Oracle Apps on the iSeries: It Depends on What Your Definition of "Support" Is

by Mary Lou Roberts

Those users of J.D. Edwards software on the iSeries with a propensity toward mistrust of large corporations--say, for example, Oracle and IBM--may pore over the information posted on Oracle's Web site, working hard to read between the lines about Oracle's professed long-term commitment to support the JDE product line. And there's plenty of opportunity to do so. The "Oracle--IBM iSeries Frequently Asked Questions" section, for example, contains plenty of statements vague enough to keep a paranoid happy for weeks.

What, exactly, does it mean that, "Oracle has publicly committed to plans to support the [JDE] products and has announced plans to continue to enhance these products through at least 2013"? What do the words "support" and "enhance" mean?

And what about Project Fusion, the amorphous integrated architecture of Oracle's future? Where does JDE fit in there? What is meant by, " . . . our executives have heard firsthand from many iSeries customers about how important the iSeries roadmap is to their business and ultimate satisfaction with Oracle. IBM and Oracle are working closely to identify solutions that meet the price/performance expectations of our iSeries customer community. As the Oracle-PeopleSoft integration progresses, we are gathering joint customer requirements to consider for the architecture of Fusion. The iSeries platform is critical to many of our customers' businesses, and we are carefully considering the upgrade path for an iSeries environment."

Lots of wiggle room there, to be sure. So where does that leave the JDE customers, who love their iSeries and are showing little inclination, if any, to let go of their platform of choice or of DB2/400?

The simple answer--and probably the most accurate one--is that, at this point, nobody knows for sure. But IBM and Oracle are sure making nice with each other, at least publicly.

Julie Ransom, IBM's Global iSeries Alliance Executive to Oracle, encourages customers to take Oracle at its word and look at what the company is saying both publicly and on its Web site. She asserts that, "IBM is pleased with the commitment that Oracle is making [to the products] through its multi-city road shows, on its Web site, and through its user groups." As for the Fusion game plan when it comes to DB2 in general and DB2/400 in particular, Ransom says that we will have to see what Oracle puts in place. The company is expected to have plans ready by the end of the year.

According to Ransom, IBM independently surveyed JDE customers about their reactions to the Oracle takeover of the product line. Nearly one-half (47 percent) of those surveyed said that they are OK with Oracle owning the products. Approximately 30 percent said they are going to sit back and watch what happens. Only 12 percent were "nervous."

It's all a matter of perception--of trust and confidence, Ransom points out. While JDE customers don't yet know much about Oracle, they do have confidence in the Denver team, which is still largely in tact. (Most of the layoffs that ensured following the PeopleSoft acquisition were administrative slots; for the most part, the support and development staff is still in place.)

Indeed, the Quest User Group Conference and Expo, to be held in Dallas on June 13-16, will feature prominently both Oracle and IBM executives (including Frank Soltis), with plans to set users' minds at ease about future support for the products and the iSeries platform.

On the other side of the IBM/Oracle love fest, Oracle, too, is sounding very encouraging.

John Schiff, Oracle's general manager of the JDE World Group, stresses that it was Oracle that "brought back the name of JDE World. That's very important," he says. "It shows our recognition of the uniqueness of this product."

Schiff emphasizes that Oracle's commitment is to provide support for the EnterpriseOne and World products lines through at least 2013. And he's quick to point out that 2013 is the earliest possible date that the company would end support. "We may go beyond that. We are well aware that these products are a central part of our customers' businesses."

Does that mean DB2? Yes. At least for the "support" part of the existing products. But what about Fusion? Will DB2 be supported in the new, integrated architecture of the future? Well, at this point, we don't know. "The database decisions for the end Fusion product have not yet been made," says Schiff, who offers no prediction about when that announcement will be made. Oracle could support DB2/400 only on the iSeries, but only Oracle on Unix, Windows, and Linux.

The Fusion product itself will begin appearing in 2008, Shiff says, although elements of the middleware will "appear before that along the way."

