Oracle E-Business Suite Outsourcing Notes

Oracle Applications, in the eve of Oracle Fusion, is very efficient platform for being supported remotely, sometimes referred as offshore, nearshore or outsourced. The majority of Oracle E-Business clients have basic set of modules, also referred as Oracle Financials. Let’s take a look at outsourcing options and pitfalls.

• Central Worldwide database. This is ideal scenario, however in real world Oracle EBusiness Suite might be spread over across several regional servers. In any case, web client interface provides “remote connection” to Oracle EBS users and administrators. Natural way to include Oracle consulting company into the same group

• Multinational Corporation. As its name reads – it deals with international business practice and has to tune Oracle Applications to local or regional specifics, often referred as localizations. Localization usually has two aspects: fiscal compliance and language support. As corporation penetrates to large country – fiscal compliance part of localization usually becomes the first priority. Very good example is Brazil. It has federal, state and local municipal taxation. For Brazil worldwide outsourcing partner has to coup with one of local Brazilian Oracle partners, who should implement and support Brazilian localization

• Reporting. This one of the most promising Oracle outsourcing directions. Report is very formalized by its nature and it is relatively simple to find “report designer”, who will create the report according to your specs and will ask clarification questions if needed. Majority of Oracle reporting tools: Oracle Reports, Oracle Discoverer, Oracle XML Publisher, RXi Report, FSG Reports, Business Intelligence System are good candidates

• Extension Development. Oracle customizations are often referred as extensions. Also extensions are compared with modifications, where modification is the change to standard Oracle EBS database and extension is preferred way to go

Author: Andrew Karasev

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.ronix-systems.de http://www.enterlogix.com.br ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally.

We are serving USA Nationwide: CA, IL, NY, FL, AZ, CO, TX, WI, WA, MI, MA, MO, LA, NM, MN, Europe: Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Russia, Middle East (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, OAE, Bahrain), Asia: China, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, South & Central America: Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico

Read more ...

Looking For ERP Software?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is the software which operates the inner procedures of a business- management control, operational control and resources planning. It was developed after Management Resources Planning (MRP II) was developed, which was used to supervise the manufacturing procedures. SAP AG was the pioneer to develop ERP software. It is the biggest European software company, with head office in Walldorf, Germany.

SAP was established in the year 1972 by five ex- IBM engineers in Mannheim, Germany. In 1976, SAP GmbH was established; then, the next year, its headquarter was shifted to Walldorf. Since the annual general meeting of 2005, it was officially named SAP AG. In February 2007, Mr. Henning Kagermann’s contract was renewed and, extended till 2009 and, Mr. Shai Agassi was declared as the successor of Mr. Kagermann. SAP AG is the largest software corporation in Europe and, the third largest software company in the world. Its major competitor is the Oracle Corporation of USA.

SAP has numerous products mainly focusing on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Major product of the company is SAP ERP. The name of its previous version is SAP R/3, which provides a clue of its functions. The R stands for Real-time data processing and, the 3 stands for 3-tier architecture; client, application server and, database. Other main products are: Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Business Information Warehouse (BW), Suppler Relationship Management (SRM), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS), Exchange Infrastructure (XI), SAP Knowledge Warehouse (KW) and, Enterprise Portal (EP).

SAP Implementation is the process that defines an entire system to execute SAP software in a company. It is a huge operation which causes a lot of change in a company. The entire procedure can take a few years as well. The changes that are made, are to reach higher goals, for example, improved information and, communication. For instance, Robert Bosch implemented R/3, the previous version of SAP ERP, which took him almost 10 years to execute. It shows that, SAP executing practice is really very difficult.

SAP claims that, taking SAP services is the right solution and, it maximizes a company’s success. They provide a wide selection of services, programs and, tools. For example, they provide SAP Active Global Support, SAP Business Process Outsourcing, SAP Consulting, SAP Custom Development, SAP Education, SAP Financing, SAP Managed Services, and SAP Ramp-up etc. With over 30 years of life span, this company supports over 36,000 consumers with 105,000 installations throughout 120 countries around the globe. Its special ecosystem comprises of 11,000 education and consulting employees, 6,000 support and service staff, 185,000 registered partner employees, 6 global support centers, 77 training centers, 9 custom development centers and 24/7 support.

As an ERP software company, SAP has started its success story from the very beginning. It has pioneered this area. The company has developed SAP Netweaver Platform, which permits them to gain more values and, respect from their consumers. It surely maximizes the profit of an organization.

Author: Gerald Aubin

Read more ...

ERP Facts

While ERP is a solution that has a number of potential applications, there are many companies that have failed when trying to implement it. Understanding why these companies failed is an important factor in learning how to use effectively use Enterprise Resource Planning. It should first be noted that a number of ERP failures occured in 1999.

A number of companies tried to use this technology in a way that would allow them to fight Y2K. Many of the companies that are using ERP today have learned from the many failures that were prevalent in the past. Before I proceed further, it is first important to define the meaning of a ERP failure.

It is first important to note that there are certain degrees of failure within Enterprise Resource Planning. One degree of failure is not utilizing the ERP system. Another level of failure is when the ERP system is not properly used. A number of studies have indicated that only 6% out of 500 companies felt that there ERP systems were effective. This is a very dismal number, and this may cause some companies to avoid using the technology altogether. There are a number of things that can cause a company to fail when it is attempting to use Enterprise Resource Planning. The most common causes of failure are problems with external consultants, expectations that are not realistic, too much customization, and complexity of the ERP system.

There can be no doubt that ERP systems are very complex. In addition to their complexity, they are hard to utilize. When this is combined with the costs and the fact that most ERP systems take six months to get off the ground, some companies are discouraged from using them. This form of technology is heavily integrated. In order for it to work properly, it must have the support of the entire organization. A lot of companies will find that drastic changes will have to be made if the system is to be used successfully. A number of studies have demonstrated that the cost of any ERP system can be as large as $500 million. Keep in mind that there is no guarantee that the system will be successfully once a company has paid this amount.

In one prominent case, a well established company lost over $100 million on an ERP project after spending more than two years trying to get it developed. Depending on the assets and revenues of a company, failing to correctly implement this technology may lead to bankruptcy. Another common problem with ERP is external consultant disputes. A number of lawsuits have been filed, and it involves disputes that occured with consultants. One of the best ways to avoid this problem is to get documented information on the experience of consultant before you do business with them. Presenting stipulations to the consultant may be a great to avoid future disputes and legal problems.

Perhaps one of the most common causes of failure is improper training. When you consider the complexity of ERP solutions, it is crucially important to make sure your employees fully understand it. In addition to this, they must accept the system. In order for your employees to get the training they need, you must find skilled instructors who can train them. It is not enough to simply train employees on how to properly use the software. They must also be trained in the new ways of doing business. Remember, the implementation of an ERP system goes beyond technical issues. The business processes must be taken into consideration as well.

One form of risk that you will want to become familiar with is Process Risk. As the name suggests, this is a form of risk that a company will face will they are attempting to make significant changes in the way they carry out various processes and procedures. When a company attempts to implement ERP, they may find that the productivity of their employees will drop. This will be a result of them learning the new technology, and once it happens, revenues will fall. Many companies fail to calculate the difficulties involved with creating a new system, and once these difficulties are realized, the schedules falter and other problems occur.

Read more ...