Peeking Under the Tent At Oracle OpenWorld: Fusion On Schedule and Web 2.0 Meets CRM
Oracle has a lot to talk about at OpenWorld, which starts next week in San Francisco. There’s news about upgrades, an update on Fusion, some examples of what look like some pretty cool Web/Office/Enterprise 2.0 (herein referred to as WOE 2.0) applications, more evidence that Applications Unlimited is bearing fruit, and some solid proof that BEA customers probably need Fusion Middleware a lot more than Fusion Middleware developers need BEA.
What follows is a first look at some of these announcements, based on a briefing that Oracle gave industry analysts two weeks ago. Some of what they told us is still under NDA, but here’s a synopsis of what can be said without getting anyone (especially me) in trouble.
First, let’s discuss Fusion Applications. Attendees to OpenWorld are going to hear and see some pretty strong evidence that Fusion Applications are on track. There’s lot of wiggle room about what that really means, as the company has deliberately been coy about what will be in Fusion Applications 1.0. But the demos we analysts saw last week showed some very clear progress with respect to the different components of Fusion Apps, and some well-designed modules that leverage Fusion Middleware, SOA-based concepts, and some of the best-of-the-best from Oracle’s applications portfolio.
And most importantly, that progress, as evidenced by the demos we saw, should put to rest any notion that – as of OpenWorld – there’s any reason to believe the Fusion Applications 1.0 won’t be released on schedule at some time during calendar 2008. Some skeptics may claim that we analysts could have been shown a toothless demo, but I believe most of my fellow analysts in the room would agree that we saw real software, not smoke and mirrors.
As much as the Fusion Applications 1.0 demos may be show-stealing for their reaffirmation of an important set of milestones for the company’s acquisition strategy, the new WOE 2.0 capabilities in CRM may be the coolest-looking software at the show. The CRM team will be highlighting a new set of applications that not only gives Oracle serious WOE 2.0 street-cred but also offers some unique new functionality for CRM – all while highlighting the capabilities of the same technology base on which Fusion Apps are built. What that functionality is I know Oracle isn’t going to let me unveil ahead of time, but what I saw looked like nothing I had ever seen a CRM application do. ‘Nuff said on that for now.
On to the more mundane but highly important issue of upgrades. The issue of upgrading customers to the latest and greatest version is something that all enterprise software vendors are grappling with more than ever. But over at Oracle, it’s a particularly important issue: On the one hand the company’s Applications Unlimited program has been successful in calming the fears of customers who were sure they were going to be forced into an upgrade roadmap that wasn’t in their interest – that problem has been largely taken off the table. Oracle also offered the analysts evidence that the strategy of offering what it calls its Edge applications – Demantra, G-log, and the like – to this existing customer base also seems to be working well.
On the other hand, Oracle needs to make sure that its customers know how to get to Fusion Applications once they become available, or at least stay on a trajectory that will keep them in the running for dipping into Fusion Applications when it makes sense to do so. That dual role has made it necessary for Oracle to tread carefully in the upgrade business, and there will be some major announcements on how the company intends to move its customers along an upgrade path that will eventually lead them, if they so desire, to Fusion Applications. Once again, Oracle isn’t going to let me divulge all the details of its plans, some of which are still gelling, with Fusion Applications 1.0 still not due out until sometime in 2008. But suffice to say that there will be a case for a decent ROI for customers that chose to upgrade regardless of where on the roadmap that upgrade occurs: This ability to provide incremental ROI for upgrades should be well-received at Open World.
Finally, there’s going to be some pretty interesting discussions about what Fusion Middleware and Applications Integration Architecture (AIA) are going to be able to offer those customers that don’t migrate to Fusion Applications 1.0 by allowing them to do some pretty sophisticated things with their existing applications, Oracle and non-Oracle. The ability to orchestrate complex business processes across a broad applications won’t just please customers looking to protect their investments in Oracle and non-Oracle software. It will also, I believe, give customers a good reason not to upgrade to Fusion Applications 1.0 – these potential pipeline-stalling aspects of AIA were confirmed by Oracle President Charles Philips in his on-the-record comments to the analysts two weeks ago. Happily so, Philips told the analysts: there’s no particular financial incentive to force these customers into an upgrade that is covered under their maintenance license anyway.
In the end, I believe this OpenWorld will help close some lingering doubts, including many I had myself, about where the company is headed with its technology and customers. Not every doubt will be alleviated – as far as I know specifics about Fusion Applications and its delivery dates will be lacking, for instance – but the sum of what will be delivered at OpenWorld will make a pretty strong case for saying that Oracle is demonstrably on the right track – from a product, technology, and customer standpoint – with its acquisition strategy.
Now if only they would make it as easy to see how it all fits together financially as well. Can’t fault a guy for dreaming, can you?