Baby Steps, Not Giant Leaps
For those who aren’t directly involved in IT decision-making, it’s hard to understand the almost sentimental bond many in those roles can form with the Oracle EBS systems they helped create. It’s not uncommon to hear IT leaders refer to these systems as their “babies.” It’s no wonder, then, that there is often resistance to implementing emerging technologies and cloud-based solutions that are at the heart of a successful digital transformation.
At Fujitsu, we think that resistance is well warranted for customers who have invested a great deal of time, effort and money into their Oracle EBS. That’s why, when we talk to customers about options for digital transformation, we listen and discuss in order to understand their immediate needs. For years, EBS customers have been told to replace EBS with Oracle SaaS to lower their TCO, get rid of customizations, reduce staff, etc. Our experience is that it’s never a good idea to criticize their current setup, no matter how antiquated it may seem. After all, nobody wants to be told they have an ugly baby. But babies can’t stay babies forever. Experience has shown me that it’s far better to explain to the customer how to help their baby grow and evolve… not just to be thrown out with the digital bathwater.
So, I like to listen to customers to understand what’s working well for them and where they could use some help. Typically, we identify pain points and, one by one, we make suggestions that can boost performance, lower costs, and improve performance for key processes. Moving EBS to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is the first step to digital transformation while creating a bespoke solution that maintains essential functionality and customizations. This immediately leads to better outcomes for the customer without a dramatic disruptive change.
Growing Pains Are Better than the Alternative
Appreciating, understanding, and “speaking” Oracle EBS is often the right approach, but sometimes a customer needs to better understand why they should move EBS to OCI. My goal is always to assure them that digital transformation is a smart move to make now—even if budgets are tight—as opposed to later on, after a problem arises. The lessons we’re learning from the current pandemic can expand their point of view and help make the case for urgent action on digital transformation. Digital growth can be difficult, but that’s true of any kind of change that businesses face.
Viewed another way, the cost of inaction can be fatal; business is changing at lightning speed and if you’re not in a position to take advantage of opportunities when they arise, your company risks irrelevance, bankruptcy or worse.
I don’t say that lightly; I say it out of concern for our customers’ success. We’re now in an era of shrinking S&P 500 lifespans and new household names outperforming established brands. It’s a new world out there and staying profitable means staying current. Where to begin? It differs by organization, but there are certain steps that could benefit almost any operation:
- Security: Stay current with your EBS and Oracle database support. Oracle EBS 12.2.9 is supported until 2031 and Oracle database 19c until 2026. This will ensure support is up-to-date and security threats are minimized especially on OCI.
- Cost: Oracle Cloud IaaS and PaaS is a sound financial move, reducing your current infrastructure and database cost by 27% or more. Of course, the added benefits of increased performance and more robust are an added bonus.
- Flexibility: Don’t overlook hybrid solutions. If you like your core Oracle EBS solution, stick with it and migrate EBS to OCI. Offload processes that aren’t driving additional value and roadmap new functionality that will grow your business. Paradoxically, digital transformation isn’t a binary choice, it’s a spectrum of improvements that work for you.
So take a deep breath and think about what those improvements might look like for your enterprise. In other words, nurture your “baby” with proper care and chances are, it will grow up and make you proud—even if its head is in the clouds.
