Oracle R12 E-Business Suite Footprint

Oracle R12 E-Business Suite refers to the family of business products that currently make up the entire suite. Each of these products can be installed as a single module or can be installed based on functionality, business domain etc.

The Footprint consists of the following products:

Human Resources Management	Human Resources Self Service Human Resources Advanced Benefits Compensation Workbench iRecrutiment Payroll Performance Management Time and Labor Workforce Scheduling Approvals Management Learning Management ILearning Tutor DEBI for HR
Projects	Project Costing Project Billing Project Resource Management Project Collaboration Project Management Project Portfolio Analysis Project Contracts DBI for Projects
Supply Chain Planning	Advanced Supply chain Planning Constraint based optimization Inventory Optimization Global Order Promising Collaborative Planning Strategic Network Optimization Demand Management Advanced Forecasting & Demand Management Real time Stales and Operations Planning Predictive Trade Planning Deduction and Settlement Management Trade Promotion Optimization
Order Management	Order Management Advanced Pricing Release Management Sales Contracts Configurator iStore Supply Chain Planning and Order Management Intelligence
Asset Lifecycle Management	Enterprise Asset Management Self Service Work Requests Asset Tracking Property Manager
Procurement	Purchasing Sourcing Sourcing Optimization iSupplier Portal Procurement Contracts Services Procurement Advanced Pricing iProcurement DBI for Procurement
Manufacturing	Discrete Manufacturing Manufacturing Execution Systems Mobile Supply Chain Applications Flow Manufacturing Flow Sequencing Production Scheduling Repetitive Manufacturing Optimization Process Manufacturing
Logistics	Inventory Management Mobile Supply Chain Applications Warehouse Management Transportation Management Transportation Operational Planning Logistics Inventory Visibility Forwarding & Brokering Operations Freight Payment, Billing & Claims Transportation Sourcing Transportation Cooperative Routing Fusion Transportation Intelligence
Product Lifecycle Management	Product Lifecycle Management Product data Synchronization for GDSN and UCCnet Services CADView-3D
Master Data Management (Hubs)	Customer Data Management Product Information Management Financial Consolidation
Marketing and Sales	Marketing Trade Management Advanced Pricing TeleSales Field Sales Sales for Handhelds Quoting Partner Management Proposals Incentive Compensation Marketing & Sales Intelligence
Service	TeleService Service Contracts Field Service Spares Management Advanced Scheduler Mobile field service Depot Repair iSupport Service Intelligence
Interaction Center Technology	Advanced Inbound Telephony Advanced Outbound Telephony Email Center Scripting

Oracle E-Business Suite Documentation for R12

Documentation Sources

Oracle Application concepts
Major E-Business Suite Product Families
Oracle Applications Multiple Organizations Implementation Guide
Oracle Applications Flexfield guide
Oracle Applications System Administrator's Documentation set
Oracle Applications User Guide
Oracle Self Service Web Applications implementations Manual
Oracle Workflow guides
Oracle Business Intelligence documentation

Additional information regarding the E-Business Suite product families can be found at the following links:

Financials : http://www.oracle.com/applications/financials/intro.html
Human Resource Management : http://www.oracle.com/applications/human_resources/intro.html
Supply Chain Management : http://www.oracle.com/applications/scm/intro.html
Customer Relationship Management : http://www.oracle.com/applications/crm/intro.html
Projects : http://www.oracle.com/applications/projects/intro.html
Procurement : http://www.oracle.com/applications/procurement/intro.html

Other Resources

MetaLink: MetaLink is the official Customer Support Site provided by Oracle. Single Sign on is currently established by Oracle which ensures that the login and password is the same across their resource portals.
Requires you to have a CSI or Customer Service ID in order to login to this resources
Create Service Requests
Upload patches and updates
Search for Information
Submit information
Link -> http://metalink.oracle.com/

AppsWorld : This is a hands on learning environment full of innovative technology being showcased, along with some training, education and strategy workshops. This is held once a year and additional information could be obtained at http://www.oracle.com/openworld/index.html

