Oracle’s Innovation Allows for Global CRM in 90 Days
Minimalism and simplicity are in, according to Oracle® as they make great strides in "Winning the War on Complexity" – the name of the press conference they held on Tuesday. The Internet software and services giant presented its simplistic methods for standardization and enablement with FastForward Flows – a package of comprehensive and proven business integration solutions designed for rapid implementation of services, support, education and software.
Speaking in front of the top business press, Oracle representatives, including CEO Lawrence J. Ellison, emphasized the need for e-businesses to reduce redundancy and fragmentation while increasing collaboration without exorbitant costs. FastForward Flows can achieve these objectives and Oracle promises to deliver the completely integrated, customized package to business customers in 90 days or less.
Oracle Senior Vice President Jeremy Burton spoke about the challenges global businesses face on the Internet and often, each country is operated as a separate stand-alone company. These individual entities lead to the creation of multiple data centers, all using their own customized applications and components and inhibiting global information sharing.
However, the Internet presents the optimum method for centralizing processes and data for global businesses. If companies can access information anywhere in the world using only a Web browser, the result will be consistent and updated data delivery.
Using Internet speed and simplicity, Oracle’s E-Business Suite is a fully integrated package of business applications that are designed to work together effortlessly and seamlessly, linking parts of an organization online. With components for business-to-business (B2B), business intelligence (BI), customer relationship management (CRM), financial data, human resource functions, online applications and projects, the E-Business Suite will unify and connect a company’s internal mechanisms. This standardization will eliminate the need for a myriad of consultants who are often needed to train staff on each application. One application deployed on a global level will cut costs while achieving full integration.
By combining FastForward Flows with the already successful E-Business Suite, companies will be able to enact best-of-breed flows rather than best-of-breed software. "Flows" create an efficient and cohesive method for following the dollar – from marketing campaign to cash in the general ledger – while software can often become outdated even before complete deployment. By leveraging Internet business practices inherent in the integrated E-Business Suite, the FastForward Flows program will deliver portions of the E-Business Suite, such as customer relationship management (CRM), for a fixed price in a fixed timeframe.
The first component of FastForward Flows being offered is Oracle’s Global CRM in 90 Days initiative. Multi-channel CRM is becoming one of the more critical elements to e-business success and this solution offers swift return on investment (ROI) in global CRM. CRM in 90 Days boasts the applications needed to effectively market, sell and service customers, all designed for global unification and information sharing. The program consists of nine separate components that each address key customer relationship management problems or opportunities.
By using FastForward Flows, a customer will be able to buy a particular flow in the CRM in 90 Days package and almost immediately receive an e-mail with a URL that points to a hosted Oracle implementation environment. This allows for an extensive group collaborative arena that utilizes all of the necessary materials and best practice flows. The combined customer/Oracle project team will be able to work on the implementation of the applications via Internet-based collaboration tools or the traditional on-site delivery approach. Customer go-lives can then be completed in 90 days or less.
Ellison stressed the importance of the relationship between Oracle and the customer and stated that hosting for the CRM implementation is flexible. He said that the process can begin on Oracle’s network or the customer’s in-house system and can remain in either place when it goes live. The value of the joint network relationship is to allow collaborative monitoring for hotspots, capacity limits, outages and errors. Ellison went on to state that the location of the computer is the least important issue, connection is the most important.
Oracle’s full integration tools work so easily and simply that the consulting portion of their business is declining, Ellison said. However, their software business is increasing for those very same reasons. Oracle’s objectives for its customers is to continue to remain focused on minimizing complexity while maximizing return on investment.
Robyn Greenspan, an independent researcher and speaker, is interested in innovation, market trends and information technology. She was a participant in the AI Summit and also took part in the IEEE International Conference on Edge Computing, International SOA Symposium series and the International Cloud Symposium series. She graduated from Temple University. She was previously the communications and research manager for the AMS, an internationally recognized professional association that advances knowledge in the IT and business management areas.
