TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction to Oracle EBS 1.1 About EBS 1.2 EBS Application Products
2. The EBS architecture 2.1 Desktop Tier 2.2 Application Tier 2.3 Database Tier
3. Oracle EBS database features 3.1 Monitoring Features 3.2 Performance Features 3.3 Scalability Features 3.4 Business Intelligence Features 3.5 Security Features 4. Oracle EBS user list

5. Oracle EBS success stories 5.1 Home Box Office (HBO) 5.2 Mallcom limited 5.3 AT&T INC. 5.4 Facebook 5.5 HCL

1.1 ORACLE EBS
Oracle's E-Business Suite (also known as Applications/Apps or EB-Suite/EBS) consists of a collection of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management(CRM), and supply-chain management (SCM) computer applications either developed or acquired by Oracle. The software utilizes Oracle's core Oracle relational database management system technology. The E-Business Suite contains several product lines often known by short acronyms.
Significant technologies incorporated into the applications include the Oracle database technologies, (engines for RDBMS, PL/SQL, Java, .NET, HTML and XML), the "technology stack" (Oracle Forms Server, Oracle Reports Server, Apache Web Server, Oracle Discoverer, Jinitiator and Sun's Java). Oracle Corporation brands the on-line technical documentation of E-Business Suite as eTRM — "E-Business Suite Technical Reference Manuals".
The applications found in the Oracle EBS include: * Oracle CRM * Oracle Financials * Oracle Human Resource Management System (HRMS) * Oracle Logistics * Oracle Supply Chain Applications * Oracle Order Management * Oracle Transportation Management * Oracle Warehouse Management System

Oracle CRM
The Oracle CRM application provides the "front office" functions which help a business to increase customers and customer loyalty and satisfaction. The basic functionality includes marketing, order capture ,contracts , field service, spares management and the call center functionality. The CRM application also includes internet focused products such as catalogs, content management, quote and order management.

Oracle Financials
The Financials applications include General Ledger, Cash Management, Payables, Receivables, Fixed Assets, Treasury, Property Management, Financial Analyzer and a self-service expenses function.
Oracle Human Resource Management System (HRMS)
The HRMS application helps companies manage the recruit-to-retire process. The application gives users a real-time view of all the HR activities, including recruiting, time management, training, compensation, benefits and payroll. The HRMS suite integrates fully with the other EBS applications and supplies the users with an analytics package that allows the extraction of HR data with ease.

Oracle Logistics
The logistics module allows users to plan, manage, and control the flow and storage of products and services within a business. It provides information to plan future demand and safety stock within the warehouse. The application can create detailed, constraint-based production schedules and material plans.
Oracle Supply Chain Applications
Supply chain applications powers a businesses information-driven supply chains. Companies can predict market requirements, innovate in response to volatile market conditions, and align operations across global networks. Oracle offers industry-specific solutions that includes product development, demand management, sales and operations planning, transportation management, and supply management.
Oracle Order Management
Order management applications can streamline and automate a business’s entire sales order management process, from order promising and order capture to transportation and shipment. Order management also includes EDI, XML, telesales and web storefronts. Some of the business benefits that can be achieved include reduced fulfillment costs, reduced order fulfillment cycle time, increased order accuracy and greater on-time delivery.
Oracle Transportation Management
Transportation management (TMS) provides transportation planning and execution capabilities to shippers and third party logistics providers. It integrates and streamlines transportation planning, execution and freight payment. The TMS function delivers functionality for all modes of transportation, from full truckload to complex air, ocean, and rail shipments. The benefits of the TMS function include reduced transportation costs, improved customer service and greater asset utilization.

Oracle Warehouse Management System
Oracle’s Warehouse Management System allows the coordinated movement of goods and information throughout the extended distribution process. The module provides business processes that can deliver efficient utilization of employees, equipment, and space in the distribution process. Benefits include an acceleration of the flow of products through the supply chain while reducing lead times and releasing working capital, real time inventory management, cross-docking, pick-by-line, advanced ship notices (ASN), inbound planning and yard management.

