Oracle has made radical changes and developments in its hardware and software offerings. In the last quarter, we have seen a significant shift to cloud computing in Oracle’s offerings.  The business software giant has expanded on its Customer Experience suite of applications by releasing Commerce Cloud, a specialized and feature-rich suite specifically designed for e-commerce.  This offering allows the implementation and deployment of a fully customizable storefront across both desktop and mobile devices. Oracle has also released the fifth generation of its Exadata line of converged servers, which combines data storage and networking in a single product, along with applications and middleware, which can be utilized via the cloud or on premise.

These new offerings streamline the decision-making process for any organization migrating to Oracle, or current users who seek a cloud-based strategy. Supporting the move is Oracle’s aggressive pricing as it competes in a full market. The increased flexibility and appeal of its software-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service, combined with the host of new products, represent a major increase in the speed with which implementations can be achieved.  Furthermore, this makes middleware development and deployment much easier and reduces the cost of managed service options for customers.

Earlier this year, we discussed Oracle’s shift towards the cloud increasing its market share.  Now, with the closing of the most recent quarter and the company’s announcement of these and other new offerings, we see these predictions begin to transpire. Oracle’s most recent releases represent a huge step forward and expansion in its strategy, which are notable benefits to both customers and partners.

Jonathan Vanian discusses Oracle’s migration to cloud computing, and how competition in this arena challenges Oracle to become an even better software provider here.

AST would like to congratulate the following employees on their hard work this month:

Did you know that you can access AST presentations that have been delivered at conferences in the past few years?  Presentations are saved and stored on the AST website – you don’t even need a password to access this content.

If it’s been a while since you were able to attend a conference or training event, come take a look.  You might find something interesting or useful.

Presentations can be found at:
http://www.astcorporation.com/News_and_Events/Presentations/Presentations.html

Over the past 9 weeks, we have guided you through the steps necessary to find success in your Hyperion implementation project.  While you may have found success in following our recommendations, it is equally important to maintain forward momentum with your project. Having the right support model can enable you to have continuous support and guidance from the stakeholders.  There may be issues arising as your team adopts the new system, such as bugs and issues that were missed during the testing phases.  This is common in the world of software implementations, but you can mitigate your risk by ensuring that you have a support framework ready to care for these needs.

We recommend extended support from your implementation partner, as well as support from the software vendor. It is helpful to have a period of stabilization during which your partner has agreed to support your business activities, along with any bugs or issues that arise. Continuing to work with that team and its key members will ensure that a proper transition phase is in place.

Now that we have guided you through a successful Hyperion implementation project, we hope you will continue to use these recommendations in future projects and find success there, also.  Thank you for following this series, and stay tuned for additional informative AST Blog series in the future.

June has been an exciting month for us at AST! We have already hired 13 new employees, and are geared up to hire a few more before the month end.

We kicked off the month with a Bootcamp covering three practices. We would like to welcome David A. and Jaymeen S. into our Managed Services practice, Harini B., Anthony B., and Chris W. into our ERP practice, and Jerome M. and Goutham G. into our Middleware practice. Check them out at a team building event this past Friday!

We would also like to welcome Syed A. into our Managed Services practice, Gina M. into our PMO practice, and Dennis G., Navneet R., Richard B. and Vicki S. into our ERP practice. Welcome to the AST team!

Employees today have high expectations for consistent, expedient services from their HR Department across every communications channel. There has never been a better time – or better tools – to modernize your HR service delivery and drive organizational success.

Join AST on Thursday July 16, 2015 at 1:00 PM CDT for a free webinar on how to Let Cloud Empower Your Employees and Enhance Their Experience.  We will share how your organization can gain significant operational efficiencies and exceed employee expectations by enabling multiple levels of service.

Move your HR services to the next generation and discover how you can quickly provide a modern, consistent experience to your employees. Let us show you how your organization can benefit from this innovative solution.

Click to register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5810135367613500674