Deriving Value of Oracle Applications with OBA, MOSS and BI

Deriving Value from Oracle Applications with Microsoft Dynamics™

Published: January 2008 Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics

Summary:

The purpose of this whitepaper is to discuss how users can enhance the value of centralized Oracle application installations (hub) with local Microsoft Dynamics installations (spoke).

Writers: Lan Kaim, Ed Kaim Technical Reviewers: Michel Putnik, Kees Hertogh

Copyright

The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.

This White Paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT.

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Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places and events depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, email address, logo, person, place or event is intended or should be inferred.

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Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 1 Oracle and Microsoft Business Applications Overview ...... 1 IT Governance Model ...... 1 Enterprise Application Adoption Risks ...... 2 Project Size ...... 2 Training ...... 2 Cultural Adoption ...... 3 Utilizing Existing Investments ...... 3 Hub and Spoke Model ...... 3 ERP Hub and Spoke Model ...... 3 Oracle E-Business Suite ...... 3 Microsoft Dynamics NAV ...... 3 Integration Scenarios ...... 4 Microsoft Dynamics AX ...... 6 Integration Using BizTalk ...... 6 CRM Hub and Spoke Model ...... 7 Oracle CRM Product – Siebel ...... 7 Microsoft Dynamics CRM ...... 7 Using Siebel at the Hub and Microsoft Dynamics CRM at the Spoke ...... 8 Microsoft Application Platform ...... 10 Summary ...... 10 Additional Information ...... 10 Sources and References ...... 10

Deriving Value from Oracle Applications with Microsoft Dynamics 1

Introduction

In this paper, we will discuss an IT infrastructure built upon hub and spoke concept. The hub and spoke concept refers to a parent or holding company that uses one business software system centrally (the hub) which is integrated with the systems used by its individual subsidiaries or divisions (the spokes).

The hub and spoke scenario is typical for companies and organizations looking for more agile solutions that do not require the same infrastructure investment as big hub applications. Common spoke scenarios cover the needs of sales and marketing offices, production plants, or other entities with demand for highly capable and flexible ERP, SCM, PLM, SRM, or CRM solutions1.

In this paper, we will look at two conceptual scenarios and the corresponding application platform implications:

1. An Oracle ERP application at the hub and a Microsoft® ERP application at the spoke. What are the implications for general ERP processes?

2. Siebel CRM at the hub and Microsoft CRM at the spoke. What are the implications for customer master and downstream master-slave information?

Oracle and Microsoft Business Applications Overview

Oracle applications, such as Siebel, are traditional hub systems that span ERP scenarios of various complexity and coverage to CRM scenarios. As of today, Oracle’s application offering is comprised of Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft Enterprise, Siebel, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, JD Edwards World, and the upcoming Oracle Fusion Applications. In this article, we will focus on Oracle E-Business Suite and Siebel.

Similarly, Microsoft Dynamics™ solutions span both the ERP and CRM scenarios and are capable of serving as either a hub or a spoke. However, this whitepaper will focus on Microsoft Dynamics spoke capabilities as they pertain to extending an existing Oracle investment. Microsoft Dynamics is comprised of Microsoft Dynamics AX, GP, NAV, CRM, POS, RMS, SL, and Snap solutions. In this article, we will focus on Microsoft Dynamics AX, NAV and CRM.

IT Governance Model

For a variety of historical reasons, many large companies have implemented ERP and CRM in a ―piecemeal‖ fashion: site by site, country by country, or business unit by business unit. Over the last five years, there has been increased pressure on IT budgets, resulting in a push to bring IT costs down. Most companies have looked at consolidation of their IT infrastructure and, specifically, at the number of ERP and CRM instances in their organizations.

Consolidating the number of ERP instances seems like a logical win to save on IT costs; however this cost saving is not as straightforward as it seems. For example, as early as 2003, an AMR analyst survey study of 60 enterprise companies showed that the consolidation projects alone usually required reimplementation of an ERP system and cost an average of $10M per $1B of company revenue. The adoption and training costs were not even included in the study.

