APPLICATIONS UNLIMITED
NEW INSIGHTS FOR ORACLE APPLICATIONS USERS
VALUE ON DEMAND
ON DEMAND CUSTOMERS BENEFIT FROM ORACLE APPLICATION INTEGRATION ARCHITECTURE.
he concept of software as a service isn’t new, but the field third-party systems. Oracle Application Integration Architecture
is still developing. Oracle leads the way, with Oracle On provides a flexible, open-standards-based framework for creat-
in a sea of similar offerings, what makes Oracle On Demand cost-effectively, and creatively respond to the unique needs of
stand out? Marc Schwarz, senior vice president of Oracle On customers seeking to integrate applications and processes.
Demand, spoke with Profit about the competitive advantage Oracle PROFIT: In what way does Oracle Application Integration
Application Integration Architecture provides to Oracle On Demand Architecture make this process more cost-effective?
customers that are trying to connect legacy and acquired systems to SCHWARZ: The combination of Oracle On Demand and
unify, modernize, and evolve their business systems. Oracle Application Integration Architecture is very cost-effective,
PROFIT: Can you tell us what makes Oracle On Demand a because we enable customers to integrate without having to
good choice for customers? reinvent the methods themselves. Oracle can more efficiently
SCHWARZ: Oracle On Demand offers a portfolio of applica- deliver the best practices it has learned from working on other
tions delivered on a managed basis, complete with support, customer implementations and do it far more effectively than if
service, upgrades, and maintenance. Instead of customers the customer were learning how to do it in-house.
making a sizable investment in building out their software and PROFIT: Can you give an example?
hardware infrastructure, Oracle On SCHWARZ: Sure, let’s take a cus-Demand provides a predictable, scal- tomer that recently purchased Oracle
able, fixed-cost model for running Transportation Manager to plan its
business applications. Because of global logistics. The customer wanted
Oracle’s expertise in managing Oracle to integrate with Oracle E-Business
products, investment in processes Suite for financials, inventory, pur-and automation, commitment to chasing, and order processing. Oracle
operational excellence, and continuous offers a prebuilt integration, and
improvement strategy, customers will Oracle On Demand hosts it. So regard-always pay less than if they brought less of the customer’s upgrade path,
the same level of service in-house. Oracle has complete responsibility to
PROFIT: What role does Oracle keep the integration working. Unifying
Application Integration Architecture these systems freed the customer
play for Oracle On Demand? to concentrate on re-engineering its
SCHWARZ: The reason Oracle core business processes while Oracle
Application Integration Architecture is focused on managing its systems, and
such a critical differentiator for Oracle it generated an 11 percent return on
On Demand customers is that in addi- investment in just two years.
tion to the Oracle applications they Another example is a customer
run, they have dozens of other appli- that has recently acquired four other
cations, either legacy or homegrown. companies, leaving it with disparate
So even if they have adopted customer data and processes. Because of Oracle
relationship management (CRM) or Application Integration Architecture, it
enterprise resource planning (ERP) Marc Schwarz, Senior Vice President, has been able to integrate these data-systems, they will still need to integrate Oracle On Demand sources and processes so all the com-
