Project Overview
A multi-plant manufacturing enterprise was paying significant annual licensing fees for Salesforce but struggling to get value from the platform. The SaaS CRM didn’t integrate well with their Oracle E-Business Suite environment, forcing duplicate data entry and creating disconnected workflows. Sales teams found themselves toggling between systems, and critical customer data lived in silos.
We built a custom Oracle APEX replacement that delivered everything Salesforce promised, plus native EBS integration, Google Maps visualization, and complete control over the platform, at a fraction of the ongoing cost.
Business Challenge
The existing Salesforce implementation created more problems than it solved:
Expensive SaaS Licensing: Salesforce per-user licensing costs added up quickly across a distributed sales organization, with annual fees that delivered diminishing returns.
Poor EBS Integration: Salesforce couldn’t natively access Oracle EBS customer master, AR aging, or credit data. Middleware and manual syncs created stale data and integration headaches.
Disconnected Workflows: Sales reps toggled between Salesforce for CRM and Oracle for financials, duplicating effort and missing critical context.
Multi-Plant Complexity: Sales teams needed plant-specific data while maintaining enterprise-wide customer views, a balance Salesforce’s generic architecture couldn’t achieve.
Solution Architecture
A purpose-built Oracle APEX application tightly integrated with E-Business Suite.
Unified Customer Master
Real-time views of customer accounts, sites, contacts, and agreements directly from Oracle EBS, eliminating data duplication and ensuring consistency across all touchpoints.
Sales Activity Tracking with Google Maps
Complete history of every customer interaction, meeting, and communication. Sales teams capture activities in real-time, building institutional knowledge that persists beyond individual tenure.
The module features an interactive Google Maps integration that displays customer locations as pins on a map, giving sales teams visual territory awareness. Reps can see their accounts geographically, plan efficient travel routes, and identify coverage gaps. This functionality required expensive add-ons in Salesforce.
Quote Management
End-to-end quote lifecycle from lead capture through proposal delivery. Headers, line items, terms & conditions, and attachments managed in a streamlined workflow integrated with pricing data.
Credit & Terms Intelligence
Live credit limit visibility, historical terms reporting, and AR aging analysis. Empower sales and service teams to make informed decisions with complete financial context.
Technical Highlights
Real-Time EBS Integration:
- Direct database views to Oracle E-Business Suite customer master data
- Live AR aging and credit limit queries without data replication
- Multi-org security enforcement matching EBS responsibility assignments
Quote Workflow Engine:
- Quote headers with customer, contact, and pricing term associations
- Line-item management with product catalog integration
- Document attachment capabilities for proposals and supporting materials
- Status tracking through approval workflows
Sales Activity Management:
- Activity types for meetings, calls, emails, and site visits
- Customer and contact association with full relationship context
- Historical timeline views for complete interaction history
- Assignment routing based on sales region configuration
Google Maps Integration:
- Interactive map displaying customer locations as clickable pins
- Geographic visualization of sales territories and account distribution
- Address geocoding for accurate customer site positioning
- Visual route planning for field sales efficiency
Multi-Plant Architecture:
- Plant-specific data filtering with security enforcement
- Cross-plant customer visibility for enterprise accounts
- Region-based sales territory assignments
- Consistent UI experience across all organizational units
Key Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Customer Accounts | Real-time customer master data from EBS with site and contact details |
| Sales Activities | Track meetings, calls, and interactions with full audit history |
| Customer Map | Interactive Google Maps showing customer locations as pins |
| Quote Headers & Lines | Create and manage quotes with line-item pricing |
| Quote Attachments | Attach supporting documents directly to quotes |
| Customer Leads | Capture and track prospective customer opportunities |
| Sales Region Assignments | Route customers to appropriate sales representatives |
| Historical Terms Reports | Analyze customer payment terms over time |
| Credit Limit Management | View and manage site-level credit limits |
| Plant Filtering | Multi-plant data access with appropriate security |
Results & Impact
Customer Visibility:
- Single source of truth for all customer data across the enterprise
- Eliminated time spent searching multiple systems for customer information
- Complete interaction history available to any authorized team member
Operational Efficiency:
- Zero data duplication through live EBS integration
- Real-time credit and AR information for informed decision-making
- Streamlined quote creation with integrated pricing data
Sales Effectiveness:
- Full visibility into customer relationship history
- Lead tracking prevents opportunities from falling through cracks
- Activity logging builds institutional knowledge beyond individual tenure
Enterprise Scale:
- All plants operating on unified platform
- Consistent processes across organizational boundaries
- Security model ensures appropriate data access by role and location
Why Oracle APEX Over Salesforce?
Oracle APEX was the ideal choice for replacing Salesforce because it:
- Eliminates per-user licensing: No ongoing SaaS fees; runs on existing Oracle Database infrastructure
- Integrates natively with Oracle E-Business Suite and the Oracle Database, no middleware required
- Leverages existing security through EBS user authentication and responsibility-based access
- Provides full control: Own the code, customize freely, no vendor lock-in or forced upgrades
- Deploys rapidly without additional infrastructure, cloud subscriptions, or integration platforms
- Scales effortlessly to accommodate growing user bases without escalating license costs
Deliverables
- Oracle APEX Application: Complete customer service hub with role-based dashboards
- EBS Integration Layer: Database views and packages for real-time data access
- Quote Management Module: Full lifecycle from lead to proposal delivery
- Activity Tracking System: Comprehensive interaction logging and history
- Security Configuration: Multi-org and plant-level access controls
- User Documentation: Training materials and process guides for end users