Instead of cost saving, governance structure should be a primary factor in determining whether a company should take a single instance approach or work toward consolidating to a handful of instances. The level of consolidation depends on the company’s governance model (see Figure 1 on the following page). The three most common scenarios are centralized, federated, and decentralized, which describe the relationship between business units and corporate.

1 i.e., Enterprise Resource Planning, Supply Chain Management, Product Lifecycle Management, Supplier Relationship Management, and Customer Relationship Management. ©2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Deriving Value from Oracle Applications with Microsoft Dynamics 2

The IT governance model a company chooses, as well as its product and service diversity, the geographic nature of the business, and the size of the company should all be taken into consideration when determining the degree of instance consolidation most suited for the company. In the governance model, the advantages of cost reductions, standardization of business processes, and analytical insight must be weighed against the challenges of business unit independence, process standardization, and rigidity of the existing data model (see Figure 1). Consolidations of instances are inevitable; however, the cost justification for a single instance remains questionable for most enterprises, even those with centralized structure. Figure 1: Choosing the Right IT Governance Model (Microsoft analysis)

Choose the right Model “Finding the right Balance” “Centralized”

• Divisional/Subsidiary • Cost reduction Independency “Federated” • Standardizing Businesses Processes

• Analytical Insight “Decentralized”

Shared Processes Processes Processes Shared Shared Shared

# of instances

Enterprise Application Adoption Risks

Besides factors discussed earlier, there are also a few risks that a company needs to consider regarding any change in the company IT system.

Project Size

Project size or the complexity of a project can directly affect the cost and success of the implementation. One common factor includes the possibility of project delays, which can lead to project budget overruns. Typically, the larger the project, the higher the level of uncertainty about its outcome. Another important factor is the amount of change management required to implement a project: the larger a project is, the greater the effort and time that can be required to ensure its successful outcome.

Training

Traditionally, enterprise applications require extensive user training during implementation. According to one leading analyst firm’s 2004 findings, end-user training can account for 5 to 10% of the total cost. Another 2004 study by another leading analyst reported that enterprise applications historically have lacked an end-user focus for user interface (UI) design. As a consequence, companies may spend as many as 13 weeks in new employee training, which has a continued impact during the life span of the application. This lack of usability is not only a heavy burden on the initial cost of implementation and the ongoing running cost for enterprise applications, it is also a key contributor to the lack of user adoption of these applications, discouraging employees to use the applications and diminishing the value of these systems. One leading analyst firm found in 2004 that some 70% of failed CRM projects reported lack of user adoption as a primary contributor; another leading analyst reported that more than 40% of ERP implementations experienced user adoption issues or lacked significant ROI. Even successful projects cite low user adoption as a barrier to timely project completion. For these reasons, software usability should be at the top of a customer’s mind when considering investments in enterprise applications. Providing users with a familiar and easy-to-use interface has a

major impact on the software’s return on investment (ROI) by lowering the training cost for new employees, increasing adoption amongst employees, and increasing the productivity of the individual users.

Cultural Adoption

When the delivered solution does not match the cultural biases of the users, enterprises can incur cultural risks. A common example includes mismatching tools and users, leading to decreased potential benefits. Other risks include the adaptation of processes to rigid systems which do not account for regional service differences or local standards.

Utilizing Existing Investments

Many companies invested significantly in their enterprise applications in the late 1990s. Justifying an upgrade or migration to newer versions of these enterprise suites can be challenging due to their high dependency on those systems, the prospect of disruption during migration, and a lack of a clear incremental value within the new version. In addition, companies may feel that they have not yet reaped the full benefit of their existing investments in the enterprise applications, which may make migration even harder to justify internally.

