CUSTOMER SUCCESS
Oracle Forms to APEX
– a joint success
Savantage Solutions – one of the leading
providers of financial solutions to the public sector
in the U.S. upgrades to APEX, Oracle’s market
leading low-code no-code platform
Savantage Offers Enterprise Financial Management Solution, Altimate™, for US Federal Agencies
Savantage Solutions specializes in enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions tailored to the unique needs of the US federal market. Their flagship product, Altimate™, serves as a federal agency’s financial system of record, managing the entire financial management and budgeting processes.As a smaller business competing against larger technology companies, Savantage Solutions maximizes its partnership with Oracle to provide cutting-edge solutions. Prior to upgrading to Oracle APEX, Savantage Solutions used Oracle Forms as part of its product technology stack. After researching migration options from Oracle Forms, they found APEX to be a perfect match due to its alignment with the Oracle Database and PL/SQL logic.
Initial Situation
Savantage is committed to delivering cutting edge products for customers. It was exploring upgrade options, so that it could offer a browser independent platform with enhanced usability and security features to its customers.
Challenge
Savantage was looking for a browser-independent platform to move to, with improved usability and security features. The company also wanted to stay in alignment with Oracle, find the right upgrade path and then follow it.
Solution
Savantage decided that Oracle APEX was the ideal technology choice. Savantage also brought PITSS on board as a partner because of their unique conversion tool that helped ensure an efficient and smooth upgrade from Oracle Forms to APEX.
Benefits of Leveraging Latest Oracle Technologies to Maximize Benefits to Customers Led to APEX
Savantage has followed the Oracle technology stack since the early 1980’s. Since then, Savantage, through technology infusion, upgrades their applications each time Oracle provides new and enhanced features and functions in its technology stack.The company is fully committed to the Oracle technology stack. To provide leading edge solutions for its customers, only the latest versions and technologies from Oracle are used. Savantage was looking for a browser independent platform to move to, with enhanced usability and security capabilities. It also wanted to a path that stays in alignment, rather than diverges, from Oracle’s technology path, and APEX was the perfect choice.
The Journey from Oracle Forms to APEX
Savantage Solutions journey with Oracle APEX began with a thorough analysis of existing Oracle Forms and Database sources, identifying effort, dependencies, and potential obstacles. They prioritized their workload types and performed an incremental upgrade to ensure a smooth transition. Savantage created a dedicated R&D team for the initiative, which also helped build up the company’s expertise in APEX. The selection process for APEX was straightforward for Savantage Solutions. The technology’s ease and speed of development, substantial cost savings, and advanced usability and security features made it an ideal choice. APEX empowered Savantage Solutions to provide web browser-independent solutions, enhancing customer usability and experience while maintaining strong security measures.The Upgrade Process to APEX Was Efficient and Smooth
From the very beginning, Savantage wanted to pursue an automated upgrade strategy, which minimized manual work and resource requirements, as well as risks. PITSS’ expertise and their robust Forms 2 APEX Modeler tool were very valuable components of that strategy. The Forms 2 APEX tool analyzed the existing application, provided a 360° view of it, evaluated it, and derived tasks to be completed. Savantage adopted a staged approach, consistent with PITSS methodology for similar migration efforts.
Approach, to Minimize Risks During Upgrade
Savantage Altimate™ resources have an excellent and very detailed understanding of the existing application and the PITSS Forms 2 APEX Modeler tool automated the incremental upgrade into clusters. Once the update was divided into clusters, the clusters were upgraded according to a pre-determined release schedule focused on customer centric approach. With this step-by-step approach, all business context related clusters were identified and upgraded one after the other until the entire application was completed. The definition of the first cluster plays a very important role and was carefully chosen by Savantage. Savantage chose its Asset Management module as the first cluster to be migrated. Ideally, the migration of the cluster should be one that is complex and used by customers, so that the first rollout gives direct feedback on APEX, the migration process and its implementation quality.Due to the Overwhelmingly Positive Feedback, the Upgrade Moved on as Smoothly and Securely as Planned.
Given the low code no code nature of APEX, and that Oracle application development is already a core competency for Savantage, this process went very smoothly. And the incremental cluster approach provided the opportunity to evaluate the small coding compents where a direct upgrade were not possible.
The Most Important Results of the APEX Migration for Savantage
The positive business impact of Oracle’s low-code solution is evident in Savantage Solutions’s improved performance, productivity, and collaboration. KPIs such as time to market and rework have shown a 37.5% improvement, exceeding market standards. The APEX upgrade has streamlined customer usability, increased ease of maintenance, and provided substantial cost savings. Savantage Solutions plans on releasing new innovative solutions leveraging APEX, collaborating with PITSS and Oracle to achieve their goals. The selection process for APEX was straightforward for Savantage Solutions. The technology’s ease and speed of development, substantial cost savings, and advanced usability and security features made it an ideal choice. APEX empowered Savantage Solutions to provide web browser-independent solutions, enhancing customer usability and experience while maintaining strong security measures.
Lisa Kazor, President & CEO,
Savantage Solutions,
Rockville, Maryland, USA
Savantage Solutions,
Rockville, Maryland, USA
