Integration is a key factor with any large ERP implementation and ongoing maintenance, and Oracle Corp. is catching on.
At its London-based OpenWorld event this week Oracle announced better integration between its namesake Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control and its Applications Manager that is designed to facilitate more efficient operations with the 11i.10 version of Oracles E-Business Suite, announced last January at Oracles AppsWorld event in San Diego.
The integration between Enterprise Manager 10g and the Applications Manager is geared toward helping E-Business Suite users better aggregate performance information, automate administrative tasks and distribute tasks across Oracles infrastructure components, according to a statement released Tuesday. It will be available with 11i.10, expected in the next two months.
The Grid Control functionality with Oracles 10g database enables users to manage and monitor IT operations—including both Oracle and non-Oracle systems. The Applications Manager, housed within the E-Business Suite, provides diagnostic capabilities for fixing problems in Oracle applications.
The integration layer between the two components will enable users to manage a number of different suite systems through one console, officials said.
Long espousing the best-of-breed theory, Oracle just this year began embracing integration as a key capability within its E-Business Suite. At AppsWorld the company announced an enhanced integration layer between its 10g database and application server. Oracle also said the 11i.10 suite will provide the capability for users to support application-to-application integration, business-to-business integration and business process integration. This will be made possible with 11i.10 because Oracle exposed over 800 integration points as business events and natively supports more than 150 standards-based OAG (Oracle Application Group)-defined business objects, officials said in January.
Oracle also announced Tuesday in London several new products available with 11i.10, including the namesake Procurement Contracts and Services Procurement modules. Procurement Contracts essentially standardizes contract creation and automates alerts for contract renewal, while Service Procurement takes the contractual process a step further by providing capabilities for enforcing contractual terms.
Taking a vertical approach, Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle also announced an enhanced iRecruitment module for the human resources industry that lets users better match competency and skills to open positions. The manufacturing sector will see new functionality that includes RFID (radio frequency identification) support for supply chain management processes, and a channel/partner management dashboard for easier collaboration between partners.
Finally, Oracle said its Daily Business Intelligence dashboard, which provides business and transactional information, will have 82 percent more reports, 53 percent more key measurements and 13 percent more role-specific dashboards.
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