It is almost impossible not to have heard some CEO or CTO at a cloud seminar or congress go dreamy-eyed about cloud. One said to me, “Lionel, I can have a new server running in cloud in under five minutes. It used to take us an infernal eight weeks to do this internally.” I can see why cloud feels like the next big thing after sliced bread: It spells freedom; it defines agility; it doesn’t burn a hole through budgets.
But my counter question is simple, “What do you do with centralized on-premise applications and data which currently are the heart and brain of your business such as Oracle ERP, HCM or E-Business Suite? These are systems you have invested millions in. You have entrusted them with important business data. How easy is it to migrate them to cloud?” There is nervous fidgeting when I say this; I sense anxiety. My audience begins to feel I am the anti-hero (like Jim Holden of The Expanse—if you are up with your sci-fi on Netflix you’ll immediately know how I feel). Cloud was supposed to set us free, it was supposed to liberate everyone from the grip of the technological arcana practiced by IT teams. But the journey to cloud isn’t always perfect. Transitions are tricky and can quickly go pear shaped. Reason: Manual efforts to migrate configurations and data are slow, error prone and expensive.
As a long-time observer of cloud developments, especially around core business applications, one thing stands out. It takes time, money and patience to fix errors that no one anticipated when planning the migration. So it was a delight to see our migration platform move 1, 400 contract lines from the Oracle instance of a large Saudi industrial corporation in 41 minutes instead of the 46 hours it would have taken to do it manually. For a UK-based utility, we saved 20% deployment time and costs when migrating a hybrid application scenario spanning an Oracle cloud and an on-premise footprint. Cloud experts will agree that maintaining the accuracy and integrity of code and migration paths is extremely difficult for hybrid-based applications.
So how did we do this?
A migration tool that manages all your headaches
It’s a question I get asked often. It is at the top of the mind of every Oracle customer planning to migrate to cloud. Here’s the short answer: We used QuMiC, our Quick Migration to Cloud platform that accelerates migration of ERP systems to Oracle Cloud. QuMiC automates manual tasks, including configuration, data, and code migrations. Whether the implementation is in one location or in multiple locations around the globe, QuMiC works effortlessly and accurately, taking out all the rigmarole involved in managing customization as well (Pssst! An integrated analysis tool does that). Our 200+ prebuilt rules for code review ensure that errors are repaired and an automated test routine ensures continued code quality.
Fig 1: List of features of QuMiC
While I am at it, let me slip in the bonus gains. When the migration is complete, the IT team can rest easy because Oracle automatically keeps the cloud instance current. Looked at another way, it means your Oracle implementation will not go obsolete. One CIO all but admitted that QuMiC took away all the challenges in migration from the IT team! Confessions don’t get better than that.
The reason QuMiC is working wonders for our clients – from construction and industrial firms in the Middle East to utilities in the UK and manufacturing organizations in the US – is that it it was developed from a customer’s point of view. The platform kept three aspects at the core of its design:
The hard questions you must ask (to take a sure step to migration)
Analyst studies indicate that overall cloud adoption rates are projected to increase from 58% in 2016 to 85% in 2019. This means migrating your Oracle applications to cloud is inevitable. Before considering a solution, here are the critical questions to ask:
If your answer is largely “No” to these questions, your organization would benefit greatly from a platform like QuMiC (that has a big “Yes” to all those questions).
QuMiC is good enough for most organizations to hit the cloud migration ball out of the park. Having said that, the good part is that QuMiC is only the beginning for your Oracle Cloud migration journey; a number of modules are being integrated into the platform to address your future needs and turn work into child’s play.
Now, I know you’ve heard tech junkies say that you can’t just take ERP and move it to cloud. I say, why not?
Ravishankar Subramanian
Practice Head, Oracle Technologies, Wipro Limited.
Ravi brings about 20+ years of strong expertise and experience in transforming enterprises and integrating diverse people for a common cause. His key strength is in delivering business transformation programs, in addition to the regular sales, account management and delivery management functions. He has been a keynote speaker at top forums like the Evanta CIO Summit. He also holds an executive degree from Harvard Business School.
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