2. Oracle E-Business Suite Architecture
The Oracle E-Business Suite Architecture is a framework for multi-tiered, distributed computing that supports Oracle E-Business Suite products. In this model, various servers or services are distributed among three levels, or tiers.
A server (or services) is a process or group of processes that runs on a single machine and provides a particular functionality. For example, Web services process HTTP requests , and Forms services process requests for activities related to Oracle Forms. The Concurrent Processing server supports data-intensive programs that run in the background .A tier is a logical grouping of services, potentially spread across more than one physical machine. The three-tier architecture that comprises an Oracle E-Business Suite installation is made up of the database tier, which supports and manages the Oracle database; the application tier, which supports and manages the various Oracle E-Business Suite components, and is sometimes known as the middle tier; and the desktop tier, which provides the user interface via an add-on component to a standard web browser.
A machine may be referred to as a node, particularly in the context of a group of computers that work closely together in a cluster. Each tier may consist of one or more nodes, and each node can potentially accommodate more than one tier. For example, the database can reside on the same node as one or more application tier components. Centralizing the Oracle E-Business Suite software on the application tier eliminates the need to install and maintain application software on each desktop client PC, and also enables Oracle E-Business Suite to scale well with an increasing load.

Extending this concept further, one of the key benefits of using the Shared Application Tier File System model (originally Shared APPL_TOP) is the need to maintain only a single copy of the relevant Oracle E-Business Suite code, instead of a copy for every application tier machine.
On the database tier, there is increasing use of Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) , where multiple nodes support a single database instance to give greater availability and scalability.

The connection between the application tier and the desktop tier can operate successfully over a Wide Area Network (WAN). This is because the desktop and application tiers exchange a minimum amount of information, for example only field values that have changed. In a global operation with users at diverse locations, requiring less network traffic reduces telecommunications costs and improves response times.

2.1 The Desktop Tier
The client interface is provided through HTML for HTML-based applications, and via a Java applet in a Web browser for the traditional Forms-based applications.

You log in via the Oracle E-Business Suite Home Page on a desktop client web browser. The Home Page provides a single point of access to HTML-based applications, Forms-based applications, and Business Intelligence applications. Once successfully logged in via the E-Business Suite Home Page, you are not prompted for your user name and password again, even if you navigate to other tools and products. Oracle E-Business Suite also retains preferences as you navigate through the system.
For example, if you registered in the Home Page that German is your preferred language, this preference carries over whether you access Forms-based or HTML-based applications.

Forms Client Applet
The Forms client applet is a general-purpose presentation applet that supports all Oracle E-Business Suite Forms-based products, including those with customizations and extensions. The Forms client applet is packaged as a collection of Java Archive (JAR) files. The JAR files contain all Java classes required to run the presentation layer of Oracle E-Business Suite forms.
Desktop Java Client
The Forms client applet must run within a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) on the desktop client. The Sun JRE Plug-in component allows use of the Oracle JVM on web clients, instead of the browser's own JVM. This component is implemented as a standard browser plug-in.
In the traditional, Forms-based Oracle E-Business Suite environment, the JVM was run as part of the standard Oracle E-Business Suite sign-on process. Now, the JVM (JRE Plug-in in Release 12) is only invoked when a user chooses to access functions that require it, such as running a form. If the JRE Plug-in has not been installed, the browser prompts the user to download the required installation executable.

After you download and install the plug-in, you will be able to run Forms-based applications, for example as shown in Figure 1-4.

2.2 The Application Tier
The application tier has a dual role: hosting the various servers and service groups that process the business logic, and managing communication between the desktop tier and the database tier. This tier is sometimes referred to as the middle tier.
Three servers or service groups comprise the basic application tier for Oracle E-Business Suite:

