2018

GUIDEBOOK
PROGRAM: ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS
DOCUMENT NUMBER: T113

G UIDEB O OK
CONNE CTI NG FI NANCE &
H UMAN RE SOURCE S IN
ORACL E CLOUD

ANALYST

Andrew MacMillen

Nucleus Research, Inc.

100 State Street, Boston, MA, 02109
+1 (617) 720-2000
www.nucleusresearch.com
©2019 Nucleus Research, Inc.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The cost and complexity of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and human capital
management (HCM) pose two of the most serious challenges facing large companies
today. As business technology develops, organizations must adopt new tools and processes
to meet the ever-increasing expectations of both employees and external regulators. To
satisfy these needs, many companies deploy a combination of different best-of-breed
solutions that deliver disparate results according to their individual directives. This siloed
approach is problematic and produces a lack of visibility across the organization, leading to
uninformed decisions, expensive errors, and wasted time. By deploying a unified platform
such as Oracle Cloud, companies can facilitate collaboration and shared insights, thus
improving efficiency, incorporating best business practices and assessing emerging
technologies.
To better understand how companies are leveraging joint ERP and HCM software
deployments, Nucleus spoke with customers using both Oracle ERP Cloud and Oracle HCM
Cloud. Nucleus found that customers chose Oracle because of its innovative product
roadmap and common data model. Nucleus also observed that customers achieved
productivity gains, improved data accuracy through standardization, and increased
organizational visibility.

A customer reduced the time required for

its monthly close by more than 80% after
deploying Oracle Cloud applications.

THE SITUATION
As technology enables employees to collect massive amounts of data, users have struggled
to adapt to multiple systems that fail to properly gather and analyze new streams of
information. To manage and leverage the data produced, some organizations are focusing
on how to better integrate systems and solutions. In doing so, they are confronting the
continued shortfall in functionality, the difficulty of aligning master data, and the expense
and difficulty of managing multiple linked systems. To address this problem, more

Document Number: T113 July 2019 NucleusResearch.com 2

businesses are moving towards single vendor solutions, choosing market suites from one
firm to ensure a user experience that delivers more complete organizational visibility. ERP
and HCM users will benefit from this unification since their responsibilities each influence the
other department’s mission and the company’s bottom line.
Moving to a single provider allows organizations to collaborate and share data instantly.
This real-time integration enables organizations to leverage connected workflows between
the finance and human resources (HR) departments, improving data visibility and delivering
higher returns for organizations that support this type of infrastructure. As the volume of
organizational data increases, it is critical for those entities to understand the data that is
available to them and how to use that information efficiently. Companies can achieve this
goal by moving towards a single provider for the majority of current and future operational
software requirements.

A customer increased the productivity of

its payroll and benefits staff by more than
20% after deploying Oracle HCM Cloud.

THE SOLUTION
Oracle is a leading provider of cloud software with business solutions for enterprise resource
planning, human capital management, customer relationship management, supply chain
management, analytics, and corporate performance management. Oracle covers the offices
of finance and HR through two of its cloud solutions:

▪ Oracle ERP Cloud: Oracle ERP Cloud is a finance and operations management system
and covers all parts of the enterprise: accounting, consolidation, planning,
procurements, projects, analytics, and risk management. With 140 applications in its
suite, Oracle ERP Cloud addresses more than 20 industry verticals.
▪ Oracle HCM Cloud: Oracle provides a complete HCM solution built natively on a single,
intelligent cloud platform. The application encompasses HR processes from hire to retire
including payroll, time and attendance, recruiting and onboarding, compensation,
benefits, work life, talent management, and workforce management. Oracle’s intuitive
user experiences and real-time workforce insights help customers increase their
operational efficiency.

Document Number: T113 July 2019 NucleusResearch.com 3

WHY ORACLE CLOUD
Dated legacy software is a common problem facing enterprise IT professionals and the
challenge of replacing that software can be just as daunting. Nucleus has observed that
companies are often reluctant to undertake software replacement projects out of a rational
fear that a failed implementation will cripple their business. As a result, proofs of concept
and value are necessary tools for convincing customers to change (either switch or upgrade)
their software deployments. Customers cited two primary factors for adopting joint Oracle
ERP Cloud and Oracle HCM Cloud solutions: business process management and
operational best practices.

BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT

A significant challenge facing enterprises that deploy multiple solutions for ERP and HCM is
the amount of work required to access and analyze data from solutions and databases. By
selecting Oracle Cloud, a company can implement connected workflows that enable finance
and HR employees to collaborate directly with one another using newly available data. The
resulting solution reduces time spent on managing interdepartmental communication and
data exchanges and improves the quality of analysis and strategic work.

OPERATIONAL BEST PRACTICES

Because Oracle has extensive experience with finance and HR, they have established and
integrated finance and HR best practices into their respective solutions. Nucleus observed
that customers who modified their implementations expressed regret that they had not
adopted Oracle’s suggested business process configurations. The customers noted that the
benefits of having a business process done “their way” in the software were less than
expected. For enterprise companies looking to carry out complex change management
projects, commitment to best practices established by the software provider saves time and
money and simplifies the deployment process.

KEY BENEFITS

INCREASED END USER PRODUCTIVITY

Oracle’s cloud applications promote automation, most significantly by eliminating the need
to exchange data between separate solutions. New data security capabilities can
automatically flag anomalous or missing information, resulting in fewer errors and higher

Document Number: T113 July 2019 NucleusResearch.com 4

quality of information. Data drill-down and visualization functionalities are also simplified
and easier to use in Oracle Cloud applications than in their on-premises predecessors: E-
Business Suite, JD Edwards, and PeopleSoft. As a result, end users spend less time on
manual tasks such as report creation and data entry and more time contributing to their
company’s long-term goals.

