Fusion Applications One Year On

Last year we had the Fusion Nation at OOW11 and General Availability was finally announced. 12 months on, how are they doing?

Let me get my annoyances out of the way first:

Steve Miranda updating ACE Program on Fusion

When I or the average Oracle user thinks of Fusion Applications we think of the next generation of ERP written by Oracle. Oracle on the other hand include their recent acquisitions such as Taleo and Right Now. There is nothing wrong in this, they are Java based and next generation, they bring great functionality and are a great adition to the portfolio but are confusing the story. Oracle talked about 400 customers but if we are talking those they have written, which is important for understadnding uptake, then it is closer to 200. That is not a negative, in fact the opposite. The ability to go through a thorough analysis of the offering, the procurement process and implementation for new applications takes time.

Second clarification, the 100 applications, these are modules and again just confuses the audience, however if you think about how we use apps on smart phones it makes sense.

But my most fustrating issue about the Oracle marketing machine is the claim that they have been writting for the Cloud for the last 7 years. Just a few years ago Larry was saying he wasn't interested in the Cloud and yet 2012 was all about he Cloud.

Apps Dev Meg Bear and I

Having had my rant, let me tell you what I loved. There are real customers and they love the product. I did read an article that suggested one customer was unhappy, but if you read it, they like the product they just want faster progress and a clearer definition of strategy. One area they specifically talked about was mobile and I will cover that in a later post about useability.

The Cloud story is getting clearer, much better than the 6th June event, although I was worried that in Larry's 2nd keynote he had not seen the slides before he arrived on stage. His explanation about multi tennancy and 12c database made complete sense. Most compeditors do this at application level, Oracle currently achieve it at virtualization but when 12c is available it will be at datbase level, the most secure and efficient solution. Interestingly many of their competitors use Oracle databases so it will be available to them too.

I gave a private session on Fusion Applications with a group of Fujitsu customers and the conversation was great. People are now seriously thinking about their roadmap for the next few years, and I hope I am able to help with an indepndant viewpoint. 


Warning: This is my opinion and please make sure you discus your needs with your account manager as this is a very complex area and there are many different things to consider for the individual.