Hub and Spoke Model

As we’ve discussed earlier, there’s a lot of potential complexity involved in training, customizing, implementing, and upgrading a large enterprise application system. In many cases, a small division, business unit, or distribution center has little ability to pay these costs. One leading analyst has estimated that 80% of large companies with full-scale ERP implementations at their hubs would find that flexible, low-cost alternatives make the most sense at the spokes. This brings many enterprises to consider a ―hub-and-spoke‖ philosophy that lets headquarters leverage massive systems, while selected divisions, business units, and regional offices turn to less expensive, nimbler solutions.

The hub and spoke model enables companies to preserve their investment in legacy ERP or CRM systems at their headquarters (hub) while still being able to rapidly deploy business systems that can provide them with low cost, flexibility, and rich functionality in their branches (spokes).

ERP Hub and Spoke Model In this scenario, we will discuss how Microsoft Dynamics NAV and AX are ideal solutions for use in subsidiaries or divisions and how they can provide high business value that complement Oracle E-Business Suite at the headquarters.

Oracle E-Business Suite

The majority of enterprise companies made significant investments in enterprise applications in the late 1990s and more than 79% of the companies with annual revenue greater than $500M were estimated to have implemented an ERP application. However, these investments have not always returned their value to the customer. In 2005, within enterprise-sized companies, 46% of the already-acquired ERP seats still not had been deployed. This provides a strong indication that, currently, the often monolithic, incumbent enterprise application suite is not being fully utilized, and that, as a result, the value for the organization is being diminished.

Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) is a comprehensive suite of business applications. It offers rich functionality, scales appropriately, and serves a centralized IT model well. It is built for the corporate headquarters. However, there are many features users—especially departmental-level users—that may not really need (and may never even use) its full functionality. It can be challenging to customize EBS to meet individual business unit needs—especially when there is a significant difference across business units. This can definitely hurt the ROI for Oracle EBS.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is designed to offer small and midsize businesses a powerful yet cost-effective solution that can be tailored for their company. It can support customization and add-on software to meet industry or other specific needs. In addition, it can adapt as the growing business develops a need for more power and functionality.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is also designed to offer a unique advantage when used as a spoke in scenarios where EBS is used at the hub. Subsidiaries typically do not need the same level of complexity as the parent company. Furthermore, they may not have the resources necessary to acquire and maintain a system that was designed for a larger company. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an excellent choice for subsidiaries because it was specifically designed to support small to mid-sized businesses.

Subsidiaries located in different countries will need a business system that reflects their local legal requirements as well as the business practices dictated by their location. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a business software solution with 40 localized country versions available around the world that include multi-language capabilities. As a result, it provides a solution which a company can standardize upon, but which can still meet its varying local needs.

Subsidiaries may have specialized functions that they perform because of the nature of their industry, their way of doing business, or the way that they do business together with their parent company. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is also designed to be flexible enough to support these important needs.

Integration Scenarios

Parent companies and their subsidiaries often need different solutions because they have different business needs. However, regardless of these differing needs, they are all still part of the same organization and typically need to function together as an integrated, whole unit. There are six common scenarios in which NAV can integrate with Oracle EBS. Consolidating Financial Data

Any office that functions as headquarters must get a consolidated view of its finances that includes the financial reports of local subsidiaries. In Microsoft Dynamics NAV, users can consolidate financial statements for a series of business units from a single database, other Microsoft Dynamics NAV databases, or other programs. Users can transfer data to and from different accounting structures. Users can also ensure that financial statements in different currencies are consolidated trouble-free using exchange rate features.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV can also help users consolidate with Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), an XML- based specification2. XBRL uses accepted financial reporting standards and practices to export financial reports across all software and technologies, including the Internet. With XBRL, users enter information only once, and the same information can then easily be produced as a printed financial statement, an HTML document for a website, a raw XML file, or in a specialized reporting format. Gaining Business Insight

In order to maintain control over the entire organization, users need access to data located in the systems of their subsidiaries or divisions. With the business analytics available in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, employees at subsidiaries can create OLAP (online analytical processing) cubes based on the data in their system. Business Analytics is integrated into the existing Microsoft Dynamics NAV system, to help provide users the full benefit of access to stored data. A Data Transformation Services (DTS) package pulls data from Microsoft Dynamics NAV into SQL tables. From there, other DTS packages transform and structure these tables into multidimensional cubes processed in Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services.