• Web services
• Forms services
• Concurrent Processing server

In Release 12, Web and Forms services are provided by Oracle Application Server (OracleAS) 10g. They are no longer servers in the sense of being a single process, as was the case in previous Applications releases .It is advisable to avoid using a mixture of different platforms on your application tier. This makes maintenance easier, since only one set of patches needs to be downloaded. Load Balancing
The application tier supports load balancing among many of its servers and services to help provide higher availability, fault tolerance, reliability, and optimal scalability. If you have more than one of any of the following types of server, load balancing can be employed:
• Web services
• Forms services
• Concurrent Processing server
Web Services
The Web services component of Oracle Application Server processes requests received over the network from the desktop clients, and includes the following components:
• Web Listener (Oracle HTTP Server powered by Apache)
• Java Servlet Engine (OC4J)
• Oracle Process Manager (OPMN)
The Web listener component of the Oracle HTTP server accepts incoming HTTP requests (for particular URLs) from client browsers, and routes the requests to the appropriate OC4J container. If possible, the Web server services the requests itself, for example by returning the HTML to construct a simple Web page. If the page referenced by the URL needs Oracle E-Business Suite Architecture advanced processing, the listener passes the request on to the servlet engine, which contacts the database server as needed.HTML-Based Applications and the Oracle Application Framework
The Oracle HTML-based applications (originally known as Self-Service applications) have the following characteristics:
• Do not use Oracle Forms for the interface
• Are designed in pure HTML and JavaScript
• Dynamically generate HTML pages by executing Java code
• Use a metadata dictionary for flexible layout
• Operate by direct connection to the Web server
The Oracle Application Framework is the development platform for HTML-based applications. It consists of a Java-based application tier framework and associated services, designed to facilitate the rapid deployment of HTML-based applications.
Notable Oracle Application Framework components include-:
• Business Components for Java (BC4J), included in Oracle JDeveloper, is used to create Java business components for representing business logic. It also provides a mechanism for mapping relational tables to Java objects, and allows the separation of the application business logic from the user interface.
• AOL/J supplies the Oracle Application Framework with underlying security and applications Java services. It provides the Oracle Application Framework with its connection to the database, and with application-specific functionality such as flex fields.
The Framework-based applications logic is controlled by procedures that execute through the Java servlet engine, which is provided by the Apache JServ module. The servlet engine uses the metadata dictionary in constructing the Framework UI.
Forms Services
By default, Forms services in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 are provided by the Forms listener servlet , which, as described further below, facilitates the use of firewalls, load balancing, proxies, and other networking options.
Benefits of using the Forms listener servlet include:

• Ability to re-establish dropped network connections
• Fewer machines and ports need to be exposed at the firewall
• Easier firewall/proxy server configuration
• More robust and secure deployment over the Internet
Concurrent Processing Server
As described previously, user interactions with Oracle E-Business Suite data can be conducted via HTML-based applications or the more traditional Forms-based applications. However, there are also reporting programs and data updating programs that need to run either periodically, or on an ad hoc basis. These programs, which run in the background while users continue to work on other tasks, may require a large number of data-intensive computations, and are run using the Concurrent Processing Oracle E-Business Suite Architecture 1-17architecture. Concurrent Processing is an Oracle E-Business Suite feature that allows these non–interactive and potentially long-running functions to be executed efficiently alongside interactive operations. It uses operating system facilities to enable background scheduling of data- or resource-intensive jobs, via a set of programs and forms .To ensure that resource-intensive concurrent processing operations do not interfere with interactive operations, they are run on a specialized server, the Concurrent Processing server.
Processes that run on the Concurrent Processing server are called concurrent requests. When you submit such a request, either through HTML-based or Forms-based applications, a row is inserted into a database table specifying the program to be run. A concurrent manager then reads the applicable requests in the table, and starts the associated concurrent program.

2.3 The Database Tier
The database tier contains the Oracle database server that stores and manages all the data maintained by Oracle E-Business Suite. This includes the various types of file in which the tables, indexes, and other database objects for your system physically reside, as well as the database executables. The database also stores the Oracle E-Business Suite online help information. The database server communicates with the services and servers on the application tier, which mediate the communications between the database and the clients: there is no direct communication between the database and clients.

Using a Mixed Platform Architecture
The Oracle database server is sometimes available on platforms where Oracle E-Business Suite is not currently certified. In such a case, it may be possible to utilize a mixed platform architecture, where the database is installed on one platform and the application tier on another. (In Release 11i, this was referred to as a split configuration.)This type of deployment can enable the database to utilize the specific features offered by a particular platform (such as a 64-bit architecture). It can also allow the application tier to be managed in a more cost-effective way.

