After all of the buzz in the last year and a half about Fusion Applications it’s interesting that they have disappeared off of the radar at OpenWorld 2008. The original schedule had the first versions of Fusion Apps appearing in 2008, focusing on Customer Relationship Management capabilities.
Well, that hasn’t happened and now we are seeing literally nothing said about Fusion Applications at this huge event.
What’s up, Oracle? (no reply…)
My guess is that that the focus is back on pushing customers to R12 instead of giving them the option to wait for the Fusion Apps. Why this change in focus? Here’s some additional guesses.
1. Delay problems with the development process
2. Changes in the underlying technology stack of SOA with the BEA purchase which is introducing heavy change into the Fusion Middleware areas
3. Change of focus in the Fusion Apps effort
4. The ongoing confusion about the word Fusion (is it a bird, a plane, an application?)
Those are the facts for now, Fusion Apps is making a no-show at Open World 2008.
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You are on to something…
Oracle products have a 18-24 mos. maturity cycle, so customers are just starting to take up R12 this year, and rightfully so.
If they successfully delivered any of their Fusion Applications earmarked to replace EBS this year, they would be cannibalizing R12.
Furthermore, they would be 1.0 versions and subject to the aforementioned maturity curve, which means they would not be ready for prime time until 2010.
I expect to see them crop up next year, so risk averse clients like large corporations are looking at a 2011 or 2012 implementation!
I am also skeptical about Oracle’s promise of an upgrade path if you were on 11.5.10+
I did see one early ‘Fusion App’, an E-Commerce Self Service portal built using their OAF on top of a Siebel core! They have built new capabilities into this product like the multi-storefront feature that are not available in any of their legacy products. If done properly, Oracle can continue to extend the portal while replacing the Siebel core with Fusion Apps.