Oracle Demantra v Demand Management Cloud: Structures.

This is the second in a series of articles that will compare the Oracle Demand Planning Solutions of Demantra and Demand Management Cloud. This document evaluates the structures of these two Planning Applications. You don't need to be on Oracle ERP's to use either Demantra or Demand Management Cloud as both can be populated with data from external sources.

Before we dive in, some housekeeping is on order. Information Technology terminology such as 'Application', 'Solution', 'Suite', 'Module', 'Tool' etc. are easily bandied about and are frequently interchanged in blogs, websites, books, podcasts and articles leading simplification, assumption and misunderstanding.

I have tried to follow a logical set of terms so that Demantra and Cloud can be more easily compared. I have created a hierarchy of terminology (see below with examples) to make describing the layers of technology clearer. Some of these terms may not match with Oracle or Integrator websites.

Suite - a collection of various application solutions that fit together (Planning Suite)

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Application - a particular solution for a business activity (Demand Planning)

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Element - a piece of technology that makes an Application function (Database)

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Module - a particular section within an Application for more specific business activity (Promotion Planning)

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Component - a particular tool that performs a specific function within a Module (Promotion Workflow)

Planning Suite & Demantra Application

Demantra ("Demand is our Mantra") is part of Oracle′s eBusiness Value Chain Planning Suite and is a highly scalable and sophisticated Application that can be run standalone or integrated with any ERP System. Demantra comes with a pre-configured ("out-of-the-box") setup though it can easily be customised to suit individual business needs.

The Value Chain Planning Suite includes Advanced Supply Chain Planning, Inventory Optimisation and Production Scheduling Applications along with Demantra but although the collection of data is performed through eBusiness the Demantra application actually sits outside eBusiness. It does not look, feel or function like any other eBusiness application.

Demantra Elements, Modules & Components

Demantra is a complicated beast. It contains a multitude of different pieces comprised of Elements (architecture), Modules (business activities) and Components (tools that perform planning functions). The Demantra Elements are the Database Server, the Application Server, the Analytical Engine, the Administrative Utilities and the end-user Client as displayed below.

In terms of typical user roles, a Planner will only access the Browser, Administrators will access the Browser and the Admin Utilities and technical support will access the Database.

There are 6 Modules within Demantra that can be mixed and matched according to your Business requirements. You get Demand Management regardless and can then bolt-on extra forecasting functionality with the 'Advanced Forecasting and Demand Modeling' module and then 'Sales & Operation Planning' for extra analysis and reporting.

The 'Predictive Trade Planning' enables well, Promotions while 'Promotion Optimisation' boosts the Promotion capabilities, and 'Deductions and Settlements Management' provides fiscal management and rebates of promotions. The Modules themselves all look and feel pretty much the same as each other from a planner browser component perspective. There are some minor user interface extras such as Promotions providing Gantt Calendars that you don't see in Demand Management.

The 6 Modules are managed and maintained via large number of Components and they can be placed into 3 groups:

Setup and Maintenance Tools

Database Admin & Support Tools

Planner Tools

The components are not module specific; you need them all regardless of how many modules you use. If you only have Demand Management, you still need every component. Even if you don't plan on using the Statistical Forecasting functions (yes, some businesses use Demantra as a collaborative tool rather than a forecast engine) you still need the engine to run.

I have called out these three groups and indicated 14 of the most significant components in the diagram below. Although the image differentiates the Tools by colour, the components themselves are all quite different in the way they look, feel and behave.

To give you a feel for the disparity of components see the screenshots below, just a small selection of some of them. Not one of these is used in the same way. Each will likely have a different location and method of access. This varied group of component applications can be very difficult to manage seamlessly or efficiently.

Some implementations will use all of these components and have user roles, access rights and IT maintenance for them while others will keep the visibility of the modules to a minimum and only let the Planners use the front-end Demantra Web Client.

Demantra has a truly class-leading Bayesian Statistical Engine and enables tremendous flexibility to build virtually any planning solution you could conceive of. The cost, however, is comprehensive complexity of Elements, Modules and Components that can make solutions very difficult to design, implement, run and support.

Oracle Demand Management Cloud

Oracle Fusion Supply Chain Management Cloud is the most far-reaching planning suite in the cloud. It incorporates Supply Chain Planning Cloud Suite which contains Demand Management, Supply Planning & Sales & Operations Planning Applications. These three applications equate to the Demantra and ASCP Applications.

Oracle Cloud Demand Management can provide much of the sophistication of the Demantra Demand Management and Advanced Forecasting Modules - indeed, much of it is identical in convention and purpose. Demantra has a greater breadth of functional opportunity for customisation and configuration but it cannot compete for Cloud with regards to the breadth of seamless bolt-on modules.

Below is an image presenting the Oracle Cloud Planning Suites in a wall with Supply Chain Planning as the second from top. This is a mile-high view of the solutions that are available. Notice that there are considerably more options available than the Value Chain Suite in eBusiness.

To get a clearer picture of the enormous scope of Cloud Planning I have called out the major Oracle Supply Chain Suites and Applications and placed them on the Wall below where they most sensibly sit. Beside each Suite are the Applications (if any) that they contain. So, if you wanted Order Management, Product Master Data Management, Inventory Management and Demand Management (all in red) you might require an entire Suite or just an Application with a Suite.

The Suites and Applications can be mixed and matched with ease and as the Cloud updates roll-on, the scope of suites and applications will be increased and enhanced. The most significant aspects of Cloud are:

1. All Suites and Applications are accessed through the same interface.
2. There are no Module or Component layers.
3. Everything looks, feels and behaves the same (the interface is far superior)

What does this mean in practical terms? Cloud is far easier to define, configure, use and maintain. I will further explain how the construction and use of Cloud compares to Demantra in future articles but as an example to illustrate the point:

In Demantra, if you needed to make a configuration change, you would access the Business Modeler (make the changes) then log out and open the Enterprise Manager (Bounce the System) then log out and open Workflow or The Engine (Run the Engine) then log out and open Demantra Spectrum (Update Objects and Validate the Change). Oh, and everyone would need to exit the system while the system bounce happens.

In Cloud, you would make the change, run the plan, update objects and validate the change all in the same place. People who know Demantra will know; the difference in management is off the scale.

To sum up, the Oracle Demand Management Cloud is similar to Demantra Demand Management and Advanced Forecasting and yet it is quite different. The similarity is in the core functionality of Statistical Engine, the pre-configured setup of data and processes but the difference is that the Cloud Solution is considerably simpler to implement and use. The scope complex planning customisations is perhaps less but the opportunity for simplicity of maintenance and gaining planning maturity growth is far superior.

Disclaimer: I am not employed by or paid by Oracle though I have worked with Oracle in the past. I have been implementing Oracle Planning Solutions for 20 years. These Opinions are my own. Any bias, assumptions and errors held within belong to me.