The Oracle Fusion Middleware product suite has integration and process orchestration features required for this new generation of ERP applications. It provides the platform for integration and process orchestration that is vital to a flexible ERP.
Oracle has leveraged its Fusion Middleware capability to build Oracle Fusion Applications. However, Oracle Fusion Applications are different in the following unique ways:
Leading practices: Oracle Fusion Applications is built on leading practices from Oracle's stable of existing ERP products. It has those features that were considered the most meaningful and commonly used from these existing ERP product lines.
Oracle Fusion Middleware: Oracle Fusion Middleware does provide comprehensive SOA-based integration. It is an industry leading middleware platform. Oracle Fusion Applications is built on this platform, and hence, inherits the value that technology stacks brings. Oracle Fusion Middleware brings some additional benefits to Oracle Fusion Applications, which are as follows:
Standards based on the J2EE platform: This is important as using Java (as opposed to a proprietary language) opens up a vast community of people who are familiar with the technology platform.
Web-based frontend: The UI is completely web-based. There is no thick client that needs to be deployed on client desktops.
BPEL-based workflow: Prebuilt business process flows are built using BPEL workflows using the BPMN notification. This replaces the implicit workflow technology that used to be highly proprietary to the application vendor.
Deployment: Oracle Fusion Applications has multiple deployment options. These include the following:
On-premise: This provides a bare metal install on in-house hardware. This involves a full install of the technology's platform and the entire application.
Cloud model: This is similar to the on-premise model except that the application is installed on the infrastructure that is on the cloud.
SaaS model: SaaS stands for Software as a Service model. The application is hosted by Oracle and the subscription to the application is on a pay-per-use model. The users are not responsible for maintaining the application.
The cloud models have the additional option of being single tenant (single business users for the entire application), or multi-tenant (multiple businesses running within the same application). Thus, Oracle Fusion Applications has a wide range of deployment options that can scale based on the needs of an organization. The uniqueness of Oracle Fusion Applications is summarized in the following diagram:
The combination of a technology platform along with leading business practices, delivered across multiple channels, makes Oracle Fusion Applications a unique ERP. It is best suited to provide the value that business users expect from their business applications.