But JDE users can rest assured, Shiff promises, that their investments are safe at least until 2013. He points out with a smile that, "We have very few customers whose planning goes beyond 2013." Meanwhile, he suggests that customers participate actively in the user group community so that they have a way to get the best information and participate in providing input.

Of course, no one but a few honchos at IBM and Oracle know the real answer--if, in fact, there is one yet--as to whether or not DB2/400 will ultimately be "supported" by Fusion in Oracle's grand scheme for the future. On the one hand, it seems unlikely that Oracle will take any path other than to encourage (push?) users away from DB2 onto Oracle. On the other hand, while Oracle is known for its rough and tumble tactics, it is not known to be self-destructive. If there is good business logic for letting the iSeries base have their DB2/400 support, Oracle is likely to find a way to make that happen and retain and continue to grow the lucrative JDE install base. After all, there is little or no indication that the iSeries JDE customers have any plans whatever to jump ship.

As Allan Davies, chief marketing officer for Intentia International, points out, "DB2/400 is a key component of the iSeries and offers tremendous value. We see our iSeries customers as highly committed to that platform and the investments they have made in it. This is not something they will easily abandon. JDE customers chose the iSeries because of its lower TCO and resource requirements over the Unix/Oracle combination. We expect them to use the same criteria when choosing their next ERP solution. Unlike the Fortune 100, where technology fashions are important, mid-market companies focus on best value for money and industry fit as key buying criteria."

Terry Plath, Lawson's market development director, ERP, agrees. "Based on our history with the iSeries and conversations with iSeries customers, is seems counter-intuitive that JDE customers would be open to parting ways with DB2/400, as iSeries customers buy the platform for its pre-integrated components and ease/low cost of maintenance. To force them to change or swap out one component of the total platform (DB2/400) seems less likely and more difficult than changing their ERP software to stick with a provider that runs on DB2/400."

Summing it up, Clay Ryder, analyst for Sageza Group , comments, "Porting a DBMS is a pain, so unless there is a very sweet carrot or very large stick, I would think that JDE folks will put this off as long as possible."

Therein lies the conundrum for Oracle. If iSeries-JDE-DB2/400 users would rather fight than switch databases, is there a sweet carrot or a large stick that can get them over to Oracle? Or is a better solution to let them keep their iSeries and DB2?

If switching applications is better than switching platforms or databases, several vendors are waiting in the wings to pick up the customers.

Lawson, according to Plath, is offering a JDE Migration program with an "immediate exit off JDE applications, temporary maintenance support during migration, and a rapid, low-cost migration entrance onto Lawson applications leveraging a pre-built migration tool."

Plath enthusiastically points to a 2003 Meta Group study ("Deriving Value from 21st Century Applications") shat shows "that Oracle's relative TCO, including all costs from original purchase through three years of post-implementation, versus Lawson was nearly three times as much." He also cites a more recent Gartner report ("PeopleSoft Users Face Tough Choices," April 13, 2005) that states, "Project Fusion will not be an upgrade from PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards products, but a migration to new products." Plath concludes, "We believe if JDE users are going to eventually have to migrate to Oracle Fusion at a higher TCO, they would be wise to consider migrating to Lawson today and beginning to save money immediately."

Intentia's Davies is less aggressive, but equally optimistic over the long-term. "An ERP conversion is never an easy decision and we don't expect large numbers of J.D. Edwards customers to toss our their software in the near term," he explains. "Over time, we expect that some JDE customers will be looking for an ERP solution that will give them more value. That's where we see our opportunity to win over some of the JDE customer base. We are 100 percent focused on the mid-market where manufacturers are constrained by IT resources. Our solution offers considerably more value out of the box."

Mary Lou Roberts, a 35-year veteran of the information systems industry, is a new contributor to IT Jungle. In addition to her work as a reporter in the iSeries space, she has spent her career as a marketing and communications professional working exclusively with information technology publications and companies. She can be reached at WriterNewf@aol.com.