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Highlighting that Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing 2.3.1, running with Oracle Exadata Database Machine X2-2, processed an unprecedented 16,500 bills per minute or 993,240 bills per hour. The article notes that in tests, a typical night's billing run for a utility with one million customers-47,600 bills- was processed in 2.87 minutes. The article also includes comments from Linda Jackman, group vice president of industry strategy noting that this benchmark demonstrates that Oracle software and hardware systems-engineered to work together, and available today-can process routine customer bills in a fraction of the time traditionally used by most utilities.

Highlighting that Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing 2.3.1, running with Oracle Exadata Database Machine X2-2, processed an unprecedented 16,500 bills per minute or 993,240 bills per hour. The release notes that in tests, a typical night's billing run for a utility with one million customers-47,600 bills- was processed in 2.87 minutes. The release also includes comments from Linda Jackman, group vice president of industry strategy noting that this benchmark demonstrates that Oracle software and hardware systems-engineered to work together, and available today-can process routine customer bills in a fraction of the time traditionally used by most utilities.

"Our brands are committed to delivering an interactive, exciting and efficient shopping experience to all our customers around the world, no matter which channel they choose to use to visit us, from flagship stores to mobile devices," Sir Philip Green, owner of Arcadia Group said. "Global expansion is a key strategic focus for Arcadia, and to do this successfully, we need to make sure the best merchandise assortment is available in each store and channel. We expect Oracle to help us enhance our merchandising strategies to help ensure that we deliver the best possible customer promise every time."

"Our brands are committed to delivering an interactive, exciting and efficient shopping experience to all our customers around the world, no matter which channel they choose to use to visit us, from flagship stores to mobile devices," Sir Philip Green, owner of Arcadia Group said. "Global expansion is a key strategic focus for Arcadia, and to do this successfully, we need to make sure the best merchandise assortment is available in each store and channel. We expect Oracle to help us enhance our merchandising strategies to help ensure that we deliver the best possible customer promise every time."

Mid-market retailers face a unique combination of pressures from today's highly connected consumers. These customers seek the personalized attention and service that smaller retailers are known for, but they have also come to expect the wide product selection and expanded range of delivery options offered by the country's largest retailers. The 98-store Gordmans department store chain, celebrating its 100th year in business, faces this paradox, along with the challenge of balancing its upcoming online offerings with the brick-and-mortar stores that are still central to the business. Richard Heyman, Senior Vice President and CIO for the retailer, spoke about keys to success at the Oracle Retail Midmarket Merchandising Customer Luncheon held in conjunction with the NRF 2015 BIG Show in New York City.

As Kevin Thompson, director of application development for Lids Sports Group, told retail attendees of the recent Oracle Industry Connect conference, the retailer has implemented the Micros Locate inventory visibility solution to enable full inventory access at stores. "It's a customer service issue," said Thompson. "We don't want to disappoint customers." Lids uses Locate for order brokering, providing visibility of inventory to other stores and DCs both from the store as well as to customers using one of Lids' e-commerce sites. Store associates are equipped with tablets allowing them "endless aisle" inventory access, and out-of-stock items can be ordered for home shipment at the POS, either from a DC or a nearby store.

The retailer chose Oracle Retail Xstore (formerly Oracle's MICROS Xstore), which allows for a wide range of customizations without code changes or help from the vendor. LIDS also rolled out Oracle Retail Order Broker (formerly Oracle's MICROS Locate), which allows stores to view each other's inventory in real time and also streamlines shipment. Indeed, Havlik states that e-commerce reaped almost instant rewards as a result of the Order Broker implementation. "As many as 800 stores became available online, and customers found that capability right away - the orders started piling in," Havlik says. "We literally doubled the amount of available UPCs for a customer to order."

Jewelry retailer Helzberg Diamonds is implementing Oracle Retail xStore to meet customers' demand for "commerce anywhere," and to achieve improved ease of use and productivity of the POS system will give customers a more seamless check-out experience.

The Dec. 6 edition of Smart Grid News includes the following article about how an increasing proportion of consumers over the next ten years will be "digital natives" - a generation of consumers who have grown up in a world with constant Internet and smart phone availability. The article notes that this demographic shift will change the way customers access information and monitor their usage of scare water and energy resources. The article includes comments from Oracle Utilities' Rodger Smith suggesting that the transformation of customer engagement from a reactive approach to a proactive one has already begun, noting that technologies are offering utilities the opportunity to have better relationships with their customers.

