ORACLE FROM PAGE 26 Joshua Greenberg, project man- that is stick AIA in the middle and
that; as passengers board a plane, ager at Subaru of America, which say, ‘Here’s the black box,’” Green-a wing falls off. has E-Business Suite, Siebel CRM baum said. “It makes G-Log work
Subsequently, Oracle proceeded and G-Log Transportation Manage- with E-Business without having to
to buy numerous software com- ment applications from Oracle. maintain integration points. If AIA
panies. Oracle has rationalized its “My hope is that Oracle is going can’t do that, the whole strategy falls
software purchases by promising to provide that gratis. If you have apart. It’s a real keystone for [Ora-customers a unified code base a number of Oracle products … cle’s] strategy.”
through Fusion Applications. (Ver- there’s a lot of value in finding Greenbaum said that to be suc-sion 1.0 is expected this year.) those integration points. It’s easier cessful, AIA has to be “very exten-
In the meantime, Oracle has to market, quicker to value and sive” with industryanddatamodels
built up its Fusion Middleware makes our users happier.” that are “very, very fast” so that inte-strategy and portfolio with a two- But industry analysts are less gration happens in as much a real-pronged approach: that Fusion enthusiastic, not so much in what time fashion as customers expect
Middleware would help compa- AIA might be able to accomplish (versus batch-type processing).
nies integrate Oracle—and other— with process integration, but in its “Oracle definitely needs to get
applications using SOA customers to buy this,”
methodology, standards and Anatomy of AIA Greenbaum said. “
With-technology and that it would out this piece of technol-be the underlying platform Oracle’s offering includes: ogy, the long-term strat-for Fusion Applications, Enterprise Object Library Defines egy just doesn’t work. My
which would make it easier representation of business entities such understanding is custom-for customers using Fusion as sales orders, purchase orders, items ers are very interested.
Middleware to migrate from and invoices They’re saying, ‘Give it to
their old applications to the Enterprise Business Services
Web service definition for performing a us now, give it to us yes-
next-generation suite. business task terday.’ Clearly there’s a
However, the future-tense SOA Governance With Business demand. But if the product
development strategy left Service Repository and Composite isn’t there today, there’s an
customers in a present-tense Application Validation System execution issue.”
quandary, according to Aubre- Composite Application Error
Management and Resolution To Aubrejuan admitted to
juan. manage errors in integration layer initial stumbling blocks
“[Customers said,] ‘Help Reference Architecture Concepts with the AIA strategy.
us, not by starting with the and Technologies Guide, Integration “The challenge we had
future, but by starting with Developer’s Guide at first is we only had Pro-what we have today,’” he said. Fusion Middleware Technology cess Integration Packs,” he
“That’s really where AIA came that puts AIA methodologies to work said. “The story is not the
into the picture—to define an Source: e WEEK reporting PICs themselves, but how
architecture that standardizes it’s being done. We didn’t
how applications work together, feasibility as a product. have the Foundation Pack. We were
so it’s not just technology but an “AIAdoesn’texist,” said Bernstein only talking to customers where
application perspective.” Research analyst Charles Di Bona. they had a specific need—when
“So we very specifically defined With the growing number of they had to edge applications from
business objects—common stan- disparate applications under the us [that needed integration]. When
dard definitions—that allow cus- Oracle umbrella—Oracle just I go and talk to customers, I spend
tomers to integrate not just Oracle keeps adding to the list with more most of [my] time on AIA because
applications but outside apps and acquisitions—Enterprise Applica- it really helps them. Anyone with a
homegrown apps,” he said. tions Consulting principal Joshua global picture really understands.
It’s a concept customers are Greenbaum said the AIA strategy “It’s getting there,” Aubrejuan
thrilled about, though they say that is more strategic internally than it continued. “In five years, [AIA] will
it’s a little vague. is externally. be the only way things are built
“My understanding is that Fu- “For [Oracle] to keep all these cus- and deployed. Applications will be
sion Middleware is the platform, tomers happy with new functionality deployed from the middleware out.
and AIA is the processes,” said and innovation, one way they can do It’s still early.” ´