Microsoft Dynamic NAV is designed to help ensure that employees at subsidiaries will not need extensive IT support, but rather, can quickly generate reports based on the relevant parameters. Because of Analysis Services cubes, controllers at headquarters can access reports in Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server, Microsoft Office Excel®, or other programs that they may already use in their daily work. In these ways, Microsoft Dynamics NAV is designed to provide customers better visibility into the entire organization with faster and more efficient reporting tools.

Sharing Master Data

A parent company and its subsidiaries usually share critical business information, such as vendor and price lists, as well as customer data. If the parent company wants to share master data with subsidiaries that use different systems, there must be a means of connecting the systems. Microsoft tools for the electronic exchange of data are designed to allow the entire organization to share master data. One such tool is XMLports. XMLports are used to create XML documents. XML documents can easily be sent to and read by other applications. For example, an XMLport can be created containing the product catalog and price list. This data can then be exchanged between a parent company using one system and its subsidiaries using Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The advantage is that this approach allows companies to avoid imposing and burdensome requirements on the subsidiaries, which may have limited IT resources; it enables both parties to rely on this straightforward and efficient means of exchanging data.

If the data that users need to exchange with the subsidiaries is greater or more complex, then users can use an electronic data-exchange solution based on Microsoft BizTalk® Server (Commerce Gateway for Microsoft Dynamics NAV) in combination with the XMLports. Predefined document exchange functionality, together with the XMLports, allows the application to handle XML documents faster.

What's more, the combination of XMLports and the Microsoft Dynamics NAV and BizTalk Server solution allows users to meet the unique requirements of the subsidiaries. Customers can implement a standard method of exchanging master data with subsidiaries and as the same time retain enough flexibility to meet the individual needs of each member of their organization. Sharing Responsibility for Services

Depending on the organization's needs, electronic exchange of data based on Microsoft BizTalk Server or functionality for intercompany postings might be the right solution for you. Users could use Microsoft Dynamics NAV's BizTalk Server solution (Commerce Gateway) to map between the hub and spokes' different systems taking into account any difference in currencies. Whether a purchase order was made via headquarters or locally at one of the subsidiaries, the experience would be the same for the user.

If, however, the parent company and subsidiaries work on a closed network (such as a virtual private network), are controlled by the same legal entity, and do not need to map the data that originates in the subsidiaries' systems, then users could use the Intercompany Postings functionality in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Intercompany Postings can help users create all the necessary documents (including sales and purchase documents and general ledger entries) for the entire workflow, for more than one company at a time.

Integration between the hub and spokes for sharing services can help users achieve a more efficient workflow that reduces costs. What's more, subsidiaries may be more willing to adopt shared processes because the corporate system is not imposed on them. They will have the same user experience they are accustomed to in their Microsoft Dynamics NAV environment. Enabling Interdivisional Transactions

Sometimes there is a need for the spokes to interact among themselves. Microsoft Dynamics NAV can be set up to treat interdivisional transactions as normal sales and purchase transactions between divisions to support an integrated supply chain. Just as with the interactions between hub and spoke, the spokes can interact among themselves using a BizTalk Server solution to exchange data electronically, or Intercompany Postings, depending on their needs.

If two subsidiaries need to carry out transactions among themselves, users can simply set up a customer account for each of the relevant partners. Microsoft Dynamics NAV then treats them as they would any external customer and vendor. The transactions occur within Microsoft Dynamics NAV, and time is saved throughout the organization because users eliminate multiple data entry as well as the sending, receiving, and printing of paper documents at the various sites.

Responding Proactively to Business Events

Users can set up alerts in Business Notification that will automatically generate e-mail messages to inform users of critical business conditions at the subsidiaries, divisions, or partners. Business Notification helps users improve management control of their business and the effectiveness of their processes. It helps users stay aware of changing conditions and keep operations on track. Users can use templates included with Business Notification and even set up their own alerts based on the way they like to run their business.

