving you what research says successful businesses need, and it is very configurable.
“We have too many customizations.”
My point about functionality in Fusion being superior doesn't stop customers telling me they're not going to have the same amount of functionality they have today. When I drill into that, it's normally the answer to my first question on my roadmap. “Does your current system work well?” The answer is often yes, but it's the system that they have built through customization rather than the system that they bought.
This is because we were able to customise our Applications Unlimited portfolio. Thirty years ago, when these products first became so popular, customization was common. In fact, it was encouraged. We have customised for many, many reasons, and I often hear “We’ve got all of these customizations, thousands of them, and I just wouldn't be able to move”.
I’ll look at strategies to reduce the number of customizations and successfully approach a move in the next blog. If you do then need specific additional functionality, Fusion can be extended in a co-existence model, which also protects you from upgrade issues, a big problem in Apps Unlimited.
“Moving to Fusion is just an upgrade.”
I see this particularly with E-Business Suite customers because they think Fusion is just EBS rewritten. It isn't. There are some things they will recognise, not least that the data structure is very much based on EBS, but there is so much more functionality. The infrastructure is completely different. The security architecture is so different. It is not a rewrite of EBS. It is not an upgrade of EBS either. So, whatever Apps Unlimited product you're on, moving to Fusion SaaS is a whole new project.
“Fusion is just moving to the Cloud”
That introduces another misunderstanding. Putting your existing Apps Unlimited system on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, OCI,is not moving to SaaS. It is lift and shift to a cloud-hosting model: a very compelling option if you need to stay in your application but want some cloud benefits, perhaps new HR trends, visibility of your ledger from every angle and not least Oracles enormous investment of embedded AI in Fusion.
“The change is too big for the organisation.”
The next thing that I hear is that people won't like it. People don't like change.
“The old system, whatever its foibles, works; we don't want to move”.
Change is not a myth and is probably the biggest risk. If your organisation hasn't bought into your move, and that starts at the very top, then it will fail. They must see what's in it for them, whether that's functionality, user experience, or the ability to harness AI as it develops.
“We have to move everything at once.”
No, you might look at a phased approach to moving. Break down the move: by country, by module, or by division, to make your move more palatable rather than an entire big bang. If you do that, integration is even more key to your success because it will change as you move through those phases. You need to ensure that you keep your whole IT estate running.
The myths explored here; from feeling forced to move and fearing lost functionality, to believing customisations, organisational change or a phased migration make Fusion appear unmanageable, and can obscure the real decision: What is right for your organisation?
Part Two will look at some strategies for your customisations and the move.
