HR specialist asks Oracle: where's the 'fusion'?
In an analysis of last week's announcement at Oracle OpenWorld that Oracle would finally be releasing its Fusion Applications next year, HR technology specialist Bill Kutik wondered out loud where and when we'll see Fusion HCM (Human Capital Management) emerge in an SOA-ready configuration.
Despite Larry Ellison's public pronouncement at the end of the show that Oracle will soon pull the trigger and release the new offerings, including Fusion HCM, Bill is still skeptical as ever. As he put it in a recent editorial in Human Resource Executive:
"From the short demos CEO Larry Ellison showed on stage at Oracle Open World -- and even after examining enlarged screen shots from them -- Oracle Fusion HCM seems to be only on par with our best current software."
Bill alludes to the original promise of SOA in this regard, in which analysts and vendors predicted that new capabilities could be assembled in a relatively easy fashion to meet changes in the business requirements -- a la Lego blocks. It seems that's been a difficult state to reach, he says -- and wonders if Fusion Applications will meet this vision. He expressed skepticism at Ellison's continued pronouncements that SOA will enable Fusion to "easily connect to existing apps, even SAP."
Bill is disappointed that more isn't being said about the capabilities of Fusion HCM when it does arrive, and is even more than annoyed that Oracle is keeping everyone in the dark about it. He also says there has yet to be a clear migration path discussed for PeopleSoft and Oracle E-Business Suite customers.
He wasn't all sour on the announcement, however -- he's glad to see Larry Ellison talked up the emerging Talent Management application that will be part of Fusion.
Additional note: The latest version of PeopleSoft Enterprise (9.1) was launched September 30. Paco Aubrejuan, Oracle vice president and general manager of PeopleSoft, will be holding a Webcast on October 28, 11:00 a.m. Pacific to discuss the latest release. (Register here.)