ERP Associates, Inc.

As expected, there’s just not a lot of new information about Fusion Applications coming out of the conference this year.   But here’s what I’ve found so far:

What is Fusion?

Fusion is a strategy for a new enterprise software line called Oracle Fusion Applications based on Oracle Fusion Architecture.

There are basically 8 points that define an Oracle Fusion application.

1)    It is written and runs on an open modern middleware.
2)    It provides a new modern user interface so that the user experience is more productive, interesting and easier to navigate.
3)    It exposes business intelligence to end users
4)    (okay, I didn’t actually attend this session, I’ll have to look the other points up and get back to you)

EPM 11g was delivered this summer and meets the qualifications for a Fusion application.  As do the CRM applications that were announced at the last OOW and delivered earlier in the year.

Moving forward, Oracle will go through their complete stack of products and bring them into the Fusion fold.  Oracle has ordered these based on customer feedback.

Fusion Applications Progress so far:

1. 400 customers have been involved in the Fusion Validation Program over the last 12 months.
2. 8000 people have done usability testing to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of fusion applications.
3. The following apps will be part of Fusion 1.0: CRM, Procurement, HRMS, Talent Management, Payroll.
4. The following apps will not be in fusion: Public Sector, Manufacturing, Distributed order orchestration.
5. Fusion Applications will be released to early adopters some time in 2009.

What infrastructure will Fusion Applications 1.0 run on?

• Oracle (BEA) Weblogic
• Oracle 11g database
• Other Oracle Fusion Middleware components.

What’s different/new in Fusion?

• HR uses a worker-centric approach.
• Processes are served up to a role.
• Navigation is very different, built around a fusion hierarchy.
• Multi-channel functionality (groups, discussion forums) are baked in.
• You can construct your own business processes without customizing.

If you’re interesting in upgrading to Fusion at some point in the future, Oracle recommends that you start thinking about it now. Oracle has made several "Path to Fusion" Recommendations (these are Oracle’s recommendations, not necessarily mine):

• Get as current as possible on your existing release. The more current you are the fewer problems you’ll have in the upgrade process.
• Minimize customizations
• Catalog your customizations, and keep it up to date.
• Do an Oracle Middleware project to get exposed to Oracle Fusion Middleware products.
• When you do customize, use SOA to create loosely-coupled processes and leave your base application vanilla.
• Consolidate your master data. Oracle Master Data Management delivers a single view of central business objects across applications. It centralizes, cleanses, de-dups and synchronizes to extend and enrich data.
• Talk to other customers. Users Groups are great for this (OAUG, IAUG, Quest)
• Extend your Business Intelligence Portfolio. Oracle Analytic applications can be used in PS today and can plug in fusion tomorrow.
• Adopt Enterprise Reporting & Publishing – Convert reports to Oracle BI Publisher
• Secure your global enterprise – Implement Oracle Identity Management to enforce the security model outside the application and gain SSO and identity provisioning. "One less thing to do for Fusion".

 There are many great resources to get you ready on Oracle’s web site. One place to start is http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/fmw4apps/peoplesoft/index.html. Oracle also made a tool available to help you assess your readiness. They call it the “Oracle Fusion Readiness Driver”. Unfortunately I can’t find the link, but when I do I’ll be sure to share it with you.

During an upgrade you have a rare opportunity to really dig in and "do things right" in preparation for your Fusion upgrade. Since PeopleSoft is SOA enabled today, you can use the following approaches in terms of your customizations: Customizing the user interface:

• Use Application Development Framework (ADF)
• ADF / Java / AJAX / Web 2.0.
• Stop using PeopleSoft App Designer to develop forms.
• Use Oracle Web Center Suite, an integrated, standards based, user interaction suite

• Build processes that communicate with each other via web services.
• Oracle foundation pack provides building blocks to enable SOA.

• If you’re running EBS, Oracle’s BPEL + Integration B2B can bridge the gap. Unfortunately this session was EBS-centric so I'm not exactly sure of the equivalent technology within PeopleSoft. 

Now if you are a manager and you’re concerned that your support team’s PeopleSoft skills will be obsolete in a Fusion world, that’s ok because you should be. That’s why Oracle recommends implementing and using Fusion components now – it’s not just to “fusion-proof” your app, but your team as well. I talked to BEA professional at the Ask the Experts session about this issue, and he thought PeopleSoft folks should cultivate the following skills to survive in a post-Fusion-Applications world.

I hope this helps. I tried not to read too many tea leaves to pull this info together, but of course I could have misunderstood something so feel free to follow up with your account rep if something doesn't seem right.