Microsoft Dynamics AX

Similar to Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed to offer benefits when used at the spoke to integrate with Oracle E-Business Suite at the hub.

Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed to provide affordable adaptability. Affordable adaptability is not simply customization—it means that Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed to be customized and extended with less effort and expense than alternative solutions. That way, customers can get a solution that is built for them and supports their company’s specific business processes. They won’t have to settle for less than they need in order to meet the one-size- fits-all limitations of some complex business management solutions. The powerful core solution, together with ISV- developed industry-specific functionality and an integrated suite of powerful customization tools, gives users a solution that is tailored to each company’s exact needs with higher ROI than large ERP systems.

Microsoft Dynamics AX and other Microsoft Dynamics solutions have historically offered customers opportunities to reduce their TCO and accelerate ROI. For example, an independent 2005 study by analyst firm Nucleus Research found that 75% of then-customers deploying Microsoft Dynamics AX (formerly branded Microsoft Dynamics Axapta) reported that they already achieved ROI with an average payback period of 23 months and an average deployment time of 13.4 months. In addition, 44% reported that they were able to reduce their IT costs as the result of their Microsoft Dynamics AX deployment.

The solution can also grow with the size of the company or division. The three-tier, object-oriented architecture of Microsoft Dynamics AX offers customers high speed server-side performance and the ability to easily scale the IT infrastructure. Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed to be flexible enough to quickly scale upwards to support a sudden surge of new users resulting from an acquisition-based growth strategy; it’s also designed to be sized downwards rapidly to support, for example, a spinoff strategy. Companies can also implement the solution with only the functionality they need, knowing they can rapidly add more functionality to their system later if they need it.

Last but not least, Microsoft Dynamics AX provides built-in multi-site, multi-language, and multi-currency capabilities for more than 30 locales, as well as local tax, regulatory, and market requirements, which help make it perfectly well- suited for subsidiaries in different countries.

Microsoft Dynamics AX is designed to look, feel, and operate just like Microsoft Office. The user interface is streamlined to reduce steps in common processes and it’s designed to eliminate user reliance on a dedicated IT support staff for its daily operation, as is typically the case with E-Business Suite. Microsoft Dynamics AX is also designed so that companies can easily outsource the IT function if needed, because there is a vibrant partner community around Microsoft Dynamics. Microsoft Dynamics AX is especially suitable for conglomerates that have multiple divisions operating as different business segments, because it’s designed to meet the needs of mixed mode manufacturers and distributors.

Integration Using BizTalk

Microsoft BizTalk Server is an integral part of the integration strategy of Microsoft Dynamics AX and NAV. It’s designed to enable connectivity among the Microsoft Dynamics suite of solutions as well as their connectivity with third-party applications.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV integrates with Microsoft BizTalk Server to facilitate the electronic exchange of business documents between business partners. BizTalk Server is therefore also an integral part of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution for integrating multi-site and international (MIO) organizations.

The Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 Adapter for BizTalk extends and enhances the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics AX Application Integration Framework (AIF). The adapter imports Microsoft Dynamics AX metadata and documents.

Microsoft BizTalk Adapter for Oracle E-Business Suite is designed to provide a development and run-time environment for line-of-business process management and automation that enables companies to reuse their existing Oracle E- Business Suite procedures and applications with Microsoft Dynamics and other applications. BizTalk Server also provides similar adapters for other Oracle Enterprise applications such as JD Edwards and PeopleSoft.

Through BizTalk Server, Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics NAV can interact with Oracle applications at the data level and provide a practical hub and spoke infrastructure for customers.

CRM Hub and Spoke Model

In this section we discuss how Microsoft Dynamics CRM can provide high business value at the spoke and complement Siebel at the hub.

Oracle CRM Product – Siebel

Siebel is a recognized leader in customer relationship management software for large enterprises. It offers a rich set of CRM capabilities and is well positioned for an enterprise headquarters which can afford the required deployment, implementation, and maintenance cost. However, as we discussed earlier in this paper, the complexities of Siebel can result in a technical and financial strain on business.

