Oracle Releases Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97

As another milestone for Oracle's "Applications Unlimited" program, Oracle today announced the general availability of Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97. This latest release provides an open platform for customers to choose hardware, operating systems and database technologies based on their unique IT strategies and business requirements. Relying on JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97, customers may also adopt current advancements in Oracle(r) Enterprise Linux and many components of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

"Market dynamics and competitive pressures continue to force companies to improve productivity, simplify systems management and improve enterprise integration. As a result, standards-based technologies and development environments are a top priority for CIOs and CTOs," said Bob Mick, Vice President of Emerging Technologies, ARC Advisory Group. "With this latest release, JD Edwards applications further leverage Oracle software so that customers may capitalize on the benefits of a Service-Oriented Architecture, usability enhancements and a lower total cost of ownership."

JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97 continues the evolution of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne toward a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and provides customers with expanded functionality, performance and usability enhancements. Enabling customers to achieve a lower total cost of ownership, these latest tools provide streamlined system management, faster performance for client browsers and improved reporting based on XML standards.

"Our customers are under constant pressure to achieve substantial productivity gains with fewer resources. Through an evolving and more comprehensive technology platform, we are delivering a better ownership experience to our customers at a lower cost," Oracle Vice President Product Strategy, Lyle Ekdahl. "JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97 also continues our delivery on the Applications Unlimited commitment and allows customers to take advantage of the latest technology, in many cases without having to upgrade their applications."

Enhancements Expand Functionality, Improve Usability
Relying on customer insight and feedback, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97 incorporates numerous security, development tools, platform support and usability enhancements including:

* Streamlined System Management: JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97 introduces Server Manager, a centralized web console for the monitoring and management of all JD Edwards EnterpriseOne server components. Server Manager increases visibility into system operations for improved updating, configuring, patching and monitoring activities.

* Web Client Performance and Usability Improvements: To give users significant performance and usability improvements, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97 provides simplified menu navigation, use of browser tabs, easier import/export of data on JDE EnterpriseOne application forms and delivers support for the Firefox browser.

* Increased Support for SOA: With this latest tools release, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne applications are enabled to operate in an SOA natively, without dependency on third-party products. Design tools, wizards and reference implementations are provided to help customers and partners leverage these new integration capabilities.

* Improved Embedded Reporting: Deepening the embedded use of Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97 users can launch a complete run-publish-distribute cycle from a single user interaction, output multiple objects such as invoices from a single batch of data and gain the ability to produce reports in multiple formats including Adobe PDF, HTML, RTF, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint, XML and eText.

Customer Response to Improved System Management Capabilities
Forestar Real Estate Group tested the new installation and deployment procedure provided by Server Manager, as well as some of the improvements in the web client. "We were fortunate to be able to participate in the beta program for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97," said Forestar Real Estate Group Application Support Manager, Charles Anderson. "The new Server Manager feature simplifies the installation and server monitoring activities and the web client has a lot of improvements that will benefit our users. Based upon our beta program evaluation, we're making plans to deploy 8.97 as soon as possible."

Availability
Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 8.97 is available now for licensed customers relying on JD Edwards EnterpriseOne versions 8.9 through 8.12.

About Oracle
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