3.1 Oracle E-Business Suite Database Features-
Introduction
Many features in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 are built on the advanced capabilities of the underlying Oracle database technology. Release 12 utilizes various Oracle database features to optimize performance and scalability.
3.1 Monitoring Features
Oracle Database 11g, which is used by Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1, includes a number of sophisticated features that enable you to track the performance of your database, and if necessary take the appropriate corrective action.
Automatic Workload Repository (AWR)
The Automatic Workload Repository is a repository of database performance statistics built in to every Oracle 11g database. AWR automatically generates snapshots of performance data at regular intervals (typically, once an hour) and collects the statistics for use in problem detection and tuning. The gathered data can be displayed in both reports and views.You can access AWR through Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control, managing snapshots or modifying settings in order to create baselines that capture typical performance periods. The baselines can be used for comparisons with similar workload periods where performance problems have been reported.
Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM)
The Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor is a tool that allows an Oracle database to diagnose its performance, and determine how identified problems could be resolved. ADDM analyzes the AWR data on a regular basis, locating the root causes of performance problems and providing recommendations for correcting them. Because AWR is a repository of historical performance data, ADDM can be used to analyze performance issues after the event, saving time and resources in reproducing a problem (which may not even be possible).Automatic database diagnostic monitoring is enabled by default, and its primary interface is Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control.
Active Session History (ASH)
Active Session History is a means by which a detailed history of database activity is captured and stored. Only active sessions are captured, so the amount of data recorded is directly related to the work being performed. The V$ACTIVE_SESSION_HISTORY view records current sampled session activity.
Unlike the instance-level statistics gathered by AWR, ASH gathers data at the session level. You can run ASH reports to analyze transient performance problems with the database that may only occur during specific times. For example, ASH can often be used to identify short-duration problems (perhaps lasting only a couple of minutes) that would represent too small a proportion of an ADDM analysis period to show up.
3.2 Performance Features
Database performance features include optimization, resource usage, space management, and access rights.
Query Optimization
The SQL used in Release 12 has been extensively tuned for cost-based optimization. In calculating the lowest cost (most efficient) method of executing an SQL statement, the Oracle query optimizer evaluates many factors to calculate the most efficient way to execute a SQL statement. For example, the optimizer considers the available access paths, factoring in statistical information for the tables and indexes that the SQL statement will access. The optimizer also considers hints, which are optimization suggestions placed in a comment of the SQL statement.
As part of its operation, the optimizer creates a set of potential execution plans for the SQL statement, based on the available access paths and any hints. It then estimates the cost of each execution plan, based on data dictionary statistics for the data distribution and storage characteristics of the tables, indexes, and partitions. Finally, the optimizer compares the costs of the execution plans and chooses the one with the smallest cost, which means optimum execution characteristics.
For some operations, such as batch processing, Release 12 uses cost-based optimization to achieve the most efficient means of processing all rows that are accessed by the statement. For other operations, such as accessing forms or communication with the desktop client, Release 12 uses cost-based optimization to achieve the best response time for processing the first rows that are accessed by the statement .
.Database Resource Manager
The gives the system administrator extensive control over processing resources on the database node.The administrator can distribute server CPU based on business rules, ensuring that the highest priority activities always have sufficient CPU resources. The administrator could, for example, guarantee Order Entry users 40% of CPU resources during business hours, regardless of the load or number of users in other groups on the system.
System administrators can also use the Database Resource Manager to limit the impact of any inefficient ad hoc queries. For example, a limit of 5% of CPU resources could be placed on ad hoc queries against the database.
Partitioned Tables
Partitioning helps support very large tables and indexes by dividing them into smaller, more manageable pieces called partitions. Once the desired partitions have been defined, SQL statements containing the partition key can access them instead of the original tables or indexes and thereby reduce the I/O needed.
Partitioning can significantly enhance performance and manageability. For example, the speed of operations that involve copying or deleting data may be greatly improved by the use of partitioned tables. Operations that might have taken hours might now be completed in minutes. This can be useful in data warehouse applications.Important: Custom partitioning of standard Oracle E-Business Suite tables in Release 12 is fully supported for objects that are not already partitioned.
Partitioning should always be planned and tested carefully before being implemented on a critical system. After implementation, you should check that the desired performance benefits have been achieved.
3.3 Scalability Features
As well as providing more computing power, multi-node systems facilitate the addition of machines to meet increases in demand. They also provide resilience in the event of failures of individual components.
Oracle Real Application Clusters
Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) harness the processing power of multiple interconnected computers. Oracle RAC software called Oracle Cluster ware and a collection of computers (known as a cluster) harness the processing power of each component to create a robust and powerful computing environment. A large task divided into subtasks and distributed among multiple nodes is completed more quickly and efficiently than if the entire task was processed on one node. Cluster processing also facilitates deployment of additional hardware resources for larger workloads and rapidly growing user populations.
In Oracle RAC environments, all active instances can concurrently execute transactions against a shared database. Oracle RAC coordinates each instance's access to the shared data, to provide data consistency and data integrity. From a developer's point of view, Oracle RAC enables applications to be scaled to meet increasing data processing demands, without the need to change the application code.
All Oracle E-Business Suite modules can be successfully deployed against a Oracle RAC-enabled database. Using Parallel Concurrent Processing concurrent managers on separate application tier machines can be configured to direct requests to different database servers in an Oracle RAC cluster.
Automatic Storage Management
Automatic Storage Management (ASM) provides a file system and volume manager dedicated to the storage of Oracle database files. It extends the concepts of disk striping and mirroring, to optimize performance and remove the need for manual I/O tuning.

