Fusion Applications - Laying It Out

Fusion Applications - Laying It Out: A friend recently made a request for some info on Fusion Applications.  After I finished providing some info and answering some basic questions, the idea came up that I should just lay this stuff out for everybody…so, in the words of Hannibal Lechter: "Okey dokey, here we go."

Installation Options

A few thoughts on installation options

• Unless you have a really, really, really compelling business reason, you won't want to take the "Bring Your Own Hardware" installation approach.  Fusion Applications requires loads of hardware investment.  It's a big footprint.
• Personally, I would not recommend running a Private Cloud on your own.  In addition to the hardware required, you'll also need a devops team with a wide and varied set of skills.  Oracle, HP, AT&T, and many others will happily set up and maintain a private cloud for you.  Explore the vendor option before you set off down this path.
• For those requiring integration with 3rd-party or home-grown applications, I like the Hosted option best.  No maintenance headaches with the hosted applications and integration is very easy.  However, I do worry about maintenance response times from Oracle OnDemand and other hosting providers - significant improvement needed here.
• I like the SaaS option due to lower entry and maintenance costs, especially if your customization and integration demands are very light.  However, SaaS does struggle if you need significant levels of data integration or complex customizations.

Deployment Options

This is a very simple perspective on deployment options.  There are nuances and options within options and all sorts of things to consider, but this simple table has served me well.  Helps me keep things in perspective.  Hope it helps you too.

So, in very simple and brief terms, I've laid it out.  Hope you get something out of this.  Questions? Criticism? Additional thoughts or experiences?  Comments encouraged.