What Is Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS)

Oracle has been in the business of developing enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications for more than 30 years. Since first diving into the ERP landscape, Oracle has become more than just a purveyor of finance software. The company has consistently added additional products, capabilities, and functionality through internal development and acquiring other ERP companies.

So, what Is Oracle E-Business Suite?

Oracle E-Business Suite, commonly referred to as Oracle EBS, is the company’s longest-running ERP product. Although version 12 of Oracle EBS was released nearly 15 years ago, Oracle’s continuous innovation model has allowed it to remain one of the premier ERP systems on the market. 

A Versatile ERP System

When choosing an ERP system for your business, you must ensure the solutions you consider are versatile enough to meet your business’s needs. After all, an ERP system is no small investment. 

Oracle EBS has not maintained its place among the top ERP systems by name recognition alone. It is one of the most functional and multifaceted systems available. Oracle EBS goes beyond ERP; you gain access to tools covering Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Currently, Oracle E-Business Suite consists of nearly 100 unique products that fall within 9 product categories. Oracle EBS applications are integrated to allow accessible communication and information sharing. This ensures that end-users deal with the most current and accurate data possible whenever they access the applications. 

The Pillars of Oracle E-Business Suite

The 9 product categories that comprise Oracle E-Business Suite are: 

  • Order Management
  • Financials
  • Manufacturing
  • Procurement
  • Service
  • Projects
  • Human Capital Management
  • Logistics
  • Asset Lifecycle Management 

While we won’t go in-depth on each module in this article, we will take some time to dissect the three most extensive modules in Oracle E-Business Suite. 

Order Management

Ensuring a seamless transition between the various segments of your customer journey is imperative to driving positive customer interactions and maintaining your company’s profitability. To provide the best possible service to customers, you must be working with the most accurate information from each area of the sales process. 

This is where Oracle’s E-Business Suite Order Management comes into play. This family pack consists of 19 individual products. Each application helps automate and enhance a distinct area of the customer journey. 

For instance, the Order Orchestration and Fulfillment module is a group of applications covering everything from creating pricing rules and controls for your products to capturing purchase information from all storefronts to ensure accurate order fulfillment. 

Each of the products within this category is critical for capturing and relaying up-to-date information from the various aspects of your business’s sales cycle. 

Manufacturing

The 19 products within Oracle E-Business Suite Manufacturing provide businesses with all the tools they must manage at the production end of their supply chain. These products cover everything from managing the cost of supply chain transactions to ensuring quality control and industry regulation compliance. 

Having a comprehensive vision of the various aspects of your supply chain can help your business identify areas of the manufacturing apparatus that are running inefficiently or improperly. Identifying these issues early allows your company to mitigate production errors and ensure costs don’t skyrocket. 

Financials

Keeping a well-organized and accurate record of your transactions is one of the most important aspects of running a business. Without it, your business is doomed to fail regardless of how good your product or service is. 

Oracle E-Business Suite Financials is the heart and soul of your business’s finances and encompasses 19 individual products. Think of this product category as a general ledger that tracks every transaction going through your company. 

The various products within this category allow your business to gain insights into the company’s financial health and make educated predictions based on current and historical trends. It also includes tools to help manage leases, customer creditworthiness, and even loan origination. 

Oracle E-Business Suite Capabilities

Over the years, Oracle EBS has gained a host of capabilities that have catapulted it ahead of its competitors. Some of these abilities have been available to users for many years, but the benefit that they can provide your organization makes them worth mentioning. There are three specific capabilities we will cover in this article. Please bear in mind this list is by no means exhaustive.

Oracle EBS on the Cloud 

While Oracle EBS was initially released as an on-premises system that had to be maintained internally, the infrastructure for these systems was expensive to set up and updates consumed a vast amount of an IT team’s time. 

Since Release 12.1, Oracle EBS has been cloud compatible and able to deliver all the features and functionality expected of the solution.  While you can still choose to run Oracle EBS on premises, the cloud hosting solutions available are more than capable of satisfying your business’s needs and compliance regulations. 

