We had the opportunity to attend the Oracle HCM analyst meeting on February 22nd 2017, held at the beautiful Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. The meeting was well attended with 20 analysts participating.
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So take a look at my musings on the event here: (if the video doesn’t show up, check here)
No time to watch – here is the 1-2 slide condensation (if the slide doesn’t show up, check here):
Want to read on? Here you go: Tough to pick the top takeaways – but here are my top 3:
Oracle HCM has Momentum– Not surprisingly, the momentum of Oracle HCM is continuing. A few years ago, Oracle was challenged with references for Oracle HCM (mid 2013), what a difference 3.5 years make: Now more than 100 enterprises go live with Oracle HCM every quarter. More stats around Oracle HCM below.
Single Platform for all HCM – As we shared as a major takeaway from Oracle OpenWorld 2016 (see here), Oracle has long time ago (silently till then) started to build Recruiting functionality on the Oracle (Fusion) Cloud platform, same schema, APIs, standards etc. like all the Oracle SaaS suite. So the days of the duopoly of Oracle HCM on the one side and Taleo on the other side are counted, Leone shared at the meeting that usual, large customers could use the new Recruiting capability by end of 2017. Replacing acquired capabilities on a new platform is never easy for any vendor, executd in totality has only been done on very few occasions in enterprise software history. So Oracle has taken some key steps into this direction – looking forward to learn about the first live customers on the new Talent Acquisition capabilities.
Learning Progress – Almost two years ago, Oracle surprised the market with the announcement of Oracle Learning at HCM World in 2014. Since then the module has made good progress, adding key new capabilities (e.g. Learning Communities) and more traditional ones (like Classroom Training). 100 customers live today is a good milestone, when one remembers that the product is only sold as part of the overall Oracle HCM Suite and not stand alone.
Good progress by Oracle, which is gaining relative strength in regards of its two key competitors, likely to culminate when all its HCM capabilities are on a single platform. Operational efficiencies and organizational agility increase when that point is reached, a win / win for customers and vendors, a key milestone to monitor.
On the concern side, Oracle needs to become clear on its approach of Machine Learning (ML, if you like AI) in regards of HCM. Too much potential here and while we heard the Oracle Adaptive Intelligence story once more as it pertains web display ads / next best action – it is not clear where and how ML will make a difference for Oracle HCM users overall. But there is time to address this, maybe at HCM World. Oracle has made progress and additions to the user interface like e.g. QuickActions and Smart Overlays – but it still feels like an aging user experience. Kudos to Oracle for letting (once again) the analysts use the software – this time the mobile version, which is well done and rounded, it has only a few kinks. What may prevent Oracle from a UI revision could be an aggressive adoption of voice that should replace most ESS and MSS screens. An area to watch.
But overall good progress by Oracle that is pushing its HCM offering forward on all fronts. What the adoption of the IaaS Gen 2 may mean for SaaS products like Oracle HCM remains to be seen. It is clear that adoption and sales challenges are not with the product side for the year to come – at least from the general perceptive, so it looks like if there are challenges for Oracle HCM in 2017, they will be more on the Marketing, Sales and Services side. Always a good place to be for a SaaS product vendor. We will be watching.
Want to learn more? Checkout the Storify collection below (if it doesn’t show up – check here).
And if you want to read more of my findings on Oracle technology - I suggest:
Find more coverage on the Constellation Research website here and checkout my magazine on Flipboard and my YouTube channel here.
So take a look at my musings on the event here: (if the video doesn’t show up, check here)
Want to read on? Here you go: Tough to pick the top takeaways – but here are my top 3:
Oracle HCM has Momentum– Not surprisingly, the momentum of Oracle HCM is continuing. A few years ago, Oracle was challenged with references for Oracle HCM (mid 2013), what a difference 3.5 years make: Now more than 100 enterprises go live with Oracle HCM every quarter. More stats around Oracle HCM below.
 |
| Oracle Cloud HCM Momentum |
Single Platform for all HCM – As we shared as a major takeaway from Oracle OpenWorld 2016 (see here), Oracle has long time ago (silently till then) started to build Recruiting functionality on the Oracle (Fusion) Cloud platform, same schema, APIs, standards etc. like all the Oracle SaaS suite. So the days of the duopoly of Oracle HCM on the one side and Taleo on the other side are counted, Leone shared at the meeting that usual, large customers could use the new Recruiting capability by end of 2017. Replacing acquired capabilities on a new platform is never easy for any vendor, executd in totality has only been done on very few occasions in enterprise software history. So Oracle has taken some key steps into this direction – looking forward to learn about the first live customers on the new Talent Acquisition capabilities.
 |
| Oracle HCM Cloud in one slide |
Learning Progress – Almost two years ago, Oracle surprised the market with the announcement of Oracle Learning at HCM World in 2014. Since then the module has made good progress, adding key new capabilities (e.g. Learning Communities) and more traditional ones (like Classroom Training). 100 customers live today is a good milestone, when one remembers that the product is only sold as part of the overall Oracle HCM Suite and not stand alone.
