the margin. This is an approach that is
consistent with lower upgrade costs. We
want to help our customers eliminate the
need to do deep customization that locks
them into specific release levels.
PROFIT: How does this approach dovetail with the work being done on Oracle
Fusion Applications?
EKDAHL: Oracle Fusion Applications fit
directly into this approach. Oracle Fusion
Applications–JD Edwards coexistence
and Oracle Fusion technology adoption is part and parcel to this strategy
of evolving applications, where we will
incrementally add capabilities and layer
in differentiating value over time.
I have a lot of customers asking
me, “OK, so is this the last JD Edwards
release, and then I have to go to Oracle
Fusion?” No. That’s not the way we see it.
We see this as two lines of business that
are gradually approaching each other.
Initially Oracle Fusion Applications are
looked at as additive functionality for JD
Edwards, and then over time they can be
looked at as a successor. But the key is to
minimize technical discontinuity.
I hope, however, that it is clear
to customers that the JD Edwards
EnterpriseOne 9 strategy is the milestone
where customers can truly start working
toward and benefiting from Oracle’s evolutionary applications approach.
PROFIT: Will the momentum behind
Oracle Fusion Applications change the
way JD Edwards applications look?
EKDAHL: We’ve seen a lot of changes in
user interface over the last several years.
Today, people coming to the workforce
have a different view of enterprise systems;
many don’t know what to do with an old
forms-based application. They’re used
to working in an internet-based age. So
enterprise systems have to take on some
of that more “consumerized,” if you will,
look and feel.
This is where JD Edwards drafts so
well off of the investments Oracle is
making in Oracle Fusion Applications.
We are doing a lot of work on our user
interface based on the Oracle Fusion
standards. Our users will see many of
these interface enhancements over the
next couple years that will make the
system very modern.
PROFIT: In the past year, is there integra-
tion with another Oracle product line
that you’re particularly proud of?
“The notion that we
pour millions of
dollars into ERP and
then turn our backs
on it for 10 years—
this has to change.”
—Lyle Ekdahl, Oracle Group Vice President
and General Manager, JD Edwards
EKDAHL: Certainly for the JD Edwards
community, the value chain planning
integration has been very well received.
It really addresses the volatility in the
marketplace—the ability to get your
arms around spare parts, inventories, and
manufacturing supplies and production.
This is a best-of-breed set of solutions
that helps keep costs and delivery to
customers aligned with the market. That
ability is just critical today.
Another critical part of the JD
Edwards community is our project-based
customers—particularly in engineering
and construction. Our integrations to
Oracle’s Primavera products have served
that sector very well. This is what we
mean by layered-in differentiating value.
PROFIT: What is the impact of Oracle’s
hardware business on JD Edwards?
EKDAHL: It’s actually pleasantly surpris-
ing. While we have supported [Oracle]
Solaris for some time, having Sun as
part of Oracle is opening up all kinds
of opportunity. For example, a lot of
people think JD Edwards applications
are limited to the midmarket, and we do
have a strong midmarket business. And of
course we’re hearing a lot of interest from
our midsize customers for a prepackaged
JD Edwards–Oracle hardware systems
solution optimized for a smaller database
environment—whether that’s Intel or
Linux based. And so that’s something that
we’re looking at and working on.
