Zebra Technologies
Continued
Single Source of Truth
With so many moving parts, Zebra wanted a single, centralized set of accurate customer data to depend on. “Customer data comes from all over, and in a three-year migration a lot of systems have to stay up, so we needed a way to provide a single source of accurate customer data,” says Hand. “You may have the best systems in the world with tight integration, but if the data is not up to par it will just magnify bad data.” The company chose Oracle Customer Hub to extract, cleanse, and house all customer data, and it used an Oracle Application Integration Architecture PIP to link it to the Oracle E-Business Suite CRM module. From there, Zebra used the extendable SOA components in Oracle Application Integration Architecture Foundation Pack to build bridges from Oracle Customer Hub to the Baan software.
“We wanted to put Oracle Customer Hub in its own instance because we could create an area where it wouldn’t be influenced or tightly coupled with any other instance,” says Hand. “It allows us to get the customer data right from the beginning.”
Now, when customer information is entered into the CRM module, the information gets pushed to Oracle Customer Hub and from there to the Baan software, so that orders can be processed. “It has allowed us to keep Baan moving along as we migrate onto new modules,” says Hand.
Using Oracle Customer Hub to build an independent master data repository also gave the company the flexibility to change deployment priorities to reflect changing business demands. “We have to be flexible with the business side in the timing of initiatives, and Oracle Customer Hub gives the ability to deploy in regions of the world based on business timing,” says O’Shea. “It’s one of the biggest reasons we have it. Yes, it’s a great tool for migration, but once the data is there it’s also a great tool for a single source of the truth around customer data.”
For example, the company is putting in some pieces of the financials application a little in advance while the company’s business customers begin to locate the resources they’ll need to connect to Zebra’s supply chain. “We can modify the scope to align with business demand,” says O’Shea. “ERP doesn’t have to go in rigid if you don’t want it to.”
Zebra has just completed the first phase of the project under budget, deploying Oracle E-Business Suite financials and human resources (HR) applications and some partner portal marketing technology in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. “We’re implementing in North America now,” says Hand. “It’s going well, and we plan to go live just before summer.”
In fact, the project is moving so smoothly that O’Shea says it represents a bright spot in board meetings. “Usually, ERP is sort of scary for companies, but we’ve been very pleased with the progress. Todd Naughton and I present to the board of directors every quarter, and every quarter we get less and less time on the agenda because they know it’s going well.”
The company expects the Oracle implementation to pay for itself within three years, and Oracle Application Integration Architecture is one big reason why. “We want Oracle to own the support through the software products that we buy,” says O’Shea. “Oracle Application Integration Architecture will save money in the long haul, even if we have to invest in the beginning. With a one-stop shop, we can have Oracle own the integration, and we won’t be maintaining the code. We’ll save money in the future, and the project pays for itself in the long run.”
For More Information
Oracle Application Integration Architecture
Oracle E-Business Suite
Oracle CRM On Demand
Loomis US: Delivering more than just cash
Q & A: R. “Ray” Wang
Carol Hildebrand is a freelance business/technology writer based
in Massachusetts and a frequent contributor to
Profit.
