Rimini pitches at bringing Oracle and SAP into a hybrid world

The real world is – or most certainly will be - one based on hybrid cloud infrastructures. It will be a bit like a wedding:  something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

The `borrowed’ will be the use businesses will make of public information services, tapping into them as and when required by other services and applications. The `blue’ will be the fact that, in such borrowing, IBM systems or software, dear old `Big Blue’, will no doubt play a part.

They will certainly play a part in delivering the `old’, all those legacy systems that are still a core part of many business operations and which, in most cases, do not need to be changed or replaced. They just need to be assimilated into a bigger, cloud-oriented whole.

The `new’, of course, will be the new cloud services that are here, and are coming along.

That is easy to say, but engineering a hybrid environment into that coherent, collaborating `whole’ is another ball game, especially when it comes to working with legacy systems that were never designed with cloud-levels of collaboration in mind. Yes, the on-premise legacy systems vendors now have cloud solutions and offerings, but by their nature they tend towards being vendor-centric. That is not always helpful to users when there are so many other service and applications options that they now need to consider.  

So the appearance of the new Cloud Services offering from US-based Rimini Street shows what may become something of a trend – tools that help users of established legacy systems to integrate them with new cloud services as they come along.

Rimini Street has already established itself as an independent provider of enterprise software support for SAP AG’s Business Suite and BusinessObjects software, and Oracle Corporation’s Siebel, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, E-Business Suite, Oracle Database, Oracle Middleware, Hyperion, and Oracle Retail software.

Now it has added Rimini Street Cloud Services, a new service designed to help Oracle and SAP licensees start to integrate popular cloud applications into their IT landscape. AS a core part of this, the company also announced today the availability of the first two Cloud Support Packages for Salesforce.com and Workday products.

“Rimini Street has already supported client integrations of Salesforce.com and Workday into their IT landscapes, and we are looking forward to helping many more organizations quickly and cost-effectively execute on their Cloud strategies.”

Rimini Street believes successful IT landscapes will transform from large, integrated single-vendor product suites to a hybrid IT landscape of core transaction `systems of record’ integrated with best-of-breed software applications. This model will include a combination of on-premise and cloud application delivery models.

With the launch of Cloud Services, Rimini Street expands its support offering to help clients more rapidly and cost-effectively integrate cloud solutions into their IT landscape, while providing comprehensive support for their mission-critical Oracle and SAP core transaction systems.

For example, a client may wish to implement Salesforce.com as a front-end to a large, highly-customised Siebel CRM system that forms the core of a global CRM infrastructure, or replace part of its Siebel deployment with Salesforce.com in certain divisions or business units. Another example may be a client who wants to move to Workday Human Resources, while continuing to use their fully-featured and stable PeopleSoft Financials and SAP Supply Chain and Manufacturing applications.

In both scenarios, Rimini Street would provide support for any Oracle and SAP applications being migrated to the cloud applications through the transition, and would then continue with support for the remaining on-premise components.

Due to their maintenance policies, Oracle and SAP leave licensees who are moving to hybrid IT environments in the difficult and complex position of potentially having to pay expensive maintenance for products no longer being used. Rimini Street can help licensees save significant IT dollars by cutting Oracle and SAP annual maintenance fees by 50 percent and helping them navigate around these vendor support policy complexities and related costs.

Rimini Street Cloud Services is a packaged service offering designed to help Oracle and SAP licensees transform their current on-premise, single-vendor IT model into a hybrid IT landscape with the successful integration of cloud software components.

It provides full support for the Oracle or SAP applications being migrated to a Salesforce.com or Workday application up through the go-live transition date. It also offers support for core Oracle and SAP applications continuing in operation as part of core transaction systems of record.

The company can assist project teams with data and operations migration planning, and support any Oracle or SAP products that have been migrated to a Salesforce.com or Workday application, allowing the de-commissioned system to remain live and available for reporting and data look-up purposes for as long as an organisation needs such data access.

The company claims that savings from using the service can be applied to fund new cloud implementation projects, gain competitive advantage by deploying innovative, best-of-breed cloud solutions, increase flexibility in how and when cloud solutions are adopted without the limitations and high costs associated with software vendor support policies.

It can also stabilise the core hybrid IT environment by continuing to run and leverage stable ERP on-premise components for at least 15 years after switching to Rimini Street, and avoiding forced upgrades.

“As the IT landscape transforms to a hybrid model, Oracle and SAP licensees are looking for cost-effective enterprise software support models that work in this new paradigm and will let them integrate and take advantage of cloud application benefits while continuing to run and leverage their long-term investments in core, mission-critical Oracle and SAP applications,” said Seth Ravin, Rimini Street CEO. “Rimini Street has already supported client integrations of Salesforce.com and Workday into their IT landscapes, and we are looking forward to helping many more organisations quickly and cost-effectively execute on their cloud strategies.”