 |
| Oracle Learning Cloud - Customer Characteristics |
MyPOV
Good progress by Oracle, which is gaining relative strength in regards of its two key competitors, likely to culminate when all its HCM capabilities are on a single platform. Operational efficiencies and organizational agility increase when that point is reached, a win / win for customers and vendors, a key milestone to monitor. On the concern side, Oracle needs to become clear on its approach of Machine Learning (ML, if you like AI) in regards of HCM. Too much potential here and while we heard the Oracle Adaptive Intelligence story once more as it pertains web display ads / next best action – it is not clear where and how ML will make a difference for Oracle HCM users overall. But there is time to address this, maybe at HCM World. Oracle has made progress and additions to the user interface like e.g. QuickActions and Smart Overlays – but it still feels like an aging user experience. Kudos to Oracle for letting (once again) the analysts use the software – this time the mobile version, which is well done and rounded, it has only a few kinks. What may prevent Oracle from a UI revision could be an aggressive adoption of voice that should replace most ESS and MSS screens. An area to watch.
But overall good progress by Oracle that is pushing its HCM offering forward on all fronts. What the adoption of the IaaS Gen 2 may mean for SaaS products like Oracle HCM remains to be seen. It is clear that adoption and sales challenges are not with the product side for the year to come – at least from the general perceptive, so it looks like if there are challenges for Oracle HCM in 2017, they will be more on the Marketing, Sales and Services side. Always a good place to be for a SaaS product vendor. We will be watching.
Want to learn more? Checkout the Storify collection below (if it doesn’t show up – check here).
Recent blog posts on Oracle:
Future of Work / HCM / SaaS research:
Also worth a look for the full picture
- Event Report - Oracle OpenWorld - the HCM perspective - Almost no news, but wait... - read here.
- First Take - Early Oracle OpenWorld 2016 Keynotes - read here
- Event Preview - Oracle OpenWorld 2016 - What to expect, what to watch for ... will IaaS start Clicking? - read here
- Market Move - Oracle acquires NetSuite - Oddly consolidation means more options for customers - read here
- News Analysis - Oracle Unveils Suite of Breakthrough Services.. or short: Oracle Cloud Machine - read here
- Progress Report - Oracle Cloud - More ready than ever, now needs adoption - read here
- Event Report - Oracle Openworld 2015 - Top 3 Takeaways, Top 3 Positives & Concerns - read here
- News Analysis - Quick Take on all 22 press releases of Oracle OpenWorld Day #1 - #3 - read here
- First Take - Oracle OpenWorld - Day 1 Keynote - Top 3 Takeaways - read here
- Event Preview - Oracle Openworld - watch here
Future of Work / HCM / SaaS research:
- Event Report - Oracle HCM World - Innovation around the Core - read here
- Event Report - Oracle HCM World - Full Steam ahead, a Learning surprise and potential growth challenges - read here
- First Take - Oracle HCM World Day #1 Keynote - off to a good start - read here
- Progress Report - Oracle HCM gathers momentum - now it needs to build on that - read here
- Oracle pushes modern HR - there is more than technology - read here. (Takeaways from the recent HCMWorld conference).
- Why Applications Unlimited is good a good strategy for Oracle customers and Oracle - read here.
Also worth a look for the full picture
- Event Report - Oracle PaaS Event - 6 PaaS Services become available, many more announced - read here
- Progress Report - Oracle Cloud makes progress - but key work remains in the cellar - read here
- News Analysis - Oracle discovers the power of the two socket server - or: A pivot that wasn't one - TCO still rules - read here
- Market Move - Oracle buys Datalogix - moves more into DaaS - read here
- Event Report - Oracle Openworld - Oracle's vision and remaining work become clear - they are both big - read here
- Constellation Research Video Takeaways of Oracle Openworld 2014 - watch here
- Is it all coming together for Oracle in 2014? Read here.
- From the fences - Oracle AR Meeting takeaways - read here (this was the last analyst meeting in spring 2013)
- Takeaways from Oracle CloudWorld LA - read here (this was one of the first cloud world events overall, in January 2013)
And if you want to read more of my findings on Oracle technology - I suggest:
- Progress Report - Good cloud progress at Oracle and a two step program - read here.
- Oracle integrates products to create its Foundation for Cloud Applications - read here.
- Java grows up to the enterprise - read here.
- 1st take - Oracle in memory option for its database - very organic - read here.
- Oracle 12c makes the database elastic - read here.
- How the cloud can make the unlikeliest bedfellows - read here.
- Act I - Oracle and Microsoft partner for the cloud - read here.
- Act II - The cloud changes everything - Oracle and Salesforce.com - read here.
- Act III - The cloud changes everything - Oracle and Netsuite with a touch of Deloitte - read here.
Find more coverage on the Constellation Research website here and checkout my magazine on Flipboard and my YouTube channel here.
More on Oracle: