Oracle Refreshes JD Edwards World, Updates Tools for EnterpriseOne

May 12, 2009 Alex Woodie

JD Edwards got a little love from Oracle last week at the COLLABORATE 2009 conference in Orlando, Florida. First the software (and, now, with the acquisition of Sun hardware) giant announced a new release of World that includes new functionality for companies in project-driven industries. It also announced a new set of tools and technology for EnterpriseOne that brings certification with Oracle BI Applications, among other functionality.

The new release of JD Edwards World, version A9.2, includes several new capabilities designed to maximize cash flow in project-based industries, including a new “pay when paid” processing capability that helps keep money in the bank; better usability and accuracy in World’s contract management component; and improvements to World’s labor correction process with the new “labor reclass” features. A new Purchase Card Management should help reduce the cost of processing small invoices, and save on administrative overhead, too.

World shops will benefit from greater flexibility in the EDI module through the introduction of “user-defined fields” functionality. Oracle also reports enhancements in the product’s “approvals management for purchasing” functionality that should facilitate greater control of data. World A9.2 also introduces a new “orderless processing” capability that should help reduce the cost of processing internal work orders; updates to the “batch ship confirm” function that should accelerate the shipment confirmation process; and automatically create shop floor calendars that should boost operations efficiency.

Oracle also did some product cross-pollination with World A9.2. Integration with its Demantra supply chain planning product gives World shops the capability to better anticipate demand and generate better forecasts. Integration with Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher enables World shops to distribute reports via e-mail, fax, FTP, or the Web. Oracle also says that future integration work is made easier by conforming World to its Application Integration Architecture standard.

One of the earlier adopters of World A9.2, Maxco, reports good returns, specifically with its work orderless processing, work order ledger, batch ship confirm, and integration with Oracle BI Publisher. “With JD Edwards World A9.2, the cost/benefit ratio is very favorable,” says David Bryant, Maxco’s vice president and CFO. “With this latest release, and in conjunction with our IBM iSeries server, Maxco continues to have a solid and reliable foundation for the future.”

New EnterpriseOne Tools

Oracle released two new sets of EnterpriseOne tools last week at its conference, including JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools Release 8.98.1, which works with the latest release of EnterpriseOne, and JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 24.0 for customers running older EnterpriseOne applications, including releases XE and 8.0. (Like many ERP systems, EnterpriseOne is composed of two components, one that delivers application functionality, and another “tools” layer that provides a technology foundation, thereby allowing Oracle to upgrade its tools layer to support new technologies without affecting the ERP applications or their data.)

Many of the enhancements in EnterpriseOne Tools Release 8.98.1 focuses on integration with other Oracle products, including the Oracle Enterprise Manager application pack, which delivers the capability to manage the EnterpriseOne ERP suite, along with other products such as the Oracle database, from a single console.

EnterpriseOne Tools Release 8.98.1 also brings lots of integration with Oracle’s various business intelligence products. First, it introduces embedded Oracle Business Intelligence reports, and it also integrates with Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition Plus.

And in a related BI announcement, Oracle announced that the latest release of Oracle BI Applications Release 7.9.6 is certified to work with EnterpriseOne Financial Management versions 8.11SP1, 8.12, and 9.0. This gives EnterpriseOne shops access to hundreds of key performance indicators (KPIs) and more than 200 pre-defined reports to help financial managers get a better grip on their receivables and expenses, and help lower costs and improve cash flow.

The integration between EnterpriseOne and the Oracle BI Apps product is handled by a new adapter that integrates Oracle Financial Analytics, an Oracle BI Application, with the Financials modules of EnterpriseOne. Data is pulled from EnterpriseOne Financials and mapped to Oracle Financial Analytics with the help of embedded extract, transform, and load (ETL) functionality.

EnterpriseOne shops will gain “timely, accurate insight” into their financial performance as the result of the integration between Oracle BI Applications and EnterpriseOne Financial Management, says Lenley Hensarling, group vice president and general manager of Oracle’s JD Edwards division. “Today’s news is an initial step in offering JD Edwards EnterpriseOne customers a complete and integrated BI solution.”

JD Edwards World A9.2 and EnterpriseOne Tools Release 8.98.1 and Release 24 are available now. For more information, see www.Oracle.com.

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