Oracle Delivers Direct Integration Across Business Applications for Utilities

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Oracle Application Integration Architecture for Utilities Allows Organizations to Implement Applications More Quickly While Improving Customer Service
Oracle OpenWorld, San Francisco – September 22, 2008
News Facts
Oracle Utilities Direct Integration – a pre-built integration between Oracle Utilities Customer Care and both Oracle Financials and Oracle’s PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management – is now available. This Direct Integration will allow utilities to improve efficiency, enhance customer service and lower technology cost of ownership.
The Direct Integration is based on Oracle Application Integration Architecture for Utilities, the industry’s first cross-application business process integration platform. Based upon Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle Application Integration Architecture for Utilities delivers pre-built process integrations across Oracle Utilities products, as well as third-party and legacy applications, to allow utilities to deploy applications more quickly and with less risk.
Today’s announcement supports Oracle’s strategy of delivering complete, integrated and end-to-end product suites on an open, standards-based middleware and database architecture. Oracle’s approach helps customers to simplify computing environments, lower cost and risk, and provides greater choice and flexibility.
Oracle Utilities Direct Integration Details
As utilities work to meet customer demands, adapt to industry deregulations and address environmental sustainability, they must integrate mission-critical applications – like customer care and billing – with corporate financial functions.
The Direct Integration between Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing and Oracle’s financial applications helps ensure a seamless automated flow of financial transactions through the entire lifecycle, requiring no duplication in information distribution between the two applications.
For example, when a utility issues a customer refund, it initiates the process in Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing. The new Direct Integration automatically sends a request for payment to the appropriate Oracle financial management application. Once completed, the financial application sends the final transaction details back to the customer care application so the utility can maintain an accurate, up-to-date customer record. In the future, if the same customer calls with a question, the customer service representative will automatically have access to previous payment information, allowing for rapid issue resolution and improved customer service.
This tight integration improves efficiency, as end users of one application do not need to “learn” the other or make any adjustments in their daily work.
The Direct Integration also allows utilities to reduce project implementation costs and risk, as they no longer need to define requirements and build custom integrations between customer care and financial applications.
The Oracle Utilities Direct Integration between Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing and Oracle Financials supports Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing 2.2, Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 and PeopleSoft Enterprise 9.0.
Supporting Quotes
“This Direct Integration – the first of several Oracle Application Integration Architecture integrations for the utilities industry – will help our customers deploy their critical applications more quickly, reduce technology maintenance costs and improve responsiveness to customers’ requests. The pre-built integration provides a flexible, standards-based framework that utilities can extend to address unique business processes,” said Quentin Grady, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Utilities.
"This integration allows users to leverage the power of Oracle Application Integration Architecture and realize a rapid return on investment. While all AIA process integration packs are based on best-practice designs and support multiple applications, this direct integration provides the core integrations needed to support financial data exchange between utilities assets and our core ERP financial systems, and it raises the bar to help maximize efficiency while lowering the cost of integration," said Jose Lazares, vice president of application development and product strategy for AIA, Oracle.

Supporting Resources
Oracle Utilities
Oracle Application Integration Architecture
Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing
Oracle E-Business Suite Financials
PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management
About Oracle Utilities
Oracle Utilities delivers the proven software applications that help utilities achieve competitive advantage, business performance excellence and a lower total cost of technology ownership. Oracle Utilities integrates industry-specific customer care and billing, network management, work and asset management, mobile workforce management and meter data management applications with the capabilities of Oracle’s industry-leading enterprise applications, business intelligence tools, middleware and database technologies. Oracle Utilities enables its customers to adapt more nimbly to market deregulation, meet ever-evolving customer demands, and deliver on commitments to environmental conservation. For more information, visit http://www.oracle.com/industries/utilities.

About Oracle
Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, please visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com.

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Contact Info
Caroline Yu
Oracle
+1.650.506.8920
caroline.yu@oracle.com

Susanne Penner
Oracle
+1.650.506.1973

susanne.penner@oracle.com