Oracle expands cloud-based SaaS offerings to transport and Global Trade Management
Tue 16 Sep 2014
California-based software giant Oracle announced yesterday that from this month it will offer its Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) and Global Trade Management (GTM) solutions in the form of SaaS Cloud-based services as well as more traditional on-premise licensed solutions.
Oracle claims that Cloud-based OTM/GTM will “help customers of any size quickly and easily support business growth and market expansion by allowing reduced transportation costs, increased operational efficiency, improved customer service, decreased supply chain lead times, and mitigated supply chain and trade compliance risk.”
The company, which turned over $37.18bn last year and trails only Microsoft for position as the largest of the software giants, reported in June that its SaaS and PaaS revenues had risen by 25% to $322mn.
The new offerings may be of most interest to existing customers that are more than one upgrade behind in their on-premises solution, but in order to enjoy the prospect of a rapid deployment – Oracle claims cost-effective OTM/GTM solutions can be established within 8-10 weeks – customers may be expected to sacrifice some of the customisation that often accompanies a localised deployment. Oracle and its partners are offering the new SaaS products pre-templated and largely preconfigured. Although some partners target more specific client needs, those that wish to participate in the new Cloud-based products are constrained by Oracle’s ‘time to value’ criteria of 8-10 weeks.
OTM has traditionally been aimed at larger, high-revenue companies and corporations, and it seems likely that the new cloud-based iteration is hoping to target a wider SME market, as well as those clients weary of the inconvenient timescales and expense of upgrading and maintaining bespoke local systems.
Although Oracle is not discontinuing its on-premises OTM services, it will be interesting to see how vigorously the company pursues new non-Cloud OTM and GTM customers in the near future.