3.4 Business Intelligence Features
To meet the increasing demand for up-to-date details of business activities, Oracle E-Business Suite utilizes Oracle database features that help to optimize the types of query typically required in such environments.
Materialized Views
Materialized views are schema objects that can be used to summarize, precompute, replicate, and distribute data. They can markedly increase the speed of queries on very large databases when used to precompute and store aggregated data such as sums and averages. Materialized views can therefore improve performance of Oracle E-Business Suite products that perform many queries on summary data.
Query optimization can use materialized views to improve query performance by automatically recognizing when one can be used to satisfy a request. The optimizer transparently rewrites the request to use the materialized view. Queries are then directed to the materialized view, and not to the underlying detail tables or views.
In distributed environments, materialized views can be used to replicate data at remote Sites , providing local access to data that would otherwise have to be accessed from the main site, with any network delays this might introduce.

3.5 Security Features
The Oracle database has always included mechanisms to protect its contents from unauthorized access, without hindering access by legitimate users. Details of these can be found in the standard database documentation.Additional features provide application monitoring capabilities; for example, Database Connection Tagging enables recording in V$SESSION of the current use to which a database connection is being put. Various strategies and optional components can be used to enhance and customize security to meet the specific needs of a site.
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4. Oracle EBS User list
For all Oracle EBS ERP customers globally-

5. Oracle EBS Success Stories 5.1 Home Box Office Upgrades Applications to improve System Performance and reduce dependence on IT . “We are focused on maintaining overall operational efficiency through our increasingly diverse business. Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1 has enabled us to move toward an automated system that enables our business users to do their jobs more efficiently. It helps us meet today’s goals and serves as a platform for future growth.” –– Mike DiPietro, Director of Financial Operation and Reporting, Home Box Office
Home Box Office (HBO®), a subsidiary of Time Warner, offers television programming to approximately 85 million subscribers worldwide via its HBO and Cinemax® premium networks. Among HBO’s many acclaimed original programs are True Blood®, Boardwalk Empire®, Game of ThronesSM, Hung® , Bored to Death® and Curb Your Enthusiasm®.*
Challenges-
• Improve performance and stability of business applications and set the foundation for future upgrades for the growing entertainment company.
• Streamline patching process to minimize IT involvement and enable business users to do their jobs more effectively. Solutions-
• Worked with IBM’s Global Business Services to upgrade to Oracle E-Business Suite release 12.1 to improve business application performance for 200 daily users and 2,000 total users.
• Centralized business data and supported online approvals and workflow—eliminating reliance on spreadsheets, enabling repeatable processes, and driving toward business process consistency across the company.
• Used Oracle Financials, Oracle Project Costing, and Oracle Project Billing to capture data at a very detailed level and analyze it from multiple angles to determine how specific shows/titles are performing in various distribution channels
• Provided business users with direct access to information, minimizing reliance on static reports built by IT
• Leveraged Oracle iProcurement to automate time-consuming, paper-based processes, such as invoice payments, where the system routes invoices to the appropriate approver, based on cost center, type of expense, and amount
• Put a foundation in place for an eventual migration to Oracle Fusion applications
• Worked closely with IBM on the upgrade, testing early and often, as well as involving key stakeholders throughout planning, testing, and execution—completing the implementation on time.

5.2 Mallcom (India) Limited generates Financial Reports Instantly, Reduces Inventory Spending by 5%
“Oracle E-Business Suite is an integrated financial, inventory management, and manufacturing system that will support our business as we continue to diversify our product portfolio and move into new global markets.” –– Giriraj Mall, Director, Mallcom (India) Limited.
Established in 1983, Mallcom (India) Limited is a manufacturer, exporter, and distributor of personal protection equipment (PPE), including helmets, safety goggles, gloves, safety boots, and work wear. The company distributes its brand name products across India and has original equipment manufacturing (OEM) agreements with more than 30 customers in Europe and North and South America. The company has six manufacturing facilities in Kolkata and one in Haridwar. It also has offices in Kolkata and Delhi, and a network of 35 dealers in India.
Since the early 1990s, Mallcom (India) Limited has progressively opened new business units as it diversified its product portfolio. As a result, the company had acquired three home-grown accounting systems and an order management application. The legacy systems were expensive to maintain, clunky to use, and involved extensive manual intervention.
“Staff needed to collate financial, inventory, and manufacturing data from multiple systems and manually enter the data into spreadsheets to create monthly and quarterly reports for their managers,” said Giriraj Mall, director, Mallcom (India) Limited. “This involved a lot of manual work and took too much time – sometimes up to two days.”
In late 2010, Mallcom engaged Oracle Partner CSA Consultants to deploy Oracle E-Business Suite R12.1 modules—Oracle Financials, Oracle Purchasing, Oracle Order Management, and Oracle Discrete Manufacturing.

