The CORA Model

Introduction

Oracle Fusion Applications came to birth last september at Oracle Open World. After five years of development the first Fusion functionalities have been released. What does this mean for the customers using eBusiness Suite, Siebel, JD Edwards and/or Peoplesoft? What steps do they need to take? Oracle realizes that pushing customers towards Fusion Applications will chase them away although Oracle keeps on repeating the message that it will not harm their existing investments. To avoid this Oracle announced (yet again) a three-word acronym for the strategy for customers with respect to their existing (legacy) landscape and integration towards Fusion Applications:

• Continue: on your current path, stay with your current portfolio and upgrade.
• Adopt: a co-existence strategy, add Fusion Apps to the landscape while at the same time continue with your current stack.
• Embrace: the complete suite, start from scratch with Fusion Apps.

It is clear that the last strategy option will not be the most likely choice. Oracle aims for the second one where clients use Fusion Apps in co-existence with their current stack. But how will this impact your landscape? In order to move (in your pace) towards the future Fusion Apps stack a roadmap needs to be created with intermediate “islands of stability”, safe heavens based upon product versions with known and proven functionality/technology.

The CORA model is highly suitable for creating these type of roadmaps with regard to:

• Combining Oracle Fusion Applications components with existing Oracle Applications,
• Combining Oracle and non- Oracle applications,
• Providing orchestration of processes and workflow,
• Enabling real time insight in processes.

Moving onwards through the roadmap the CORA Model can be applied perfectly to incorporate new possibilities like new Fusion Apps components.

Based upon a case around the co-existence ("adopt") strategy the impact on your landscape will be shown, including the involved risk areas.