What to Know About Oracle Fusion Cloud Services
Oracle Fusion Cloud is a cloud-based enterprise resource planning, or ERP, solution that grows with you. Business software that was built to scale with you, a flexible architecture of tools allows you to manage business processes such as accounting, procurement, risk management, reporting and more with speed and agility.
These tools, called modules, are deployed as a suite of integrated cloud applications that share data with each other. This interconnectivity is critical to the reporting, analytics, business intelligence and more that are the foundation of Oracle ERP Cloud. Data is available in real time throughout the system, providing the capability to make informed business decisions quicker.
Oracle ERP Cloud’s ability to share data provides endless opportunities to automate manual, time-consuming processes. Leverage predictive insights and technology such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, rules and digital assistance tools to stay organized and “teach” your solution to complete routine tasks.
Top Modules
Oracle Fusion Cloud’s applications each have a role to play to accomplish business tasks. However, several serve as functional heavyweights for business operations. These modules include:
- Oracle Financials Cloud
- Oracle Procurement Cloud
- Oracle Project Portfolio Management Cloud
- Oracle Supply Chain Management Cloud
Designed to manage your organization’s finances from end to end, Oracle Financials Cloud is the most comprehensive integrated and scalable financial management solution available and is a core application of Oracle ERP Cloud. Businesses can complete integral tasks such as closing the books, filing regulatory compliance statements, shortening days to close and creating tax reports more quickly and accurately.
Oracle Financials Cloud includes tools for managing necessary functions, including:
- Assets
- Advanced Collections
- Cash Management
- Expenses
- Financial Reporting Center
- General Ledger
- Account Payables
- Payments
- Account Receivables
- Subledger Accounting
- Tax
Oracle Procurement Cloud improves your bottom line by automating tasks in the source-to-pay process. Improve negotiating and enhance collaboration regarding sourcing, standardize agreements and improve visibility with a searchable contract repository, automate requisition through invoice matching and payment and communicate more effectively with suppliers within this module.
Oracle Project Management Cloud manages projects from conception to execution and beyond. Collaborate on planning and scheduling, track tasks in one location, chat with teammates within the software, see project updates in real time and find and match resources with projects. After the project, measure performance and use interactive dashboards to view timely insights.
Oracle Supply Chain Management Cloud improves your business supply chain from beginning to end. Innovation begins at product development, improves logistics to reduce costs and increase efficiency as products are moved from the warehouse to consumers, manages inventory and enables more productive manufacturing operations.
Oracle ERP Cloud By The Numbers
Source: Oracle.com
How much businesses improved the speed and accuracy of their extended financial close and improved the closing process
How much the account receivables cycle time was reduced and a strong cash flow was ensured by streamlining the invoice-to-receipt process
How much organizations reduced days payable outstanding and improving account payables by increasing the speed of receiving invoices and paying suppliers
Top Features
Oracle Fusion Cloud includes a bevy of features and tools to leverage in order to run your business digitally, but some are more integral to Oracle ERP Cloud’s effectiveness. These include:
- SaaS model
- Flexibility
- Scalability
Oracle ERP Cloud is a SaaS, or Software as a Service, solution. Data is centrally hosted on a server and is accessible via the internet. The software is licensed on a subscription basis, meaning you don’t purchase the software, but rather pay a recurring cost to use it. According to Nucleus Research, the total cost of ownership is 52 percent less than on-premises applications. This model is useful for businesses to reduce or eliminate IT equipment and maintenance costs.
As a solution, Oracle ERP Cloud is flexible in the sense that new technology can be integrated with the software. Built in the cloud, tools such as machine learning and intelligent process automation work seamlessly with the system’s suite of applications. Mobile capabilities and social collaboration are embedded to keep your employees connected and informed.
Oracle ERP Cloud grows as you grow. With increased and more complex data as your business develops, security and compliance measures maintain protection. Automate core business processes in order to spend valuable time better analyzing data, developing business strategies and evaluating operations for cost reductions.
How Oracle Fusion Cloud Works
As a solution built in the cloud from the ground up, Oracle ERP Cloud is complex but designed for simplicity. With a wide range of applications, Oracle ERP Cloud has seven key characteristics:
Application code and data in the cloud
Both the application code for how modules in Oracle ERP Cloud work and your business data live in the cloud and are accessed through the internet. This allows you to eliminate hardware costs and reduce internal IT responsibilities because you don’t require any on-site storage. However, while data doesn’t need maintenance, the application code changes with each update in order to protect your data and maintain its accessibility. Oracle is responsible for any application and infrastructure maintenance and patching needed.
Quarterly releases with new functionality
New features or tools and security updates are distributed when they are released every quarter, eliminating upgrade projects to patch potential security vulnerabilities or take advantage of new capabilities.
No on-site infrastructure
Unlike on-premises solutions in which data is stored on databases in your facility or office, all data is hosted and maintained in the cloud.
Internet accessible
Since Oracle ERP Cloud is accessed with an internet connection, you can utilize the software anywhere. Tools for collaboration, such as chat, worklists, central location for tasks and real-time project status updates are embedded in the software, allowing you to work with teammates and access data in the same location.
Data protection
As a SaaS solution, business data is maintained and secured in the cloud with multiple layers of protection. Using a vertically integrated stack – meaning security features are integrated with the software and provide end-to-end protection – pairs with identity and access management solution, data isolation capabilities and more. Security upgrade projects are unnecessary – the latest security updates are automatically distributed and applied when they are released.
