I have half a dozen news items sitting on my desk that are too small for an article, but too interesting to ignore. That happens a lot around here at the JD Edwards Advisor. So here’s what I’m going to do. Every once in awhile, I’ll group the best items into a single column. In keeping with my promise, here are this month’s tips, traps, and tangents.

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When IBM announced i5/OS V6R1 late last month, it also unveiled a complete repackaging of its application development tools for the System i. That could have a significant impact on JD Edwards sites, as many World and EnterpriseOne shops use System i development tools. To learn more about the repackaging, check out IBM’s new web site on the subject. Then, read an analysis of the repackaging from Joe Pluta, a System i development tools expert.

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Last week, Oracle made it clear that it is far from ready to accept a settlement in its lawsuit against SAP’s TomorrowNow subsidiary for the alleged theft of its intellectual property. Though U.S. District Court Judge Martin Jenkins referred the case to mediation, Oracle said it was not about to talk terms with its German archrival. Instead, the company is gathering evidence of additional copyright infringement on SAP’s part. According to Oracle, the evidence will be presented soon in an amended complaint.

In short, Oracle is not about to give up this lawsuit even though SAP has replaced TomorrowNow’s discredited management team. Indeed, SAP even classified TomorrowNow as a “discontinued operation” in its latest quarterly financial report, though the subsidiary still provides support services to Oracle customers.

As I’ve said before, Oracle will draw this legal battle out as long as possible. Why? Because it makes competitors think twice about launching any high-profile effort to woo Oracle’s customers away.

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If you hadn’t noticed, Oracle recently announced a packaged integration between JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and Oracle Transportation Management (formerly known as G-Log). The integration is supported on EnterpriseOne 8.11 SP1 and above.

I was gratified to see that Oracle’s press release about the new offering includes a quote from Land O’Lakes, an EnterpriseOne and OTM user. Last year, we interviewed Land O’Lakes about their OTM implementation and the benefits they have realized from it. If the new packaged integration intrigues you, check out our case study on Land O’Lakes to learn about their experience.

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Is there an enhancement that you really wish Oracle would make to JD Edwards EnterpriseOne or World? If so, one of the best ways to get Oracle’s attention is to submit your ideas via the Quest user group’s Enhancement Request web site. The site, which Quest created last year, is a proven way to present your requests to the JD Edwards development managers who decide what goes into new releases. By the way, you’ll need to be a Quest member to use this feature.

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After I posted my piece last week about two blogs you should check out, I found another blog that merits the attention of EnterpriseOne users. It’s called E1 Tips and Tricks and it’s written by Stewart Schatz, an EnterpriseOne Systems Administrator in North Dakota. You’ll find articles ranging on topics from record locks to user profiles to SQL routines. Drop by Stewart’s site and tell him that the JD Edwards Advisor sent you.

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Last but not least, a recent survey of Oracle Applications Users Group members revealed that a majority of PeopleSoft and Siebel users still fear they face a forced march to Fusion Applications. In the survey, 61% of PeopleSoft and Siebel users said they believe that Oracle will eventually force them to migrate. This finding comes despite Oracle including PeopleSoft and Siebel products along with JD Edwards in its Applications Unlimited program.

It would be interesting to see what response we would get if JD Edwards users were asked the same question as the PeopleSoft and Siebel crowd. Heck…why don’t we ask that question right now? Please enter your answer to the following question in the “Leave a Reply” box below.

Do you believe that Oracle will one day force JD Edwards users to migrate to Fusion Applications?

Let’s see how our community compares to our cousins across the Applications Unlimited aisle.

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