One leading analyst report on CRM adoption in enterprise companies has indicated that nearly one-third of the CRM projects failed to go live, that one-third of the projects were facing serious user adoption problems, and that approximately two-thirds of the respondents reported that they were unhappy with the usability of their CRM system. User adoption of CRM applications is critical in order for an enterprise to gain value from its investment. As is the case with any large CRM system, Siebel can require user training to adjust to its requirements, which can hurt the user adoption rate and add to total cost of ownership.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management (CRM) solution which is designed to provide the tools and capabilities needed to create and easily maintain a clear picture of customers, from first contact through to purchase and post-sales. With modules for sales, marketing, and customer service, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is specifically designed to provide customers with a fast, flexible, and affordable solution.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM delivers role-tailored CRM capabilities within a native Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office Outlook® experience. Users can choose to use a rich Outlook client or access the system through a browser-based client or a mobile device. Because most organizations are familiar with Microsoft Outlook and other Microsoft productivity tools, Microsoft Dynamics CRM can minimize the need for training and promote broad user adoption.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is based on proven, industry-standard Microsoft technology that's designed to be easy to learn and work with—and one which can offer a rapid, low-cost deployment as well as a flexible and configurable platform built on Web services and other standard tools and technologies. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is offered in both on-premises and partner-hosted deployment modes. Whether it is deployed in a stand-alone, a hosted, or an on- premises environment, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has the exact same code, helping to make it easy to migrate from the service model to the software model.

Powerful event-driven workflow capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM can drive consistent process execution across an organization as well as provide effective reporting and analytic—based on Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services—to help create real-time visibility into every business process and customer interaction. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is also designed to provide customers with the ability to easily tailor it to meet the needs of their specific line of business.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is designed to provide enhanced data security and integration into the full suite of Microsoft Windows® security technologies, working to defend their data.

Just as is the case with Microsoft Dynamics NAV and AX, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is designed to work very well when used as spoke with a Siebel hub. Since some customer business units can be overwhelmed by the complexity of Siebel, adopting Microsoft Dynamics CRM at the business unit level can provide them with a proven and effective solution.

Using Siebel at the Hub and Microsoft Dynamics CRM at the Spoke

Data Implication

Since companies are organized differently, they usually deploy Siebel differently as well. That’s why Microsoft provides several business patterns which customers can choose from to fit their particular business and technology environment.

Let us first take a look at a business with a single worldwide Siebel hub which has multiple spokes with multiple currencies and languages. In this scenario, a customer entity is created at the spokes and only synchronized with the hub on order. Product and price are created at the hub with a relevant subset of data that is synchronized with the spoke. During a sales process, the leads, opportunities, activities, and quotes are created at the spokes and the resulting orders are synchronized back to the hub. The analysis is done at the hub with opportunities synchronized back for sales pipeline.

What about a business with a corporate Siebel hub and multiple departmental spokes? In this scenario, the customer entity, product, and price are created at the hub and selectively synchronized with the spokes. There is usually a role for campaigns as well. Campaigns can be created at the hub or spoke and there is no integration expected. In a sales process, leads, opportunities, activities, and quotes are created at the spokes with leads and orders synchronized back to the hub. The analysis is again done at the hub with opportunities synchronized back for sales pipeline.

Last but not least, let us examine a business with a corporate Siebel hub and multiple spokes at regional offices. Customers are created at the hub and spokes with bi-directional synchronization expected. Lead qualification occurs at the spokes, but lead allocation and tracking are done at the hub. Just like the other scenarios, the analysis is done at the hub with opportunities synchronized back for sales pipeline.