High availability
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure includes what is called a high availability system, which is a type of computing environment configured to provide nearly full-time availability – meaning a system is designed to have redundant hardware and software to make a system available despite failures. Well-designed high availability systems avoid having single points of failure.
Disaster recovery
Similar in concept to high availability, disaster recovery is a set of policies, tools and procedures to recover or continue vital technology infrastructure and systems and protect data in the event of major disruption or outages.
Lead with Oracle ERP Cloud Technical Features
Oracle ERP Cloud comes with up-to-date business technology. These tools can be used to get a competitive edge and operate your organization with modern efficiency. These tools include:
- Mobile capabilities
- Business intelligence
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Digital assistant and bots
Mobile Capabilities
Many people are never far from their cellphones these days, and Oracle ERP Cloud uses mobile applications to make sure you’re connected. Oracle ERP Cloud modules can be extended to mobile apps, while developers can easily create apps that integrate with the software. Mobile capabilities can also be deployed to popular apps, such as Facebook Messenger or Slack, as well as digital voice assistants.
Business Intelligence
Business intelligence is considered vital now for organizations to improve profits or optimize performance. Oracle Analytics Cloud integrates AI and machine learning capabilities to combine relevant information into one location for you to quickly find answers or analyze data to inform your business decisions or predictions. Mobile capabilities are also integrated to allow you to talk to your data by asking questions.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
Oracle ERP Cloud comes equipped with a complete portfolio of products and services with artificial intelligence capabilities. Cloud applications have AI-powered intelligent features, such as Supplier Categorization, which uses multifactor categorization and ranking of suppliers to expediate the procure-to-pay process.
Machine learning capabilities come embedded in Oracle ERP Cloud applications. Aside from the security risks and human error machine learning works to lessen, tools such as Oracle Analytics Cloud employ features tasks like dashboards that aggregate relevant data from across applications to allow human employees to focus more attention on big-picture tasks.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT) is much bigger than connecting your refrigerator to your phone to see what groceries you have while at the supermarket. IoT connects physical items to one another using software and other technology to exchange data.
Oracle ERP Cloud comes with the capability to receive IoT-collected data and deliver it to you on a dashboard or through alerts. This information provides better visibility into business data and can use machine learning-algorithms to identify issues, which can alert you or trigger an automated solution that requires little to no human intervention.
Digital Assistant and Bots
For Oracle ERP Cloud users, “digital assistance” is more accurately “digital assistants.” As in, Oracle Digital Assistant. A subsection of AI that is powered by machine learning and natural language processing – a branch of artificial intelligence that deals with the interaction between humans and computers using natural language – Oracle Digital Assistant interprets your intent and delivers a contextual response to voice or text commands.
In the age of Siri and Alexa, as well as chatbots serving as a quick intro to customer service, you can choose from a prebuilt, customizable Oracle Digital Assistant or use its open platform to build new skills.
Our Oracle Fusion Cloud Services
Terillium has more than 170 full-time, U.S.-based ERP consultants on our team and have six product and methodology certifications, including Oracle Unified Methodology. We have also been recognized for our cloud implementations, achieving Oracle Cloud Excellence Implementer status. Our Oracle Fusion Cloud services include implementations, assessments, managed services and special projects.
Assessments and Health Checks
We offer technology assessments and health checks that determine if your solution is fully optimized for your organization’s operations. Terillium’s assessments cover specific topics related to finance, accounting and operations, as well as the business as a whole. Included are timelines and an estimated cost for implementing the improvements we recommend.
We perform or provide:
- An assessment of business goals and identify most pressing issues
- A systems review of current technology and architecture
- An automation audit to identify manual processes that have automation potential
- Review of business intelligence, reporting and analytics capabilities
- Recommendations for moving forward
Implementations
As an Oracle ERP Cloud implementer, Terillium follows the Oracle Unified Method (OUM) for implementation projects. This five-step methodology is a tested and successful process to ensure a comprehensive implementation.
The five steps of the Oracle Unified Method are:
Plan
Design
Validate
Deploy
Support
Oracle Fusion Cloud Managed Services
Terillium’s Fusion Cloud managed services team is comprised of full-time, U.S.-based certified consultants who have experience leading multiple cloud ERP implementations. In 2018 and 2019, 100 percent of our ERP managed services clients have renewed with us.
Our consultants offer expertise that will help you take full advantage of your Oracle ERP Cloud software. Experienced developers and application analysts can address your specific business requirements.
Our Fusion Cloud services team is also an extension of Oracle support, meaning we work closely with Oracle’s support team to address changes introduced by Oracle maintenance. Should you require upgrade support, we can plan and execute full regression testing for your ERP Cloud applications following an Oracle upgrade.
Quarterly New Functionality Briefings and Support
Oracle releases new functionality to Oracle ERP Cloud users each quarter. However, these new tools are released incrementally and you may not know how to take full advantage of them. Following a new release from Oracle, our team meets with you to discuss which new features have the most potential value for your business and help you proactively integrate them with your current business processes.
Process Optimizations
Process optimizations are a proactive way to evaluate your business processes within Oracle ERP Cloud. Our team meets with you quarterly to ask specific questions about whether your current processes are working for you or if your business has changed. We can then make recommendations to ensure your operations are running as smoothly and efficiently as possible.