Make my retail experience 'good for me' say customers in new Oracle global research. Consumers are demanding a retail experience that is global, yet localised for their needs and expectations, and is 'good for me', defined and dictated by individual preferences, discloses new research from Oracle. Findings from the 'Evolution of Experience Retailing' survey reveal that as consumers around the world demand accessibility to the global marketplace, their requirements dictate how retailers should prioritize strategies and key business imperatives to meet customer demand and compete more effectively.

Seeking to personalize the customer experience across all its channels, American Apparel will deploy the Oracle ATG Web Commerce and Oracle ATG Web Commerce Customer Service applications. The solutions will be used across the Web, contact center, mobile devices, social media and in stores

Improving the cross-channel customer experience and optimizing the supply chain ranked as retailers' biggest challenges in a new study by Oracle. The report also found that mobile access is key: Forty percent of retailers said that providing store associates with mobile access to customer, product, inventory and other information is critical to their business, along with providing the entire organization with a more consistent and complete view of the customer (40%)

"For retailers to deliver the cross-channel experience customers are demanding, they must not only manage the growing deluge of operational and customer data, but use it to gain actionable insight and equip employees to effectively use that insight immediately," said Mike Webster, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Retail. "Oracle is helping retailers to turn their data into an asset that connects interactions and optimises operations to drive profitability and support a truly personalized customer experience."

Article highlighting a press release announcing that the Fayetteville Public Works Commission (FPWC) selected Oracle and Infosys Technologies to help support FPWC's smart grid initiatives.  The article notes that after the implementation of the Oracle applications, FPWC will have a more a complete view of customer data, helping to streamline billing processes and enable more responsive customer service.

In a briefing held at NRF 2014, Mike Webster, SVP and General Manager of Oracle Retail, explained that Release 14 is designed "to connect all of these [customer] interactions" in order to create a seamless customer experience. "The industry has made great strides in building great digital experiences," Webster said. "It has set the marker in terms of how we use mobile and online commerce to build a brand. We'll see the industry work more aggressively towards hyper-personalization."

In a briefing held at NRF 2014, Mike Webster, SVP and General Manager of Oracle Retail, explained that Release 14 is designed "to connect all of these [customer] interactions" in order to create a seamless customer experience. "The industry has made great strides in building great digital experiences," Webster said. "It has set the marker in terms of how we use mobile and online commerce to build a brand. We'll see the industry work more aggressively towards hyper-personalization."

The March 11 edition of InfotechLead includes the following article on Oracle's announcement of several major investments for its higher education solutions. The article highlights the new Oracle Student Cloud, which will meet the needs of customers who are transforming their institutions to support standard business processes and to free up IT resources for mission-critical activities. Additionally, the article discusses the planned new release of Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions and new functionalities being delivered in Oracle Human Capital Management (HCM) Cloud and Oracle ERP Cloud. The article includes comments from Mark Armstrong, vice president, higher education product development, Oracle, who notes that Oracle is dedicated to providing its customers with flexible technology options, especially through these significant investments.

The March 11 edition of InfotechLead includes the following article on Oracle's announcement of several major investments for its higher education solutions. The article highlights the new Oracle Student Cloud, which will meet the needs of customers who are transforming their institutions to support standard business processes and to free up IT resources for mission-critical activities. Additionally, the article discusses the planned new release of Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions and new functionalities being delivered in Oracle Human Capital Management (HCM) Cloud and Oracle ERP Cloud. The article includes comments from Mark Armstrong, vice president, higher education product development, Oracle, who notes that Oracle is dedicated to providing its customers with flexible technology options, especially through these significant investments.

"Our brands are committed to delivering an interactive, exciting and efficient shopping experience to all our customers around the world, no matter which channel they choose to use to visit us, from flagship stores to mobile devices," Sir Philip Green, owner of Arcadia Group said. "Global expansion is a key strategic focus for Arcadia, and to do this successfully, we need to make sure the best merchandise assortment is available in each store and channel. We expect Oracle to help us enhance our merchandising strategies to help ensure that we deliver the best possible customer promise every time.

"Our brands are committed to delivering an interactive, exciting and efficient shopping experience to all our customers around the world, no matter which channel they choose to use to visit us, from flagship stores to mobile devices," Sir Philip Green, owner of Arcadia Group said. "Global expansion is a key strategic focus for Arcadia, and to do this successfully, we need to make sure the best merchandise assortment is available in each store and channel. We expect Oracle to help us enhance our merchandising strategies to help ensure that we deliver the best possible customer promise every time.

