Earlier this month we flew to Denver, CO, the home of JD Edwards to attended the three-day INFOCUS conference. INFOCUS is for end users of JD Edwards (those that use the products on a daily or near-daily basis) who are looking for focused education. The conference complemented what we learned at Collaborate this past April, but we certainly noticed a shift. At Collaborate, the Internet of Things was just beginning to work its way into conversations. Over the last 10 months, it’s incredible how much it has permeated the market. In the world of the Internet of things, your machines, people and processes, are all connected and enabling solutions which were previously not possible.
Here are our top 10 takeaways from INFOCUS ’14:
1. New tools release 9.1.5
EnterpriseOne end-user features include key enhancements to support the end-user experience, Oracle In-Memory database option, One View Reporting, System Administration, and Server Management. Updates include a UI redesign (colors, fonts, icons, etc.), improved menu navigation using “breadcrumbs”, drag and drop capabilities and better collaboration with email and calendar integration. Users also enjoy simplified interface navigation, intended for users that only need limited access to a few apps. Read the announcement here to learn more.
2. JD Edwards is accommodating for Gen-Y
Which was a driving motive behind the new tools release. Gen-Y, millennials—whatever you refer to them as, thrive in a mobile, collaborative environment. They are also extremely tech-savvy and driving innovation such as wearable technology to create positive societal impact. JD Edwards continues to make strides in evolving with current technology trends, delivering an innovative user experience that allows business to achieve competitive advantage.
3. Leveraging JD Edwards in IoT
WhiteLight Group partner Paul Demes presented a session “Leveraging JD Edwards in the Internet of Things”. The Oracle JD Edwards IoT platform is a complete set of technologies providing a framework that allows for very fast deployment of sensor-to-server connections. Paul presented distinct use-cases for this technology leveraging the JD Edwards capital asset, inventory and manufacturing applications.
A concerned JDE user asked, “Can JDE handle all the data?” to which Paul responded, “We don’t actually want all the data in the ERP system, just the stuff that it needs to determine a course of action that is relevant to the ERP. Sensors accumulate so much data and in such volumes, that it can be used for many things—aggregating behavioral information about the unit, extensive analytics reporting and analysis, triggers to other system events (as with ERP). Each sensor can either be a simple trigger (sensing temperature, light reading, etc.) and can combine with other sensors to tell a story about the unit they are attached to. They can even monitor each other.
4. Getting started with IoT
While the possibilities that come with an Internet of things solution would get anyone excited, it’s difficult for many companies to pull their concept together from start to finish. You need to invest in end-to-end security and break down barriers to data integration. Talent acquisition and development must be a top priority—consider hiring talent with skills sets in at least two areas such as robotics and mobile development or data science and enterprise resource planning. Some companies are using crowdfunding and partnering with established brands in the IoT space to build a solid platform for innovation and growth. Consider new business models needed to bridge the gap between the 10 billion connected devices in the world and your business (by 2020 that number is projected to be 75 billion). Finally, you must test and trial! Check out some of the IoT projects JD Edwards Labs uploaded to their YouTube channel here.
5. The Industrial Internet
The Industrial Internet gives us a low-cost, high value way to integrate information based on widely distributed sensors, smart machines, big data and real time analytics. It combines M2M communications, manufacturing, big data and the Internet of things. Biggest opportunities are in aviation, oil and gas, transportation, power generation and distribution, manufacturing, healthcare and mining.
6. Business Innovation with JDE
Dawn Baker, Vice President of Product Development at JD Edwards, presented a session on business innovation. We asked her how JD Edwards is adapting to new technology and how businesses will benefit from the new simplified upgrade solution.
“With a great new user interface, new rental management functionality, and over 65 mobile apps the innovation from Oracle’s JD Edwards continues at a fast pace with each new release! But how do you ensure your company is able to use all this great innovation in a timeframe that helps keep your business competitive? You must have a strategy for staying current on the most recent release, which often requires retrofitting your own customizations. This can be time-consuming and costly.
Well, time for some more innovation! JD Edwards is working on a simplified upgrade solution that minimizes the amount of change needed to manage the upgrade process. When you migrate between specific releases in the future, you will only receive the objects that have changed between the two releases which, depending on your situation, can help drive some significant savings; in our prototyping with real customer scenarios, in some cases we have found 45-95% savings in the number of objects needing retrofit work.
Simplified upgrades are just more of the great innovation from JD Edwards to help you drive mobility in your enterprise, improve reporting efficiencies with a financial report writer solution, and tap into new automation opportunities with the Internet of Things!”
7. JD Edwards & Oracle Sales Cloud Integration
Combined together, JD Edwards and Oracle Sales Cloud deliver most of the business processes functions that are needed to run a small to mid-sized business. A configuration guide is now available for JDE users (both EnterpriseOne version 8 and 9) on integrating sales cloud quotes to JDE orders.
8. The adoption of mobility
Is 8 times that of adoption of web in 2000s! JD Edwards is enabling mobile apps in new settings and released 65 new mobile enterprise applications including apps for maintenance, field service, project management, supply chain and health/safety incident management. These customizable smartphone and tablet apps enable customers to accelerate business execution and help their businesses find new ways to create operational efficiencies.
9. App extensibility
Oracle recently announced Mobile Application Framework availability, allowing customers and partners to build and extend Oracle Mobile Enterprise applications. Users can now securely create and deliver a custom mobile experience.
10. New JDE resource library
Available for videos, white papers and tons of other useful content. www.learnjde.com
INFOCUS was a great opportunity to learn about what JD Edwards is up to and network with others in the industry. Interested in attending Collaborate in April? WhiteLight Group partner Mike Schultz will be presenting “Transforming Culture–Paper to Mobile Apps–Real Life Story”. Find out more information here.