Oracle Corp. today introduced a new release of its cloud-based enterprise resource planning system with machine learning features designed to automate manual work for users.

A company’s ERP system is one of the most important components of its entire technology infrastructure. ERP systems function as the central hub through which organizations manage their supply chains and perform accounting tasks. The software is often also used by a firm’s employees to carry out other key activities, such as planning new business projects. 

Oracle, along with SAP SE and Microsoft Corp., is among the industry’s top makers of ERP software. The machine learning features that the company detailed today are rolling out for Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, the cloud-based version of its resource planning system.

Because of their importance, ERP systems are configured with extensive cybersecurity rules to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive features and data. Companies have to regularly monitor their cybersecurity rules to ensure they are still effective. An outdated or incorrectly configured setting can potentially open the door to malicious access attempts.

Oracle is adding a new feature that automatically reviews a company’s ERP cybersecurity rules for issues. Part of the analysis is carried out with the help of artificial intelligence algorithms. According to Oracle, the feature can perform analyses that would otherwise require an entire team to carry out and in the process helps companies improve their ERP systems’ security.

“This reduces risk to your business by simulating potential security and compliance violations, ensuring that new employees are onboarded with the correct privileges, and analyzing security at scale across all users, roles, and privileges,” Rondy Ng, Oracle’s senior vice president of applications development, explained in a blog post today. 

Another task to which Oracle has applied machine learning is accounting. Specifically, Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP is receiving an AI tool that automatically organizes corporate expenses by category to save time for users. Organizing expenses by category makes it easier for finance teams to browse transactions and identify opportunities to reduce costs.

Two more new features announced today aim to make Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP’s machine learning features more useful. 

In a previous update, the company rolled out an AI tool that can automatically scan data from invoices into the ERP system to reduce the need for manual data entry. That tool is now being updated to let finance teams measure the accuracy with which documents are scanned. If they determine that some invoices aren’t always uploaded to Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP reliably, adjustments can be made to help the AI more accurately ingest data.

Oracle’s newly added AI tool for organizing corporate expenses has a similar feature. Finance teams can track the accuracy of the tool’s machine learning algorithms via a dashboard and identify areas for improvement.

The new AI features are joined by a number of more specialized capabilities likewise designed to save time for users. The first is rolling out for Oracle Cloud EPM, an accounting and financial forecasting tool that companies often use alongside Oracle’s ERP system. Certain types of financial data can now be moved automatically between the two platforms to reduce the need for manual work. Additionally, the Oracle Fusion ERP Analytics offering has been updated with an expanded set of expense monitoring features.

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