It has been a while since I had the “WOW-effect” about a new application.

Most internet applications have been set-up with technologies that we find normal nowadays. Technologies like partial page refresh (AJAX), drag and drop layout, WEB 2.0 like wiki, communities etc.

But these rules do not seem not to apply to ERP systems. They are still robust, pretty user-unfriendly en most of all not appealing.

Well, Oracle seems to have done it.

Oracle introduced a new layout with Peoplesoft 9.1 in combination with Peopletools 8.50, with building blocks of today’s technologies.

Tasper is a Dutch application in which employee’s can choose their own package of secondary conditions of labour. For clients it can be interesting to bye a package like this from the shelf rather than making it all yourself as ESS. These clients would need to integrate Tasper with their own HCM module, by means of synchronization. We have chosen to synchronize Peoplesoft HCM with Tasper by means of synchronous XML messaging.

The Choice for Messaging.

An alternative to messaging would be using a databaselink. Using the databaselink it would be possible to use the databaselink in combination with Oracle triggers. If I would commit a change in Tasper it would immediately would be inserted in the relevant record in PeopleSoft. This choice would bring along with it the risk that errors in one system would affect the other system. Instead it would also be possible to synchronize only during a batch update. Then the synchronization would have a delay of up to 1 day. Besides in the near further there will probably be a tendency to connect all relevant applications to each other by means of a BUS and/or BPEL, which would work by means of messaging as well. These are all reasons to choose for messaging as a means of synchronization.

In this blog we’ll continue where we left some time ago. The aim is to create a page containing the blocks which can be ordered by the user. First we create a new page containing some groupboxes with content. Every groupbox must be placed in a container, for we will switch groupboxes within these containers. To create a container, draw a frame around each individual groupbox and disable the frame border. To be able to address the groupboxes later, add a custom style class (added to the stylesheet), lets say ‘DRAGGABLE’ to each groupbox. Put a static html object at the bottom of your page in which we’ll put our javascript. So far for the server side.

More and more companies use selfservice funcionality. PeopleSoft deliveres some out-of-the-box selfservice functionality, but what if you want to develope some yourself?

Here are some pointers to get you on the right track:

On Tuesday March 31, 2009 the annual Oracle Benelux User Group will be held in Antwerp. Logica will be present as one of the gold sponsor. Our key presentation is focused on Flexible employee Benefits in Oracle.

Employee benefits are of increasing importance in today’s labor market. The relationship between employer and employees is more mature than ever, and employees are keen on making individual benefit choices. Facilitating those individual choices is becoming increasingly challenging, and costly, for HR departments. Giving employees freedom of choice by means of self service and showing, in real time, the financial implications of individual choices is both highly motivating for employees and highly efficient for the HR department. Logica will explain her vision on this development and will, based on the Tasper Benefit Shop explain how this can be supported in an Oracle / PeopleSoft environment.

In our stand we will present a running demo of the Tasper / PeopleSoft solution. We are also providing information on Famous, our conversion and migration factory and Oracle Application Integration Architecture (AIA).

The last event, held in Utrecht in 2007, attracted around 800 visitors. I’m wondering how the economic situation will affect the number of attendees and the topics presented. Focus should be on cost saving solutions. Also I’m looking forward to the presentation by José Lazares on AIA. Maybe not directly a cost saving solution, but certainly the way forward in embracing the future Oracle applications.