If you’re looking to modernize your Oracle EBS solution, hosting in the cloud will help reduce your total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase your business’s level of efficiency. 

Cloud Hosting Options

Your company has multiple options for hosting Oracle EBS in the cloud. Not only does Oracle have its own Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), but you can also use Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure as well. At Syntax, we also offer our own cloud hosting option—the Syntax Enterprise Cloud. 

When you partner with Syntax, you can choose between private, public, and hybrid cloud hosting options based on your company’s situation and compliance requirements. Partnering with Syntax for cloud hosting also ensures that you can scale your infrastructure as needed while maintaining a cost-effective fee schedule. 

Mobile Applications for Oracle EBS

One of the unique features that Oracle EBS offers users is accessing the solution from anywhere via compatible iOS or Android devices. Oracle has released 17 of its own applications that can be used to access various Oracle EBS products. 

While the apps developed by Oracle might be limited in scope, users also can create their own custom apps. This means you can extend mobile capabilities to any Oracle EBS program for which you have an active license. Utilizing these features allows your teams to quickly take their work beyond the office. 

Online Patching

System downtime is one of the biggest challenges that companies face. Not only does it affect users’ ability to complete their everyday tasks and thereby bring business operations to a halt, but it can cost a company hundreds of thousands of dollars. Every ERP system needs to be routinely maintained and updated, so having enough IT resources has long been a pain point. 

Oracle was aware of this dilemma and created a workaround for E-Business Suite customers with the most recent release, version 12.2. Since this update, Oracle EBS administrators have been able to download updates over the internet. End users can even stay online while the update is taking place. This dramatically reduces the amount of system downtime required to gain new functionalities.

The Future of E-Business Suite

Oracle E-Business Suite has a bright future ahead of it. In March 2021, Oracle released an updated roadmap that laid out the company’s plan for the product. 

The roadmap outlines Oracle’s commitment to advancing EBS release 12.2 with premier support through 2032. Given that these dates can be pushed back in the future as needed, you can expect Oracle EBS version 12.2 to be continuously updated and improved upon for the next decade. 

Oracle follows what they call a “Continuous Innovation” model for EBS version 12.2.  This model allows customers to receive updates for their application and technology stacks without being forced to upgrade to a new application code. This will enable users to adopt yearly functionality updates quickly. 

If you happen to be a current Oracle EBS subscriber running version 12.1, now is the time to upgrade. As of the beginning of 2022, Oracle has ended premier support for that version. Version 12.1 is nearing the end of its lifecycle, and upgrading now will provide you with support and new functionality for many years to come. 

Oracle EBS Release 12.2.11

Oracle released EBS version 12.2.11 in November 2021. This update enhanced five applications and added a new UX theme. The update also increased the number of command centers to 32 by adding the Payroll Command Center and Project Manufacturing Command Center. Also, users were given an additional eight dashboards to work with under the preexisting command centers. 

The most exciting aspect of this new update is Oracle’s advancements towards making E-Business Suite compatible with the Oracle Autonomous Database. The new system schema released in 12.2.11 brings Oracle EBS users one step closer to Oracle’s end goal of having all their customers use the same database. For more detailed information on the 12.2.11 update, check out our in-depth blog

Partnering With Syntax for Oracle E-Business Suite

Oracle EBS is a highly functional ERP system that boasts an impressive number of products and features that give companies greater control of their business operations. With more than a decade of premier support left and the new Continuous Innovation model, there is no doubt EBS will continue to evolve. 

Syntax offers a range of services. Including cloud hosting and application managed services. Each of these services is designed to lower your TCO while freeing up your IT teams. We manage and maintain your ERP infrastructure and applications freeing your IT resources to focus on other high-value initiatives. 

We’ve been providing solutions based around Oracle E-Business Suite for more than 30 years. As innovators, we have stood at the forefront of the latest technological advancements and helped our customers gain competitive advantages through early adoption. We helped pioneer cloud hosting services for Oracle EBS and developed cloud solutions that have saved our customers money and increased revenue.

Contact us today to speak with one of our experts and learn how Syntax can take your business to the next level with Oracle E-Business Suite.