E-Business Suite
Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS), also commonly known as Oracle Applications, is a suite of business applications made up of a large number of distinct software modules. Some of the modules are: Oracle Financials, Oracle CRM, Oracle Supply Chain Application,Oracle Logistics , Oracle Order Management and Human Resources (HRMS).
History
E-Business Suite has its origins in the financial software written by Oracle UK in the late 1980s.
Current release, E-Business Suite R12.2 was released in September 2013. It superseded release 12.1 released in May 2009. The base release of R12 (12.0) was released on 31 January 2007. The main release before 12.0 was E-Business Suite 11i (not to be confused with the database, Oracle 11g).
Release 12.0(/1) had several functional upgrades from 11i and updated the technology stack to newer versions. R12.2 had some functional upgrades, but the main change was a full overhaul of the technology stack. In R12.2 Oracle moved fully to the Fusion MiddleWare Stack, using Weblogic as the middle tier. Also the option of online patching was introduced, which results in 2 technology stacks (runtime and patch). The patch technology stack (including the appl_top) can be patched/upgraded. At a later time, the patch and runtime technology stacks are switched, making the patched technology stack the runtime stack. In the database this is accomplished by using Oracle Edition Based Redefinition (making up the runtime and patch editions). This technology allows a minimum downtime for patching and upgrades.
Parallel to Oracle e-Business Suite Oracle has developed Oracle Fusion Applications. This is a fully functional ERP system built on open standards and Fusion Technology Stack. It attempts to give customers the Best-of-Breed from Oracle e-Business-Suite, PeopleSoft, JDEdwards, Siebel while being ready for a SOA-oriented future. It is possible to exchange parts of e-Business Suite with parts of Fusion Applications. Oracle has vowed to keep Oracle e-Business Suite a supported and up-to-date platform.
Architecture
The technical application structure is approximately as follows:
- Database layer - containing the database (stand-alone or RAC).
- Application server layer - containing the application server.
- Development tools layer - containing the run-times for Forms and Reports used by the application.
- Application layer - containing the business application modules.
The versions of the above software components are frequently older than the current releases of the standalone products. However, the latest release, E-Business Suite R12, uses the most recent versions of the Oracle Application Server, Forms and Reports.
Also see
- Oracle Applications FAQ - Frequently asked questions