For its part, Oracle Hospitality will build on the foundation that Micros established in the hotel and F&B industries. Mike Webster, SVP and general manager, Oracle Retail and Hospitality, told Hotel Business that the integration has been going quite well (Oracle acquired Micros in 2014), and that combining the companies into Oracle Hospitality will allow customers to get the best of both worlds: "We're preserving the intimacy and domain expertise that Micros had built and combining that with the scale and global reach of Oracle." Oracle's platform for the hospitality industry offers comprehensive and integrated software, cloud offerings and hardware solutions for hotels, casinos, table and quick-service restaurants, sports and entertainment venues, and cruise operations from small independents to large global chains. Webster noted that the company has several short-term priorities: a seamless transition for customers, an organizational structure based on business segments; and integration of Micros with Oracle's technology.

For its part, Oracle Hospitality will build on the foundation that Micros established in the hotel and F&B industries. Mike Webster, SVP and general manager, Oracle Retail and Hospitality, told Hotel Business that the integration has been going quite well (Oracle acquired Micros in 2014), and that combining the companies into Oracle Hospitality will allow customers to get the best of both worlds: "We're preserving the intimacy and domain expertise that Micros had built and combining that with the scale and global reach of Oracle." Oracle's platform for the hospitality industry offers comprehensive and integrated software, cloud offerings and hardware solutions for hotels, casinos, table and quick-service restaurants, sports and entertainment venues, and cruise operations from small independents to large global chains. Webster noted that the company has several short-term priorities: a seamless transition for customers, an organizational structure based on business segments; and integration of Micros with Oracle's technology.

SaaS will be the norm. Pretty much all systems are already available in this format and most hotels are very comfortable using them - except for PMS. Sometimes this is for psychological reasons of personal comfort with having the data on premise; sometimes there's a genuine difficulty in obtaining reliable, cost-effective communications links. Nonetheless, I am certain this objection will fade over time. Oracle in particular has announced that it will only sell the new version 9 of Opera on a remotely hosted basis, setting the tone for the rest of the industry. Less customization. The age of expecting major PMS vendors to agree to significant enhancements for individual hotels is over. The smaller vendors will probably continue to do so, but it's not feasible for the larger ones. We don't expect Microsoft or Apple to customize their systems for us when we're ready to buy something new, we just adapt to what they offer. The same's true for Oracle, Infor and the other major PMS vendors; their systems are powerful and flexible enough to be useful in most situations. If you want something very specific you'll always be able to find a vendor who'll customize its system for you, just as you can run your own PC on Linux configured just the way you want it, but mainstream will be good enough for most.

Vendor eyes multi-channel as it builds cloud portfolio. Oracle is hitting retailers with a flood of enterprise software as it seeks to establish itself as a key cloud player in the market. The software vendor will launch six products covering critical ecommerce, customer engagement, order management, order fulfilment, loss prevention, and brand compliance. Jill Puleri, SVP and GM at Oracle Retail, said: "Retailers looking for agility, performance, and cost predictability are increasingly considering the cloud. "The new Oracle Retail Cloud Services help eliminate the time and cost constraints that too often hamper retailers' ability to respond to new opportunities for growth." Many of the products are dedicated to enabling multi-channel operations, a focus for retailers seeking to integrate their online and offline business amid rising customer expectations.

Vendor eyes multi-channel as it builds cloud portfolio. Oracle is hitting retailers with a flood of enterprise software as it seeks to establish itself as a key cloud player in the market. The software vendor will launch six products covering critical ecommerce, customer engagement, order management, order fulfilment, loss prevention, and brand compliance. Jill Puleri, SVP and GM at Oracle Retail, said: "Retailers looking for agility, performance, and cost predictability are increasingly considering the cloud. "The new Oracle Retail Cloud Services help eliminate the time and cost constraints that too often hamper retailers' ability to respond to new opportunities for growth." Many of the products are dedicated to enabling multi-channel operations, a focus for retailers seeking to integrate their online and offline business amid rising customer expectations.

Highlighting that Oracle has announced Oracle Utilities Network Management System 1.11, offering new modeling and analysis features to improve distribution-grid management for electric utilities. The article notes that Oracle Utilities Network Management System 1.11 will help utilities improve customer service levels and network reliability; provide operational support for electric, gas, and/or water delivery networks; deliver a positive response to bad press resulting from poor customer responsiveness or major operational disruption and get more out of their smart grid investments and related data. The article also includes comments from Brad Williams, vice president of industry strategy, Oracle Utilities noting that the application provides customers with a complete and accurate view of their specific circumstance including estimated restoration times and validation of restoration.