Extending Oracle EBS to Mobile Without Compromising Security
Learn how Oracle EBS can be securely extended to mobile platforms without exposing critical systems.This blog explores architecture, access control, and security best practices.
Founder & CTO
- 4 mins read
- 10 Feb, 2026
Oracle E-Business Suite has earned its place in enterprises for a reason. It’s doing payroll, containing all employee data, enforcing policies, and orchestrating processes that just cannot fail. For years, it has done all of this reliably—mostly within controlled networks and desktop-driven workflows. But the manner in which employees are engaging with HR is shifting.
Workers now want to request leave on their mobile, view payslips while they are commuting, get notifications as they occur and approve requests without a corporate VPN connection. The challenge is not about replacing Oracle EBS. It’s about extending it—safely—into a mobile-first world. That raises a hard question: “How do you open up Oracle E-Business Suite to a mobile HRMS app without weakening security, exposing the system, or overloading a platform that was never designed for mobile traffic?”
This blog walks through how that gap is bridged using secure APIs, Azure’s integration services, and a design that keeps Oracle EBS protected while delivering a smooth experience to employees.
The Core Problem to Solve
The requirement sounds simple when written down, but it’s anything but. The organization needed to:
- Expose selected Oracle EBS HR functions as APIs
- Consume those APIs from a mobile HRMS application
- Use Azure as the integration backbone
- Apply enterprise-grade security at all layers
- Maintain visibility, control, and auditability
The constraint was obvious: Minimize the impact to Oracle EBS. No risky shortcuts. No direct exposure to the internet. No assumptions that “it’ll be fine.” Modern access was needed—but not at the cost of control.
A Secure Starting Point for Mobile User
Everything begins with the employee opening the HRMS mobile app. Before a single HR record is accessed, identity is verified. Enterprise authentication and Single Sign-On help users avoid managing login credentials, and device- and application-based policies make sure optimal productivity while working on personal devices.
From the employee’s perspective, this feels effortless. Open the app, sign in, move on. Behind the scenes, however, strong identity checks decide whether the request can even proceed further into the system.
Why Mobile Apps Never Talk Directly to Oracle EBS
Even after authenticating, the mobile app still does not communicate with Oracle EBS directly. That’s a deliberate choice. The requests all go through a single API layer. It serves as a managed block between your users and your actual API: one place that does authentication, authorization, rate limiting, request validation, etc. This approach brings immediate benefits:
- Backend systems are shielded from direct exposure
- Security rules are enforced consistently
- APIs can evolve without impacting the mobile app
- Usage patterns are visible and measurable
Instead of hundreds or thousands of mobile devices touching Oracle EBS, there’s one controlled integration surface.
Handling Real HR Workflows, Not Just API Calls
HR use cases are rarely single-step operations. Fetching employee profiles, applying for leave, approving requests, or retrieving documents often involve multiple backend interactions and business rules. This complexity lives in the orchestration layer—not in the mobile app. Workflow services coordinate these steps:
- Validating requests
- Applying HR rules
- Calling the required Oracle EBS interfaces
- Transforming enterprise data into mobile-friendly responses
The mobile app stays simple. The complexity stays centralized, testable, and observable.
Keeping Oracle E-Business Suite Secure and Isolated
Oracle EBS remains exactly where it belongs—inside the enterprise environment. Key principles guide this integration:
- No public exposure of Oracle EBS endpoints
- Private and secure connection between Azure and on-premises systems
- Token based authentication for trusted system-to-system calls
The integration layer communicates with Oracle EBS through clearly defined interfaces. This minimizes risk, avoids unnecessary changes to the ERP, and preserves the stability Oracle EBS is known for.
Beyond APIs: How Employees Actually Interact
The platform doesn’t stop at basic API calls. It also supports richer interactions:
- Conversational HR assistance
- Real-time notifications and alerts
- Secure storage of interaction data for consistency
Employees don’t need to navigate complex menus or legacy screens. They ask questions, receive updates, and take action directly from the mobile app—while the backend quietly coordinates everything.
Observability Isn’t Optional
When multiple systems are involved, visibility becomes critical. Every interaction is logged and monitored:
- API calls are tracked
- Workflow execution is observed
- Failures trigger alerts before users feel the impact
This gives operations teams confidence. Problems can be solved at a glance, trends can be caught as they develop, and the system will grow confidently.
Why This Architecture Holds Up
What makes this setup work isn’t a single technology—it’s how responsibilities are divided.
- Identity systems protect access
- APIs control exposure
- Orchestration manages complexity
- Oracle EBS remains stable and isolated
- Monitoring keeps everything transparent
Each component does one job well. Together, they form a system that feels modern to users and safe to operate for enterprises.
Key Takeaway
Modernizing access to Oracle E-Business Suite doesn’t mean ripping it out or rewriting it. It means unlocking its value in a controlled way. By exposing EBS capabilities through secure APIs and orchestrating them using Azure’s integration services, organizations can deliver a mobile HRMS experience employees actually want—without compromising security, governance, or reliability.
At 10decoders, this is how we approach enterprise modernization: respect the way things work, design to accommodate for that within real-world limits and make high-performance systems feel simple to the people who rely on them every day.