Success at the Spoke: Microsoft’s Developer and Platform Evangelism (DPE)

Microsoft has strong firsthand knowledge of the value and benefits of Siebel-Microsoft Dynamics CRM hub and spoke implementations. For example, its DPE group works closely with large independent software vendors worldwide to share strategic, technical, and product information and to persuade these organizations to develop on Microsoft solutions. To get a better understanding of its business partners, the team conducted a worldwide research project to collect detailed information about some 6,000 companies in 25 countries. The team considered storing the data in Microsoft’s corporate Siebel system, but discarded the idea because of the system’s lack of flexibility, long customization timeframes, and difficulty accessing data. Instead, it chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM and requested that local subsidiaries begin using it. The team initially hoped for 250 system users in the first year, but that number swelled to nearly 1,000 when team members began to see just how powerful and easy to use the system was.

Integration

There are several integration techniques for using Siebel at the hub and Microsoft Dynamics CRM at the spoke. Backend Integration

Backend integration is the interchange of data between systems. It is accomplished at a data entity level and typically has no interaction with the user interface. The data is exchanged and often duplicated in the two systems.

There are two technology options available here. The first is direct connection between Siebel and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The Web Service interface within Microsoft Dynamics CRM functions as the message format for the outbound call from Microsoft Dynamics to Siebel. The interface for the Siebel Web Services will need to be loaded into a service

(.NET WS or CallOut within Microsoft Dynamics CRM) and a simple mapping will be executed within the component. The mapping will be based on an extensible stylesheet transformation (XSLT) so that it can accommodate slight modifications without rewriting the logic that binds the objects to one another. On the other side, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web Service interface will need to be loaded into Siebel as an outbound Web Service interface from Siebel to Microsoft Dynamics. The workflow services can then be triggered to extract the Siebel data and transform and pass data to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web Service interface. The mapping can be accomplished by built-in business services. The call out to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web Service interface may need to be done by a custom business service that can append the security credentials to the service-oriented architecture protocol (SOAP) payload and then make the call to the Web Service. This is done with scripting and would be a medium configuration.

The second option is to use the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Solution Accelerator for Siebel, which provides ―out-of-the- box‖ integration between Siebel Server 7.5.2 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. This is a data integration solution between Siebel and Microsoft Dynamics CRM that utilizes BizTalk Server for the integration of Account, Contact, and Addresses. This kit includes an adapter for Microsoft Dynamics CRM to BizTalk Server 2006. This adapter allows for auto-discovery of entities within Microsoft Dynamics CRM as well as the execution of process and functionality within Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This adapter also utilizes XML data streams and allows for primary/foreign key mapping. In addition to the adapter, Microsoft has developed a real-time integration framework that contains functions designed to ensure delivery and provide status notification for the delivery of the data between systems. The kit also includes an adapter for Siebel to BizTalk Server 2006, an adapter that leverages the XML interface from Siebel and provides for Siebel Business Component discovery and enumeration. Siebel Workflows are included to create trigger events for data import and export. For more information or to obtain the download at no cost, please consult the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Solution Accelerator for Siebel Web site.

What are the differences between the direct connect approach vs. the integration server approach? If the integrations are simple in nature and involve few entities, then a direct connection method can be applied. In many cases this solution will be the quickest to implement and the least complex. However, if the nature of the integration changes, the effort to alter the existing integration can be high. If the integrations are larger and more complex, then an integration server approach is recommended. The installation and development of the infrastructure will typically be a one-time expenditure that can be leveraged over each entity connection. As changes are encountered in the nature of the integrations, little effort is required because the basis for the integrations do not change. Instead, only additional mappings and flows are added.

Data mapping between the two applications will need to allow for alteration of the data as well as exchange. If the alteration requires a reformat of the data, or perhaps the addition of more information, these transformations can be handled with multiple technologies in each of the above scenarios.

Front End Integration

Front end integration is the combining of data in the display metaphor for the user. The data is combined in a single interface for the duration of the user interaction, but not saved or entered into either system. This technique allows for the viewing of data but not for the combination of data for the purpose of business processes to be performed on the data.

