The Alliance 2016 Conference is right around the corner. In a couple months, higher education institutions from all over the country will gather to discover more about Oracle applications, network and share their own product implementation and upgrade experiences. This year’s keynote speaker, Charlene Li, will set the tone for the conference.
Charlene Li gave a very powerful talk at the TED Institute: Giving up Control: Leadership in the Digital Era. In her speech, she talks about business today, specifically the need for innovation and rapid decision-making as it trumps yesterday’s drive for efficiency. How does this influence what it means to be an effective leader? Charlene Li explains that it is less about control and more about empowerment, enabling employees to acquire the information they need so that they can make their own decisions.
Li, along with her Altimeter Group colleagues, recently posted an article on the Altimeter Group Blog. In the blog, Charlene Li calls out three themes, or trends, that she expects will become more predominant this year in the business world:
· Agile customization of experiences becomes a priority
· Digital governance becomes a necessity
Let’s look at Li’s first prediction as a top trend this year: “agile customization of experiences becoming a priority.”
With the emergence of big data, organizations are now able to interact with their customers and constituents in real time, shaping unique experiences for each individual. Organizations will begin compiling data from a number of sources and analyzing it to provide a clearer customer profile than ever before.
What does this mean for Oracle users? Oracle PeopleSoft applications are continuing to incorporate data-driven functionality and analysis capabilities into their products through features such as Pivot Grids and Dashboards.
Pivot Grids support operational dashboard reporting within the PeopleTools framework by providing a pivot table and chart representation of data using the PSQuery data source. This enables users to visually display data in a dashboard. Data can be displayed in different views by performing operations such as pivoting and filtering, which enables business analysts to interpret data in a variety of ways. Users get multiple dimensions for the same data, which can then be exposed in interactive charts and be refreshed anytime the grid data is redrawn. The combination of the grid and chart capabilities provides a very powerful mechanism for interpreting complex data. PeopleSoft Pivot Grids allow the user to analyze data within the application. PeopleSoft includes more than 60 prebuilt self-service Pivot Grids.
Dashboards increase self-service and allow users to access the data and information they need in one, convenient location. For example, the Manager Dashboard allows managers to add or delete pagelets to control what information they want to see and where they want to see it. Managers can monitor direct reports or send out approvals, making transactions easy and hassle-free.
PeopleSoft Treasury Management solutions help organizations control their treasury operations by using a single solution with a robust front, middle and back-office ERP. Within the Cash Management module, a product called Financial Gateway allows organizations to ensure straight through processing with the bank. The Financial Gateway will help organizations to centralize their entire payment process, ensure communication with the bank and receive payment acknowledgments. The PeopleSoft Financial Gateway also facilitates compliance with regulatory requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley, as it tracks and logs all actions performed during the payment cycle.
In Image 10, PeopleSoft delivered the PeopleSoft Cash Management homepage. The PeopleSoft Cash Management homepage allows cash managers to continuously manage their cash position, even while on the go. It also allows managers to evaluate their cash investment options and risk factors before investing any surplus funds.
Anywhere, anytime access: Users can complete everyday tasks such as entering expense reports and time sheets from their mobile devices. Managers can also take advantage of mobile features, including monitoring cash positions, project health and supplier performance, regardless of location.
The second prediction for 2016 is the increase in ethical data issues and questions of privacy as organizations continue to collect information on customers. Oracle continues to keep privacy at the forefront to ensure that application data will not fall into the wrong hands, especially as more data is moved to the cloud.
"We have to rethink how we deliver technology, especially as vast amounts of data are moved to the cloud. If we're going to move all of this data to the cloud, we have to make sure this data is secure,” Larry Ellison said.
As businesses continue to be shaped by the digital age, Oracle users can be sure that they are receiving the latest and greatest technology to match the changing times in releases such as PeopleSoft 9.2 and PeopleTools 8.55.
About Charlene Li
Charlene Li currently serves as the Principal Analyst and CEO of the Altimeter Group, a Prophet company, and is a renowned public speaker, New York Times bestselling author, consultant and thought leader in the technology industry. Li’s book entitled Open Leadership outlines how social media can answer today’s push for more openness and transparency in how business leaders run their organizations. Li’s most recent book, The Engaged Leader, released in March of last year, encourages business leaders and instructs them on how they can become intimately involved with their organization’s digital communication and engagement strategy. Li’s published and spoken works instruct leaders and management on how to navigate through a changing business environment—one that is becoming increasingly digital. Altimeter Group, Li’s research group, serves a thought leader within the technology industry as well, backing trends in the field with analyzed data.
Charlene Li currently serves as the Principal Analyst and CEO of the Altimeter Group, a Prophet company, and is a renowned public speaker, New York Times bestselling author, consultant and thought leader in the technology industry. Li’s book entitled Open Leadership outlines how social media can answer today’s push for more openness and transparency in how business leaders run their organizations. Li’s most recent book, The Engaged Leader, released in March of last year, encourages business leaders and instructs them on how they can become intimately involved with their organization’s digital communication and engagement strategy. Li’s published and spoken works instruct leaders and management on how to navigate through a changing business environment—one that is becoming increasingly digital. Altimeter Group, Li’s research group, serves a thought leader within the technology industry as well, backing trends in the field with analyzed data.
