Over the past ten years or so, most enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors have invested heavily in their product solution suites in order to extend their product portfolio beyond traditional integrated ERP components like financial accounting, human resources (HR), manufacturing resource planning, order management, inventory management, etc. Common application extension segments, generally built on the same technology platform as the ERP modules, include customer relationship management (CRM), supplier relationship management (SRM), supply chain management (SCM), and product lifecycle management (PLM).
At the ERP tier one level, which clearly includes SAP and Oracle, major efforts have been made to ward off the attempts of best-of-breed vendors to exploit revenue opportunities resulting from the gaps left by ERP. However, considerably different approaches have been taken by the two companies. SAP has taken the organic growth through internal development approach to application extensions, which can be time consuming and often results in a late-to-market outcry by clients in need. On the other hand, it often results in a product with the same look-touch-feel and process controls as the traditional ERP components and has better integration touch points. Oracle has taken a somewhat more risky and expensive "acquisition" approach for certain functional areas, as demonstrated by the acquisitions of Siebel for CRM, G-Log for multimodal transportation planning and execution, and Retek for unique retail applications and expertise. PLM, however, seems to be a more difficult puzzle for Oracle to solve. Internal development and commitment to the PLM solution set continues in earnest, while any speculation that their game plan may include a PLM acquisition alternative is just that, speculation.
Oracle PLM 11i.10
Oracle appears to have most of the key elements of a PLM suite. They provide the means for centralized product information, collaboration within and across the extended enterprise for product development, product configuration, and sourcing, as well as visibility and control of product portfolio management (PPM). They also offer a best-in-class Product Information Management (PIM) Data Hub product, and tout its PLM applications as providing the most advanced set of tools based on a single global product set repository. The current Oracle PLM Suite includes the following modules.
* Product Lifecycle Management is the core of the applications suite, with centralized product and component information within a single global catalog for product data management (PDM; items, structures, revisions, issues, change requests, roles, and project issues), as well as intellectual capital. Product change management and issue resolution is also addressed within this core module.
* Oracle CADView-3D provides visualization and mark-up capabilities for two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) modeling. Documents can have various formats, such as word-processing files, image files, computer-aided design (CAD) 2D or 3D drawing files, and other unstructured data formats.
* Project Management provides project planning, tracking, budgeting, and forecasting capabilities, as well as Project Collaboration software for reporting the project status to all stakeholders. Oracle Projects is integrated with the other relevant Oracle modules to manage projects like financials, HR, CRM, and procurement. It is geared toward new product development introduction (NPDI), with lifecycle phase gate product management. It also has built-in application programming interfaces (API) to Microsoft Project, Primavera, and Artemis, supporting a two-way interchange with desktop scheduling systems.
* Product Portfolio Management enables what-if analysis on product portfolio simulations, priority rankings based on investment, alternative cost and benefit analyses, and idea management.
* Oracle Sourcing integrates negotiation of supplier contracts with effective on-line management of the negotiation process as part of the PLM activities.
* Oracle Configurator manages customer needs with configuration rules for complex products and services as part of the sales cycle.
* Daily Business Intelligence manages the product data repository for analytics.
* Product Data Synchronization provides for Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) or Uniform Code Council (UCC)net services.
At the ERP tier one level, which clearly includes SAP and Oracle, major efforts have been made to ward off the attempts of best-of-breed vendors to exploit revenue opportunities resulting from the gaps left by ERP. However, considerably different approaches have been taken by the two companies. SAP has taken the organic growth through internal development approach to application extensions, which can be time consuming and often results in a late-to-market outcry by clients in need. On the other hand, it often results in a product with the same look-touch-feel and process controls as the traditional ERP components and has better integration touch points. Oracle has taken a somewhat more risky and expensive "acquisition" approach for certain functional areas, as demonstrated by the acquisitions of Siebel for CRM, G-Log for multimodal transportation planning and execution, and Retek for unique retail applications and expertise. PLM, however, seems to be a more difficult puzzle for Oracle to solve. Internal development and commitment to the PLM solution set continues in earnest, while any speculation that their game plan may include a PLM acquisition alternative is just that, speculation.
Oracle PLM 11i.10
Oracle appears to have most of the key elements of a PLM suite. They provide the means for centralized product information, collaboration within and across the extended enterprise for product development, product configuration, and sourcing, as well as visibility and control of product portfolio management (PPM). They also offer a best-in-class Product Information Management (PIM) Data Hub product, and tout its PLM applications as providing the most advanced set of tools based on a single global product set repository. The current Oracle PLM Suite includes the following modules.
* Product Lifecycle Management is the core of the applications suite, with centralized product and component information within a single global catalog for product data management (PDM; items, structures, revisions, issues, change requests, roles, and project issues), as well as intellectual capital. Product change management and issue resolution is also addressed within this core module.
* Oracle CADView-3D provides visualization and mark-up capabilities for two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) modeling. Documents can have various formats, such as word-processing files, image files, computer-aided design (CAD) 2D or 3D drawing files, and other unstructured data formats.
* Project Management provides project planning, tracking, budgeting, and forecasting capabilities, as well as Project Collaboration software for reporting the project status to all stakeholders. Oracle Projects is integrated with the other relevant Oracle modules to manage projects like financials, HR, CRM, and procurement. It is geared toward new product development introduction (NPDI), with lifecycle phase gate product management. It also has built-in application programming interfaces (API) to Microsoft Project, Primavera, and Artemis, supporting a two-way interchange with desktop scheduling systems.
* Product Portfolio Management enables what-if analysis on product portfolio simulations, priority rankings based on investment, alternative cost and benefit analyses, and idea management.
* Oracle Sourcing integrates negotiation of supplier contracts with effective on-line management of the negotiation process as part of the PLM activities.
* Oracle Configurator manages customer needs with configuration rules for complex products and services as part of the sales cycle.
* Daily Business Intelligence manages the product data repository for analytics.
* Product Data Synchronization provides for Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) or Uniform Code Council (UCC)net services.
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