University of Pittsburgh Selects Oracle ERP Cloud to Help Build Better Lives

The University of Pittsburgh, a leading higher-education institution, has selected Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Cloud to support its mission to advance teaching, research and public service. With Oracle ERP Cloud, the University of Pittsburgh will be able to improve operational efficiency, modernize its business and finance operations and gain deeper organization insight.

Founded in 1787, the University of Pittsburgh is one of the oldest higher education institutions in the United States and attracts more than 34,000 students each year. To improve the productivity of its finance and operations team, the university needed to replace its legacy financial management system with a modern cloud solution that would improve agility and future-proof the organization. The school selected Oracle ERP Cloud for its ability to manage finance, human resource and student data on a single, highly secure and scalable cloud solution.

“Technology plays a strategic role in the university’s success and the achievement of our mission. To maximize value and impact, our technology must be a coordinated effort across business functions,” said Monte Ciotto, Associate Vice Chancellor, Financial Information Systems. “With Oracle ERP Cloud we’ll be able to manage finance, HR and student data on the same platform, creating a single source of truth that improves efficiency and organizational insights.”

Oracle ERP Cloud helps organizations of all sizes, across multiple industries, increase productivity, lower costs and improve controls. With Oracle ERP Cloud, the University of Pittsburgh will not only be able to embrace current best practices, but it will also enable the University to integrate emerging technology to support changing organizational demands. The University of Pittsburgh also has plans to implement Oracle Human Capital Management (HCM) Cloud for core HR processes, including payroll, time and attendance, and talent acquisition. The University’s unified ERP and HCM solution will enhance organizational alignment and business insight.

“Technology is an incredible enabler that can help organizations like the University of Pittsburgh not just streamline processes, but also improve engagement and transform existing business processes and models,” said Rondy Ng, senior vice president of applications development at Oracle. “We look forward to partnering with the University of Pittsburgh as it embraces new innovations and works to deliver the best possible higher education experience.”

Sports Fans Call Foul on Long Concession Wait Times at Stadiums

Sports fans have had it with long concession wait times and are willing to pay for more modern conveniences and experiences shows a new global study from Oracle Food and Beverage. Nearly all—94 percent—of respondents noted they buy food and beverages while at sporting events and 58 percent said they would spend even more if they didn’t have to wait in lines. Seventy-six percent added that in-seat delivery would improve their stadium experience.   

“There is nothing more frustrating for sports goers than missing part of the game while they wait for a hot dog and beer,” said Simon de Montfort Walker, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Food and Beverage. “Stadiums must modernize the ordering and delivery of food and beverages to improve the experience and keep fans coming back. The survey shows that fans are amazingly tech-savvy and expect to bring the same conveniences they have in their everyday lives—self ordering, food delivery, mobile payments, etc. —to their favorite sporting venues.”

Modern Technology Scores with Fans

The sports industry is fast-paced and stadiums need to keep up with the growing demands of their extremely loyal fan base. The survey showed that when it comes to food and beverages, fans would welcome self-ordering from kiosks and mobile apps to speed the process. And much like they have come to expect from emerging food delivery services—they want the food to be delivered to them in their seat, so they spend their time watching the game. And, they expect all this to be paid for via the click of a button, via cashless or modern payment systems or loaded tickets. 

While fans were also open to AR/VR to view menus and for drone food delivery, they drew the line at robots delivering their food. Sixty-three percent of fans were also interested in joining a loyalty program to get even more benefit from the game-day outing.

“Venues can no longer think of game-day as a moment in time,” added de Montfort Walker. “It’s an opportunity to engage fans before, during, and after a game in an easy and seamless manner for a fan. For example, loyalty programs members may receive a coupon for a $1 hot dog during the seventh inning stretch at a baseball game or free wings at a venue owned restaurant outside the stadium after a game. It’s a win-win that rewards the fan and helps the venue move product and increase revenue.”

The study of over 2000 sports fans from the U.S., UK, Germany, Australia and Canada, highlighted what fans expect from their game-day experience:

• To enjoy food and drink: Seventy-two percent of US fans always or usually purchase food at a game while 76 percent buy a beverage, spending an average of $42 per game. Australia fans spent an average of $34 per game and Canada, $33. The total for the UK and Germany combined was €30.
• To stay in their seats: Nearly 30 percent of fans globally ranked being able to stay in their seats as the most important way to improve the food and beverage experience at the stadium.
• Shorter wait times: Fifty-nine percent of fans would spend more on concessions if their wait time were cut in half. In fact, 10 minutes was the maximum acceptable wait time to buy food and drinks according to those surveyed which is why 74 percent said they would like to pick up an order from an express line at a concession stand if offered.
• Easier ordering options: Sixty-eight percent were highly interested in using a mobile application to order food and beverage, and 63 percent said they would use a self-service kiosk, mobile app or tablet for purchases.
• Futurist technology that doesn’t disrupt the game: Fans are already using paperless tickets and contactless payments, but are less interested in too-futuristic technology. For example, 95 percent of fans were not interested in receiving an order from a robot but 41 percent said they would be likely to use drone delivery or voice activated virtual assistants. Thirty-seven percent would use augmented reality to see food options.
• Loyalty rewards: Fans globally are interested in joining a loyalty rewards program with Germany and the US leading the way at 70 percent and 69 percent. However, less than 4 percent actually participate in these programs in the US and 1 percent in Canada, showing that more needs to be done to engage the fans and make it worth their while.
• Mobile conveniences: Cashless payments and paperless tickets proved to go a long way in improving the fan experience for survey respondents. 

Methodology

Online surveys were collected using a third party online consumer panel. Respondents met the following requirements as part of the survey screener:

• Avid fan of the target sport
• Attended at least one live sporting event of the target sport in the last 12 months
• Ages 18-64
• In the US, efforts were made to get an even spread across the major sports and types of stadiums.
• Total number of fans surveyed: 401 United States, 401 United Kingdom, 403 Germany, 401 Australia and 402 Canada

Oracle Survey Finds Enterprises Ready for Benefits of 5G

While much of the discussion around 5G has centered on consumer devices, enterprises are looking towards the tremendous impact the technology can have on their ability to serve customers and the bottom line. Not only are most companies (97 percent) aware of the benefits of 5G, but 95 percent are already strategically planning how they will take advantage of this next generation of wireless connectivity to power core business initiatives from new services, to IoT and smart ecosystems.

The Oracle Communications study, “5G Smart Ecosystems Are Transforming the Enterprise – Are You Ready?,” surveyed 265 enterprise IT and business decision makers at medium and large enterprises globally in December, 2018 to find out how businesses are thinking about 5G today and its potential significance moving forward.

“Enterprises clearly want to capitalize on the promise of 5G, however, to be successful, IT and business leaders must avoid thinking of 5G as just another ‘G,’ and should instead consider it as an enabler to the smart ecosystem we have long talked about,” said Doug Suriano, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Communications. “This means asking the right questions at the outset, and considering how 5G can help enable upcoming solutions, what timeframe should be considered and how will they will procure and use 5G capabilities as part of their business evolution.”

Born in the cloud, 5G will have the ability to enable enterprises to provision or “slice” core pieces of their networks to power mission-critical new offerings and smart ecosystems. This can range from anything to providing the highest speed connections for life-saving 911 services, to enabling autonomous vehicles to communicate with each other quickly; to ensuring IoT devices in smart factories are providing real-time information on the health of machines and assets.

Outside specific initiatives, respondents believe 5G will have a wide-spread impact across their business, including increasing employee productivity (86 percent), reducing costs (84 percent), enhancing customer experience (83 percent), and improving agility (83 percent). Business decision makers are most focused on quality of experience the technology will bring, while IT is concerned with network speed and resiliency.

Unleashing the Promise of 5G Ecosystems in the Enterprise

When it comes to 5G, enterprise are most focused on:

• Unlocking the potential of IoT: Beyond initial benefits such as speed and quality of experience, 84 percent of respondents feel that 5G networks will be transformative and have a lasting impact on the way their companies do business. Another 73 percent agree the IoT will be revolutionized by 5G networks and 68 percent feel it will be transformative to their customers.
• Monetizing new services: Eighty-percent expect 5G to generate new revenue streams for their business. Forty-one percent of the respondents would deploy new monetization solutions specifically for 5G services alongside existing systems, while thirty-four percent say they would replace their existing systems with a single, converged solution for all services. Just about one in five (22 percent) said they will utilize and extend existing monetization solutions with 5G.
• Experience and efficiencies: Eighty-four percent of respondents agree that 5G networks will be transformative and have a lasting impact on the way their companies do business. While business respondents are focused on the quality of experience improvements made possible by 5G, IT respondents care more about the network technologies and the internal efficiencies 5G may enable.
• Security: While excited about the potential of 5G, both business and IT respondents cited security as a top priority. 51% of respondents ranked security as their highest concern.

Oracle’s survey also explored 5G’s potential role in solutions as varied as live streaming, industrial automation, smart homes and buildings, connected vehicles, immersive gaming, augmented and virtual reality. To learn more, click here to access the report or infographic.

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