Appsnet : AppsNet is an online community for users and implementers of Oracle Applications and you can join for free. This source includes
Product family video presentations
> - Release 11i documentation set
> - Release 11i product overviews
> - Release 11i white papers
> - Release 11i upgrade information
> - Product eSeminars
> - Product demonstrations
> - Self-service access to technical and functional information
> - Implementation and usage tips for Oracle's E-Business Suite
> - Over 20 discussion forums for you to interact with your peers

Oracle Technology Network : Comprehensive Technical resource, Free Membership. Typical users who will find this informaiton source useful are Java Developers, Database Administrators & Developers, System Administrators & Developers, Solution Architects.
Link -> http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/index.html

Business Benefits of Using Oracle R12 E-Business Suite

Business benefits of Oracle R12 E-Business Suite

Integrated, yet Modular – helps you leverage on the investment in existing technology, helps eliminate disparate systems as needed.

Eliminate Disparate Systems as needed - Managing a heterogeneous environment with multiple connections between systems is expensive and complex since whenever you update a point solution you must go back and review all the integration points and potentially update the integration software itself.

Leverage existing application technology - However with Oracle R12 E-Business Suite it is engineered to work as an integrated system on a common IT infrastructure. Therefore you can pass information directly from one application to another without incurring the integration cost.

Modular - Oracle R12 E-Business Suite is also modular so based on your business needs you could implement one module, several modules or the entire suite.

Open Standards Based architecture allows you to integrate into a heterogeneous environment enable you to fully leverage your investment in existing applications. This creates a robust site of applications that can work together. Promotes low cost of integration with service oriented, standards-based architecture.

Global application for global users – Available in multiple languages, currencies and supports Manage Business Processes flexibly – Supports modular deployment of tailorable business flows.

Multiple Currencies

Multiple Languages

Flexible Management of business processes – Helps drive optimization and business process efficiency by automation

Presents a common data model – Produces a single definition of key business entities

Supports statutory and customary local requirements.

Collaborates with trading partners like Customers, Suppliers, Shippers etc

Information Driven Applications – Provides real time information to Trading Partners, and provides Business Intelligence to make the optimum decisions for the company.

Interface options for working with Oracle Applications R12

The following are the interface options available to Business users who interact with Oracle E-Business Suite R12

1. Forms Based
2. Self Service (HTML Pages, JSPs)
3. Business Intelligence / Data warehousing (Reports, Dashboard)
4. Mobile 

The R12 Technical Architecture has been shaped around the needs of the Customer and the Business user therefore Oracle developed four modes via which users can control and access the Oracle E-Business Suite.

The PHP (Personal Home Page) or Portal now becomes the key through which users access the application on all of these interfaces based on their business need.

Classification of users based on the interface options

• Forms based users are typically people involved in the transactional operations of an organization. They are full time users who interact with the system on a daily basis and whose business need demands that they have a robust interface with full featured interface with functionality matching their needs.
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• Self Service users are those users who use the Oracle Applications infrequently and therefore do not require dedicated access to the application via the Forms, rather they want their interface to be intuitive and only reflect their task to be performed as quickly as possible. Therefore this interface is more user friendly and easy to navigate similar to an web page.
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• Business Intelligence users are those users who are dependent on information reflected by transactional and operational data to execute business decisions that impact the goals, revenue and execute the vision for the company. Therefore they need an easy to use interface that can be used to reveal critical business information. 
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• Mobile Users are those of the masses who constitute a large range of users who might not have access to a traditional desktop or PC connected to the Network to perform their tasks. These users can then use their phones, and other mobile devices to send and receive only relevant information at their convenience. 

Technical Architecture of Oracle Applications R12

Oracle Applications R12 architecture is a framework for multitiered, distributed computing that supports Oracle Applications Products.

In this type of architecture various servers or services are distributed among three levels or tiers. 

A tier is a logical grouping of services, spread across more than one physical machine. Oracle Applications R12 is a three tier architecture therefore it consists of the following

Desktop/Client Tier -> This tier provides the user interface that could comprise of mobile devices, PC, MAC book, laptops, Desktops and among others. It's purpose is to enter information, review information and to interact with the system to perform business operations, reporting tasks.

