Oracle's First Fusion App

After announcing its Fusion middleware strategy at the beginning of the year, Oracle unveiled plans to release its first fused application in January 2006. Fusion is the software conduit that will bring together choice components of Oracle, PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards, and Siebel applications. The first CRM applications, or dashboards, using Oracle Fusion middleware, revealed at its Oracle Open World Conference in September, will help managers monitor and analyze business information with Oracle Business Activity Monitoring (BAM). The PeopleSoft CRM Operational Dashboard, available in five different offerings, enables operational managers to continuously monitor performance in sales, service, order capture, help desk for IT, and help desks for human resources. The dashboards enable managers to gain understanding without requiring their IT departments to run reports or query customer information. "Our strategy in CRM is to protect, extend, and evolve," said Barbry McGann, vice president of applications strategy at Oracle, during the Oracle Open World Conference in San Francisco. She also said that Oracle would protect existing applications by offering varying levels of support, from five years to a lifetime level of support. For existing PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards customers, she said, "I ask you to stay current on PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards releases. This allows you to extend your business value. By doing this you're evolving." McGann compared the dashboards to what GPS has done for transportation: "It can help self-correct, it lets you know you're off course, and provides corrective action to get back on course." The dashboards will let sales managers, for example, know how close they are to hitting their sales plans. "That will be key in each application we come out with." The dashboards are scheduled to ship by the end of the year.

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