Automated Invoicing Saves Time
Oracle Order Management has automated Mallcom’s invoicing and order processing tasks by making it easier to reconcile transactions, particularly with overseas customers.
The system provides sales and accounting staff with instant access to invoicing information so they can quickly and easily determine which orders need to be settled.
“Previously, we entered invoice details from our order processing system into our accounting application each day, which was time consuming and prone to errors,” said Mall. “Now, orders are saved automatically in one system, which saves time and makes it easier for staff to finalize accounts.”
Standard Purchasing System Reduces Wastage
Mallcom buys raw materials, such as leather, chemicals, and additives to make safety shoes; fabrics, trims, and accessories for body protection; and plastic material and nonwoven fabric for safety helmets and respiratory face masks.
Previously, the company ordered products on an ad-hoc basis and managed them using disparate spreadsheets. Oracle Purchasing enabled the company to centralize the system and set up a list of standard suppliers.
“We now have an integrated system that generates an electronic purchase order and forces staff to order from a standard list of suppliers,” said Mall. “This enables our procurement team to negotiate better deals with our suppliers, which will probably help us to reduce spending by 3% to 5% immediately and more than 7% in long run.”
Manufacturing Process Streamlined
Mallcom’s leather and shoe manufacturing divisions use Oracle Discrete Manufacturing to track the flow of raw materials, such as leather used to manufacture gloves, through the production line. This ensures information is immediately available to each department involved in the process. Previously, this information was recorded in separate spreadsheets.
“For example, if we receive an order for 60,000 pairs of leather gloves, the system helps us track the exact amount of material that is needed during the cutting, stitching, finishing, and packing stages of manufacturing,” said Mall.
“Each piece of material is tracked throughout the production process, and we have a complete view of our raw material, work in progress, and finished stock levels. This ensures that all our raw material is being utilized, which helps keep manufacturing costs under control.”
Mallcom plans to deploy Oracle Enterprise Asset Management to track the effectiveness of machines used to manufacture its products and determine exactly when equipment needs to be serviced. “For example, we run about 500 stitching machines and currently have no record of how many of these machines have been sitting idle, serviced, or replaced over the past six months,” said Mall.
Why Oracle?
Mallcom selected Oracle due to the vendor’s track record of successful enterprise resource planning (ERP) deployments with other garment manufacturers across India. The company also looked at Microsoft Navision and a locally-produced ERP suite.
“CSA Consultants had knowledge of our business and had completed similar deployments previously, which gave us the confidence that the implementation would be a success,” said Mall. “Oracle E-Business Suite is a centralized, integrated ERP application that can be implemented easily and will scale as our company expands.”
Implementation Process
Initially, CSA Consultants’ technical staff transferred data from Mallcom’s existing accounting application to Oracle E-Business Suite, and ran a feasibility test to ensure Oracle E-Business Suite worked well with the company’s existing business processes. CSA Consultants leveraged Oracle Business Accelerators during the implementation to provide Mallcom with a rapidly configured baseline instance of Oracle E-Business Suite, equipped with leading industry best practices.

