Developing Customer Portal with Oracle APEX - A Case Study
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1) EastGen, an agricultural cooperative, implemented an Oracle APEX customer portal to provide their 8,500 members online access to account information, ordering, and statements. 2) The portal was developed using Oracle APEX to leverage existing Oracle skills and provide a low-cost solution without additional licensing fees. 3) Over 500 customers have signed up for the portal which has provided benefits like reduced call volumes and the ability for customers to access services 24/7.
Developing Customer Portal with Oracle APEX - A Case Study
- 1. Developing Customer Portal with Oracle APEX: A Case Study Chandra Movva Synerz Technologies Inc. & Ed Kloosterboer EastGen Inc.
- 2. Presenter Bio • Ed Kloosterboer • 32+ years exp. in Agri. industry • United Breeders, Gecor & EastGen Inc. • 16+ years exp. In IT • Subject Matter Expert • Field Systems Help Desk & System Admin. • IT Manager, EastGen Inc. • Implemented Field Web, Field Mobile Handhelds, Member Login Access (MLA) a.k.a Customer Portal, Field Mobile Tablets
- 3. Presenter Bio • Chandra Movva • Founder & President , Synerz Technologies Inc. • Board and Exec. Member, TOUG • 20+ Years of exp. • Leadership • IM/IT Consultant • Developer & Architect • Trainer • Oracle, SQL, PL/SQL, Oracle Reports, Discoverer and APEX • Presenter • ODTUG APEXposed’13 • TOUG • [email protected]
- 4. About EastGen • Agriculture Co-Operative with 8500 members/customers from Ontario to PEI • Retail vertical • Headquartered in Guelph, Ontario • Products & Services • Semen products • Farm, Agri. and IMV products • Artificial Insemination & Training services • For more info. check out http://www.eastgen.ca
- 5. About Synerz Tech. • Founded in 2001 • Headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada • Oracle Partner since 2006 • Services • Software Licensing – Consulting and Resale • Value Added Reseller (VAR) of Oracle, Microsoft, VMware, Symantec etc. • Database development, migration and integration • DW & BI Reporting • Enterprise web and mobile applications • Project Management • Training • For more info. check out http://www.synerz.com
- 6. Agenda • Overview • Why Customer Portal? • Solution Options • Methodology • Live Portal Demonstration • Summary • Q & A
- 7. Overview
- 8. EastGen Business & IT Environment • Head Office System • Oracle Forms and Reports 10g • Field System (Web based) • Oracle Designer 10g/PLSQL Cartridge • Field System (Mobile) • Progen System (.NET/SQL Server) • PlanetPress – To generate and produce monthly statements • Oracle 10g Release 2 – Dev, Test and Prod instances • Oracle AS 10g Release 2 – Dev/Test, Prod instances • Small IT team
- 10. Business Case • Driven by members/customers • Request from Board of Directors, delegates and are nothing but customers • Business opportunity • Competitive edge as none of the competitors offer • Showcase products • Ability to offer products and info online • Target advertising by customer segmentation • Facilitate customers to empower their staff by providing access to portal • Ordering and request for dispatch of technicians
- 11. Key Requirements • Simple to use • Reasonable response • Minimal or No latency • Easy to customize and maintain • Fast deployment • Avoid synchronization and/or replication • Avoid/Minimize perpetual software licensing and support costs
- 12. Solution Options
- 14. Evaluation Criteria • Application Type • Query Information • Application Size • Small, Medium, Large • Based on functionality, # of pages • # of users • Budget • Capital • Maintenance • Timeline • Security • End user customization • Ease of Maintenance with in-house skills
- 15. Chosen Solution & Why? • Oracle APEX 3.2 • Leverage existing skills • Familiar with SQL & PL/SQL • Tight integration with Oracle DB • RAD tool • Declarative • Easy to develop and deploy • No additional software licensing costs
- 16. Methodology
- 17. Methodology • Architecture • 3 tier – Oracle DB, Oracle AS(HTTP Server), Web Browser • Review Licensing • Oracle 10g EE • Concurrent users to Processor based • Downgrade to SE one • Oracle AS 10g EE • Concurrent users to Processor based • Estimate Performance and Sizing • Hardware - # of CPUs • # of users • Anticipated performance bottlenecks, if any • Bench Marking • SDLC - Combination of Waterfall & Agile • Agile – Phased approach with 3 phases/sprints • Waterfall – Each phase comprised of analysis, design, construction, test and deploy
- 18. Methodology Cont’d • Phased Approach • Phase 1 – • Core functionality – Security, Ordering products and services, Account activity and Monthly statements etc. • Custom corporate look and feel • Pilot Implementation • Get feedback and refine • Go live • Phase 2 • Mating Reports • Price List • Application Administration • Phase 3 & beyond • Targeted Marketing, etc.
- 20. Landing Page
- 21. Signup Page
- 22. Home Page
- 25. Summary
- 26. Benefits • Account info. and reports online 24 X 7 • Reduced call volume to Head Office • Alternative for ordering services/supplies 24 X 7 • Reduced call volume to dispatch call centre • Facilitated Targeted marketing based on customer segmentation • Self serve portal. • Update account information – including address, phone#, email address and various preferences resulted in reduced call volume • No overhead to handle username or password related help desk support
- 27. Present Status • 520 customers signed up • Upgraded DB to 11g • Upgraded to APEX 4.2 in 2013
- 28. Future Plans • New development of Forms and Reports with Oracle APEX • Convert existing Oracle Forms/Reports based applications to Oracle APEX as required. • Additional features/functionality will be added to Member/Customer Login Portal