Software development projects tend to follow the imperative of "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" in a fairly predictable way. First comes the unbelievable promise, then frantic attempts to fulfill that promise, and then the CYA activities associated with the gap between the promise and those frantic attempts. Finally, there's egg all over faces as the whole thing collapses in a fit of recriminations and — usually — more promises.
That, in a nutshell, was the trajectory of Microsoft's Project Green. The promise was of a unified code base that would take the best of Dynamics AX, GP, NAV, and whatever else was lurking in the basement, and turn all the functionality into something that would help rationalize the many acquisitions and product strategies of Microsoft Dynamics, once and for all. Project Green was eventually killed off — and then the eggs flew.
With Project Green's fate in mind, it's interesting to see what has happened to Oracle's own big development project, aka Fusion Applications. The design goal was similar to that of Project Green: to amalgamate the best of a plethora of acquired products and technologies under a single code base. So far, Oracle has avoided following Green's path to oblivion.
In a three-hour demonstration of Fusion Apps given last fall to industry analysts, Oracle showcased a suite that, while not yet a sellable product, looked impressive. It appears that Oracle has made serious progress in pulling off a Green-like project, despite the yammering of many — myself included — that it couldn't be done.