5.3 AT&T Inc. upgrades to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 to Centralize Accounting Processes
“We upgraded to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 and Oracle Financial Accounting Hub to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness globally in the wake of our recent acquisitions and our plan to centralize accounting for all of our worldwide operating companies. Oracle helped us to achieve that goal on time and on budget.” –– Roxanne Shelton, Executive Director, Financial Applications, AT&T Inc. AT&T Inc. is a communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With powerful network resources that include one of the nation’s fastest 3G networks, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed internet, and voice services.
Challenges-
• Upgrade the company’s existing Oracle enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to accommodate recent communications industry acquisitions and more easily incorporate international operating companies
• Support centralization of business operations to achieve greater consistency, data reliability, and global visibility.
Solutions-
• Worked with Oracle Consulting to upgrade to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 to accommodate the company’s recent acquisitions as well as its international companies, operating in 85 countries with more than 70 currencies
• Enabled users to perform multiple tasks—including entering and paying invoices—across operating units
• Enabled users to get financial results more quickly and get up-to-date data into the hands of decision makers, ultimately accelerating the monthly financial close by nearly 25%
• Standardized accounting rules, reducing the chart of accounts by one-third and reducing other values, such as expenditure items, journal category, and journal sources, by two-thirds
• Streamlined accounting processes, including the use of Oracle Financial Accounting Hub, reducing journal categories—including accruals, payments, and receipts—from 600 to approximately 200, and reducing the number of lines in the general ledger by about 60%
• Ensured Sarbanes-Oxley compliance by consolidating all financial data into one central repository
• Streamlined processing of more than 1.2 million invoices per month, of which 98% are generated outside of the Oracle ERP
• Improved asset tracking efficiency and capital utilization by pinpointing specific items in the pipeline.

5.4 Facebook Inc. fine-tunes Operations and Supports Global Growth with Oracle E -Business Suite Release 12
“Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 streamlined our order-to-cash cycle. With Oracle, we have an integrated solution for sales, order management, and financials, along with a solid technology platform that supports integration with other systems. This is essential to supporting our rapid growth around the world.” –– Kunal Malik, Director of IT, Facebook, Inc.
Facebook is a leading social site that allows its users to interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. It began by connecting students at universities, but has since expanded to a broad base of users around the globe.Millions of people use Facebook every day to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet. The service has more than 175 million active users.

Challenges-
• Automate and bring together key business processes to enable greater efficiency and visibility, and ensure that critical information is available to key decision makers at all times
• Coordinate management of the company’s multiple and diverse sales channels—both direct and indirect—to ensure greater efficiency in the order-to-cash cycle
• Support the rapidly expanding company with a highly scalable and flexible enterprise application platform.
Solutions-
• Deployed Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 to enable standardized global business processes and increased efficiency
• Achieved an automated revenue cycle, enabling seamless processing of various billing scenarios and consolidated billing regardless of sales channel
• Integrated Ad-Server, the engine that delivers and tracks Facebook ads, with Oracle applications to enable accurate tracking of ad clicks and video plays
• Introduced new transparency and audit-trail capabilities for functions such as sales,order management, and finance
• Facilitated voluntary compliance with various regulatory requirements as well as equipped the company to comply with international statutes as it continues to grow
• Gained new flexibility in managing campaigns and orders
• Went live in just nine months with robust functionality of the order-to-cash system
• Automated 75% of financial and order management processes
• Condensed the financial close cycle by 50%
• Improved reporting and forecasting capabilities for more accurate and informed decision making.

5.5 Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) reduces Annual Financial Reporting from Three Months to 15 Days, Cuts Annual Inventory Holding Costs by approximately US$720,000. “Customers that purchase our copper products demand competitive pricing, easy access to our latest products, and the ability to view the status of their orders. Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 is an integrated system that enables us to easily meet their requirements.” –– Jayanta Mukherjee, Senior Manager, Corporate Marketing, Hindustan Copper
Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) manufactures copper cathodes; continuous cast copper rod; and copper by-products, such as anode slime (containing minerals such as silver and gold), copper sulfate, and sulphuric acid. HCL’s mines and plants are spread across four operating units, one in each of the Indian states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra.
HCL is the only organization in India that manufactures copper from the initial stages of mining of copper ore through to beneficiation, smelting, refining, and casting of refined copper metal into saleable products. The company operates under the administrative control of the Government of India’s Ministry of Mines.
HCL was established in 1967, and, over many years, the organization’s four sales offices, four factories, and six warehouses across India accumulated standalone software applications.
Gives Customers Fast Access to Order Data
HCL uses Oracle Supply Chain and Order Management Intelligence to record the details of every customer order online, including the quantity of ordered products, such as copper rods and copper cathodes; prices; ship date; and the estimated time of arrival.
“Staff can provide customers with information about the status of their orders quickly, rather than spend time sending numerous e-mails to answer their queries, which has significantly improved our customer service,” said Mukherjee. “Previously, customers would have to call us directly if they wanted an update on their shipments.”
Improves Inventory Management
Oracle Inventory Management provided staff at HCL’s four regional sales offices and corporate office with a just-in-time view of inventory at its four factories and six warehouses across India. The system provides visibility of copper ore and finished goods, such as copper cathodes and continuous cast copper rods that are available at these locations at any time.
“As a result, our inventory holding costs have been reduced by around US$30 per metric ton,” said Mukherje . “We sell around 2,000 metric tons of products every month, so we are saving around US$60,000 per month or US$720,000 annually. This helps us optimize profitability in a volatile copper market.”