IFRAME3 rendering is the preferred technology in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and is designed to allow a parameterized URL to be rendered within the context of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM screen. The IFRAME technology allows for data to be included with the calling URL so that the receiving system can present the data requested with the scope of the data that is passed. This allows the context of the current record, with an entity being displayed to be passed to the foreign system so that the same context can be achieved in the foreign system. This way there is matching context between the two systems displaying information. The display elements are then rendered on the same screen at the same time and the user has the benefit of having a single context for the data being presented.

3 Derived from the term ―inline frame,‖ IFRAME or IFrame is an HTML element that makes it possible to embed another HTML document inside the main document. ©2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Deriving Value from Oracle Applications with Microsoft Dynamics 10

Change Management

Business applications are changed in many ways to meet the requirements of usage. These changes are often categorized by their level of difficulty and their impact to the deployment of the application.

It is important to assess the level of effort and impact a change to the system will have upon deployment. For example, users can have a differing level of costs assigned to different types of changes that users make to their system. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is designed to require less effort and minimize impact for many types of changes which are typical to Siebel and Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementations. For example, altering the display, as well as fields and data structure, is one type of change that Microsoft Dynamics CRM is designed to perform with ease and that typically requires custom development effort within Siebel. The goal of IT is to assess what changes need to be made on an ongoing basis and then choose the application that allows for the lowest effort and impact for change. With this in mind it is easy to see that the cost of changing the Microsoft Dynamics CRM UI is much lower than the cost of changing the Siebel UI. Therefore, the system that should be used for presentation would be Microsoft Dynamics CRM based on effort and impact to deployment.

In addition to the specific hub and spoke benefits of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, AX, and NAV, additional Microsoft Dynamics solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics GP have demonstrated concrete benefit and value to customers. For example, one subsidiary of a $2+ billion global multi-channel retailer was reported by an independent analyst to have cut its required monthly financial consolidating time in half with Microsoft Dynamics GP. In that case, financial data from Microsoft Dynamics GP was successfully uploaded to the parent company using a macro that brought it directly into an Oracle PeopleSoft system. Microsoft Dynamics GP reportedly enabled the subsidiary to improve its local operations by streamlining accounting and customer service operations at the same time it enabled it to adhere to corporate guidelines for financial reporting. Microsoft Application Platform

While Microsoft Dynamics solutions can work well in a heterogeneous environment (for instance, Microsoft Dynamics AX can run on Oracle database) customers can receive the full benefits of its design and engineering by adopting the complete Microsoft Application Platform.

The Microsoft Application Platform is a portfolio of technology capabilities, core products, and best practice guidance that is focused on helping IT and development departments to partner with the business for the purpose of maximizing opportunity. The core products of the Microsoft Application Platform—Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005, and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006—can help customers drive the right business efficiencies, customer connections, and value-added services they need in order to prioritize work, achieve optimal return on investment, advance the speed of innovation, and enable people at all levels to make the decisions that drive business success.

Summary

The Microsoft Dynamics line of solutions is designed to provide a strong and valuable addition to Oracle applications in a hub and spoke model scenario. Microsoft Dynamics solutions allow companies to preserve their investment in Oracle E-Business Suite and Siebel at their headquarters while still being able to rapidly deploy business systems that offer low cost, flexible, and provide rich functionality at their branches. Additional Information For more information on Microsoft Dynamics: http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/default.mspx

For more information on the Microsoft Application Platform: http://www.microsoft.com/business/peopleready/appplat/default.mspx

For more information on Microsoft BizTalk Server: http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/default.mspx

For more information about the Microsoft and Oracle partnership:

http://www.microsoft-oracle.com/Pages/default.aspx

Sources and References

Microsoft: “Microsoft Dynamics CRM Solution Accelerator for Siebel” (Web site) http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d4d20dda-3c96-43c6-aa53- 165e3421e8db&displaylang=en

Nucleus Research: “The Real ROI from Microsoft Dynamics AX” [Research Note E116; 10/04] http://nucleusresearch.com/library/microsoft-roi/e116.pdf

zdNet: ―ERP market hit by licence surplus‖ (8/3/2005) http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39211856,00.htm