Customer Profile: Advertising Services Provider

The company is an outdoor advertising company that specializes in large format static and
digital billboards, bus and tram advertising displays, and advertising panels on trains and
railways. The company wanted a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product that didn’t require on-
site infrastructure or maintenance. They chose Oracle because of its strong security and data
integrity protocols. Legacy system tasks were constructed with spreadsheets and caused
differences in data quality and formatting errors.
With the Oracle solution, data that is not correctly formatted is rejected, reducing errors and
improving data quality. Additionally, Oracle Cloud applications have automated workflows
for many processes that were previously manual, allowing users to save time and commit
fewer errors. For example, accounting processes and invoice scanning can all be handled
automatically by the system. Additionally, the tools for data visualization are more intuitive
than those of the legacy system, allowing users to drill down into data more easily and
better understand how the company is performing.

“Oracle’s data security and visualization

capabilities have reduced the time end users
spend on verification and report creation,
allowing those employees to spend more time
on other value-add tasks for the company.”

IMPROVED STANDARDIZATION
By choosing the same vendor to handle both ERP and HCM processes, customers will
eliminate costly and time-consuming integration projects and break down data silos. This
simplifies the environment from an IT management perspective and reduces the number of
vendor relationships the company needs to maintain. With integrated workflows, HR and
finance data will both contribute to a high-level view of the company’s performance that was
previously impossible to assemble because of the disconnected nature of old data silos.

Document Number: T113 July 2019 NucleusResearch.com 5

Report types and user interfaces can be standardized across both applications for continuity
and increased productivity, allowing HR and finance employees to use the same tools to see
how their actions affect common company data.

Customer Profile: Logistics Specialist

The customer is a holding company for global freight shipping brands. It offers shipping of
industrial, retail, and commercial goods. The company made the decision to move from an
on-premises deployment to the cloud and decided to purchase HCM and ERP software
from the same provider to ensure proper interoperability and standardized practices across
the company. The company selected Oracle due to its experience as an enterprise
application provider and its flexible timeframe for implementing software upgrades.
The company executed a phased deployment with the first ERP applications for general
ledger and accounts payable going live in October 2016. It continued to roll out HR
applications approximately every two weeks throughout 2017 and went live with payroll
functionality in the last week of 2017. The company’s users required some training and
getting used to the differences, but there were no functionality gaps that caused major
problems. The main benefit was standardization of the IT environment. Deploying Oracle as
an end-to-end joint ERP and HCM solution removed the need for data integration and
streamlined reporting because data and processes were no longer siloed by vendor and
department. The company also redeployed three full-time employees (FTEs) who were
previously responsible for managing its legacy HCM solution.

“Oracle’s out-of-the-box interfaces helped us

standardize many business processes that had
been at odds with each other and enabled us
to retire inefficient legacy software solutions
that were slowing us down.”

INCREASED DATA VISIBILITY

By eliminating information silos created from multiple solutions, Oracle ERP Cloud and
Oracle HCM Cloud streamline business processes that require input from both HR and
finance employees. This seamless integration facilitates close collaboration between the two
departments, as well as better decision making since more people can analyze all available

Document Number: T113 July 2019 NucleusResearch.com 6

data in real-time. With better insights into departmental performance, companies can
proactively manage their day-to-day operations.

Customer Profile: Construction Management Company

The customer is a subsidiary of an international communications conglomerate that
specializes in construction and management of wireless communications infrastructure in
major US cities. Its products expand connectivity for various services including public safety,
emergency services, transit operations, and various business applications.
The company deployed Oracle ERP Cloud and Oracle HCM Cloud to consolidate company
procurement, financials, inventory, project, invoicing, and HR into a single platform. Nucleus
found that deploying Oracle’s cloud ERP and HCM solutions helped the company transform
business operations, reducing administrative costs and increasing employee productivity.
Decision makers now have full visibility of their current inventories and upcoming needs
based on project pipelines while the embedded workflows of the solutions save time and
reduce errors, enabling the company to improve its planning capabilities.

“The Oracle platform’s consolidated nature

enabled us to avoid many complex
customizations and helped us better allocate
resources to different projects, which has
saved thousands of dollars for the company.”

CONCLUSION
As companies plan for the future, they must ensure that their departments share the same
goal to achieve success through collaboration across finance and HR. Unifying different
teams through a single software platform is a competitive edge that companies can
leverage if they have resources to support the necessary hardware and software. By
combining the employee experience with corporate finance, joint deployments of Oracle
ERP Cloud and Oracle HCM Cloud contribute to improving a company’s internal
performance and connectivity. As a result, those companies will be able to modernize their
business practices and add emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain,
and digital assistants to their deployment’s roadmap. Centralizing critical operations within

Document Number: T113 July 2019 NucleusResearch.com 7

the Oracle Cloud platform has enabled multiple companies and industries to equip
themselves with the tools they need for future growth and success.

Document Number: T113 July 2019 NucleusResearch.com 8

 Nucleus Research, Inc. | Boston, MA
Nucleus Research provides the ROI, insight, benchmarks, and facts that allow clients to
understand the value of technology and make informed decisions. All research is built on an in-
depth, case-study research approach that analyzes the results of actual deployments to provide
technology advice built on real-world outcomes, not analyst opinions. Learn more at

NucleusResearch.com

Nucleus
Document Number: T113 Research Inc. | 100 State Street, Boston, MA, 02109 | +1 (617) 720-2000
July 2019 NucleusResearch.com 9