Application Tier -> This tier is also referred to as the Middle tier and is often associated with the Application logic or where the data transformation takes place within the Application. Typically within implementation it is advised not to tamper with the code installed for a module, since if the changes are not done as specified it could lead to tampering of the application logic that supports and managed all the related modules and components. So in general proceed with caution and customize or touch code only when necessary. Oracle does not support service agreements once the code installed has been tampered with and then you might have to rely on expensive consultancy services to fix the issue.

Database Tier -> This tier supports and manages the Oracle database and is responsible for storing and retrieving application data queried by the business user. PL/SQL queries are run on the Database Tier in order to query, insert, update or delete data from the Oracle Application backend tables. Database activity could be clustered by providing a series of machines to form the Database tier.

Network -> The glue that unifies and helps transfer data from the Desktop/Client tier and the Application Tier is the Internal Networks like WAN (Wide Area Network) and the External Network (Internet, VPNs) since the exchange of information is minimal at most. Data intensive tasks can be performed more effectively on the Self Service or HTML versions of the Application that run on the Internet Browser supported by the R12 E-Business Suite.

Network can have a great impact on your system performance as even though it is the least visible the connection links themselves can vary from slow speed dial up to high speed fiber optic channels. If you are using a slow connection optimizing the Application or Database tier is not useful if the network connection is slow and not effective.

This kind of setup benefits business that run global operations since they could potentially have people sitting in different parts of the globe but still being connected on WAN/Network and therefore being able to send and receive information via the network connections.

Some of the benefits are that this requires less network traffic and helps reduce the telecommunication costs and improves response time for users.

It is suggested that the Application Tier and the Database tier are located more or less in a setup that felicitates optimal situation for data transfer as these exchanges are quite data intensive and might require additional time for processing if otherwise. 

Oracle R12 E-Business Suite products

Some of the main Products associated with R12 E-Business Suite are as follows;

• Oracle Financials
• Project Management 
• Supply Chain Planning and Management
• Oracle Manafacturing: Discrete and Process Management
• Human Resources Management System Suite
• Customer Relationship Management Suite

Additional information will be posted with regard to each of these categories and the Application Modules that would fall under that specific product group.

Benefits of Using R12 E-Business Suite

Oracle E-Business Suite implementation benefits:

• Comprehensive suite that encompasses all standard business processes with a level of flexibility that could be introduced using custom reports, concurrent reports and flexfield enhancements to replicate your business workflows.
• Modular structure enables you to pick and choose the Modules or Applications that you would require for your business, and also helps you integrate this module to other already established historical data systems or other ERP systems already existing on the network.
• Self-Service option that enables the Application or Module to function as an HTML page that runs on the browser ensures that accessibility is possible from any location and by customers, partners and other business users. This also helps maintain quicker response time to the market and also keeps the data updated to reflect real-time information that is visible to other authorized users at all times. This in turn helps to make faster and better business decisions that help improve the bottom line and increase revenues.
• Oracle E-Business Suite is engineered to work in a heterogeneous environment with multiple interfaces to other business systems. Therefore the integration for the solution is easier to manage and the costs are controlled as the data could be easily pulled from one system and connected to the Oracle EBS module more effectively. This also helps with improving the turn around time for implementations helping the organization ramp up faster and start utilizing the various capabilities available within Oracle E-Business Suite.
• Open Standards Architecture enables you to easily integrate and fully leverage your investment in existing applications.
• In the current business economy where global businesses are a norm, it is especially handy to have Oracle E-Business suite implemented to manage your every day business needs as this application supports Multiple Languages, Multiple Currencies, can be customized to reflect your current business processes and also supports statutory and customary local requirements.
• Architecture footprint is easy to understand and it is built on open standards, so it is easier to collaborate with other systems of Partners, Vendors and Customers and helps build stronger business relationships. The data model is easy to understand and entities defined are common throughout the system and helps build a common baseline for reference throughout the system.