Feedback on Oracle Applications

I am looking for any feedback from any Computer Systems professional who has participated in the integration of any of the Oracle Applications
(particularly the Financials suite, HR, and Payroll) at a large company
(ours: 30,000 employees, 6 billion last yr).

The systems being replaced at our company with Oracle are mostly Mainframe COBOL/IMS/DB2/VSAM, and some Powerbuilder/Sybase. That also represents the average skill set of the integration team from my department. Most have not had any development experience using Oracle7 DBMS Server/Tools.

Any feedback is appreciated, but particularly in these areas:

1. We are about to start training in the Oracle Applications. Based on the skill set given, what technical training (Oracle7, Forms, etc.) would also be advised? Are there particular Oracle (or 3rd party) tools that would be advantageous in gaining expertise in to support integration and maintenance?
2. Tips, tools on porting/converting Mainframe IMS/DB2 based systems to Oracle.
3. Modifications. Although our goal is not to introduce any, I'd like to know if they are generally allowed and flexible, examples and lessons learned on what types of mods are more volatile than others, etc.
4. From the perspective of the client company, some accounts on the value Oracle consultants played in their integration.

Thanks !!!!!

mwe_at_lexiconn.com Received on Wed Jan 22 1997 - 00:00:00 CST