Oracle Inventory Management is integrated with Oracle Purchasing, which is used by procurement staff to purchase raw materials for copper manufacturing and capital items, such as machinery, spare parts, fuel, and tools. Each HCL business unit can view items that have been purchased online and compare the current and past costs for these items, which was not available previously.
Streamlines Manufacturing Processes, Reduces Costs
Oracle Process Manufacturing enables HCL to easily match the amount of copper products it manufactures with customer demand. This enables the organization to manufacture the exact amount required for customers as soon as the orders are received.
“This means we don’t need to keep the copper rod plant running unnecessarily because we know exactly how much copper we need to manufacture and when,” said Mukherjee. “As as a result, our primary finished copper plant is saving about US$120,000 in operations costs every year.
“The system also provides staff with online access to information that shows our raw material consumption at various locations and over certain periods of time. Staff uses this information to evaluate the cost of producing copper and to take corrective action to reduce raw material, power, fuel, and human resource costs at these locations.”
Improves Staff Management
Oracle Human Resources is used to record each employee’s personal details, job role, department, qualifications, and appraisal results. The system will be connected to Oracle Payroll by the end of 2011, enabling the company to store and update this information online.
“We are planning to stop sending paper-based pay slips as our staff will be able to view their pay details online from January 2012,” said Mukherjee. “Staff also uses Oracle Self-Service Human Resources to view and amend their personal details and apply for leave online.”
Challenges-
Replace standalone software applications used by the organization’s many offices, warehouses, and factories with a standard enterprise resource planning (ERP) system streamline financial management, ordering, invoicing, production, and human resources processes

Solutions- * Enabled accounts staff at each factory to complete consolidated monthly reports within five days rather than every quarter or the end of the financial year * Completed annual financial reports within 15 days compared to three to four months previously * Allowed senior managers to make business decisions faster by providing them with instant access to financial data and eliminating the need to send e-mails to accounts staff to obtain access the appropriate information for reporting * Provided customers with information about the status of their orders instantly rather than spend time answering e-mails, which significantly improved customer service * Reduced copper inventory holding costs by around US$720,000 annually and optimized profitability in a volatile copper market * Allowed staff to view items that had been purchased online, and compare the current and past costs for these items, which was not available previously * Enabled internal auditors to complete their audit assessments three times faster for more complex transactions * Provided value to customers by offering multiple price points and stayed competitive by introducing more controlled pricing policies * Protected profitability by enabling the company to reduce bulk purchase discounts for customers from up to US$125 per metric tonne of copper to US$20 per metric tonne of copper * Reduced the cost of running a primary finished copper manufacturing plant by about US$120,000 annually, by manufacturing the exact amount of copper products required by customers without operating the plant unnecessarily * Enabled the company to record each staff member’s personal details, job role and department, qualifications, and appraisal results online * Allowed staff to view and amend their details, and apply for leave online * Positioned to soon enable staff to view their payslips online

Why Oracle-
During the initial tender process, HCL asked for submissions from Oracle and SAP. According to Mukherjee, Oracle E-Business Suite was less costly than the equivalent offering from SAP.
“The individual modules offered as part of Oracle E-Business Suite work well together—much better than other products in this market,” said Mukherjee.
“Oracle E-Business Suite can also be expanded as our business grows; we are planning to interface the applications with systems run by our customers, banks, and tax authorities. For example, we are hoping to get to a point where the company can upload its tax returns from the Oracle system into a tax portal provided by the Indian Government.
Implementation Process-
In September 2007, HCL engaged Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to implement the system and provide support services for one year. Oracle Partner CSA Consultants has provided subsequent support.
During the project, TCS worked with HCL’s IT team to check and clean the organization’s existing data and migrate it to the new system. Each module was subsequently tested and certain members of each business unit were trained on how to use the system. These trainers then assisted the remaining staff.
The deployment was completed by October 2008 and the system is now used by around 200 HCL staff.
“Without TCS’ help, we would have not been able to complete this project in such a tight timeframe,” said Mukherjee. “TCS also provided the technical expertise required to ensure the project was a success.”