The SAP-Oracle battle is as fierce as ever. But the larger issue is: what does the future hold for the ERP market? What good is a bargain today if you have to jump ship again in a few years?
More specifically, is Oracle's vision of Project Fusion a pie in sky dream that will only lead to disaster for customers?
Or
Perhaps SAP should be more concerned about issues like TCO and flexibility than they appear to be?
The next big thing in the SAP competitive profile will be about getting small, or at least medium, as in the small and medium-sized business market. SAP's been there for a while, with limited success and definitely neither the presence nor the market clout that anyoneWhy has the SMB market been so hard for SAP to excel in? Pedigree is one reason -- it's rare in the B2B world that a company with strong credentials in the top end of the market can translate those credentials to the rest of the market. That degree of verticalization is hard to accomplish, regardless of how smart or successful a company is.
Whereas....
It used to be that the ERP market had an 800-lb gorilla, SAP, and a number of smaller competitors. Then Oracle went on a shopping spree, gobbling up companies like J.D. Edwards, PeopleSoft, Siebel, Retek and others. Suddenly, there are two gorillas in the market, along with a whole bunch of customers who now find themselves under the Oracle umbrella.
Lets take both the cases and analyse...
Case of Sap...
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NetWeaver Vs. Fusion: Survival of fittest favors the fit
Why I believe NetWeaver would win out is based on no small amount of digging into the two companies' plans. SAP has been plugging away at its NetWeaver strategy for several years now, while Oracle recently updated analysts, the press, and some customers at a conference in San Francisco.
Better roadmap
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The first is that I believe SAP has done a better job of both articulating its roadmap for NetWeaver and delivering on it. To be fair, that is in part because they have been at it longer than Oracle
Vertical functionality
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This brings me to my second point. In my opinion, vertical industry-specific functionality is where the rubber hits the road as the future of enterprise applications unfolds
This means that, in addition to a strong services infrastructure, a vendor needs a large portfolio of services to assemble – the more the merrier. This is where SAP's next advantage comes into play. SAP's has experience in 28 verticals, and the software functionality to prove it.
The Fusion timeline
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Finally, I have trouble with Oracle's very ambitious timeline for its Fusion Applications. Oracle argues that they are "halfway to Fusion", largely on the strength of their work on Fusion Middleware.
Again, to be fair, SAP also has a monumental development task – but it's from a single code-base of software that the company has spent 20-plus years developing. NetWeaver's timetable benefits greatly
by By Joshua Greenbaum
Case of ORACLE
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Why select Oracle Applications for your organization's ERP system?
What do Ingersoll Rand, Starbucks Coffee Company, General Dynamics and Harvard University have in common? They use Oracle Applications 11i to automate their operations.
Extensibility
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While no "out-of-the-box" ERP system can meet the needs of every customer, Oracle Applications' flexibility is an attribute that has drawn many companies into its fold. Oracle's offering also shines in several areas with regard to extensibility -- Web applications, workflow and reporting
Oracle's approach to Web applications is so flexible that an organization's IT department can personalize a Web application, such as iProcurement, so that employees logging in from Bangkok see relevant information for that region, and employees logging in from Dallas, Texas, access information that is appropriate to their region.
One of the common complaints of SAP customers relates to the difficulty associated with getting actionable information out of SAP.In contrast, Oracle reporting is so easy and accessible that any user with the proper privileges can produce a report.
Technology
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Oracle's technology stack for its Applications makes the flexibility and configurability possible. It is true that better "best of breed" solutions exist in the market. Still Oracle embraced the middleware market early on when it began talking about using its middleware as the cornerstone for a "service oriented architecture" in 1999
Implementation challenges
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ERP systems are complex. An ERP implementation is such a major undertaking for any organization that poor planning, misaligned scope or mediocre execution can result in bringing the company's operations to a complete halt.
According to Nucleus Research, companies that it interviewed encountered a couple of daunting issues implementing SAP -- customization and integration.SAP requires on average four times more internal resources, and companies spend almost twice as much for SAP training . Further, the SAP customization and integration issues can increase consulting costs substantially.
A company can install Oracle Applications and begin conducting its operations successfully in six months. Oracle Applications was installed and deployed at BrocadeCommunications in San Jose, California, in six months, as well as at OpenWave in Cupertino, California. American Tower in Boston, Massachusetts, completed its implementation in eight months.
SAP has been successful with its pitch to CEOs and CFOs regarding the benefits and features of its products. However, in speaking with the very people who will actually deploy, maintain and use the ERP system -- system analysts, business analysts, subject matter experts and end users -- they maintain that Oracle Applications, even with its warts, is easier, more user-friendly and less time-consuming than SAP.
In my opinion Oracle has slight head above of SAP.
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As matter of fact,coming years would be dominated by rising markets in developing markets like East Europe/India/China/Korea/Taiwan& others/
It become nearly impossible with an ERP system that is inflexible, difficult to implement and maintain, hard to use and unnecessarily costly. Oracle Applications, on the other hand, can be successfully deployed in a short time frame. It is flexible and highly configurable. It has a lower TCO than SAP. Working with Oracle Applications is easier than SAP, according to users who have seen both. Does Oracle really have a better offering than SAP? The answer is a resounding "Yes!"
Oracle is best suited to these third world fast developing countries.
Bcoz of implementaion cost & implementation(you cant expect a small or medicore company to afford so much of time &Money)
and Technological(advantages) & extensibility
This is very true tht companies from tht world would not bother about service provider's roadmap,or credential unless they dont provide them effective services....but yes Funtionality would be very considered point by those company...still Oracle has something plus.
And Microsoft cant impose any challenge ,atleast not for 5 yrs,they are concentrating on very big market of computing by accounting.Then would not impose a great threat to any of above players .
hope this wld help! :)
Answered By: Neeraj Yadav♥ - 9/28/2006 |