Oracle’s cloud architecture is evolving at a very rapid pace, and professionals aspiring to create an enduring career have to make a choice between Oracle HCM Redwood specialization and Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC). Although both paths provide great professional skills, they cater to completely different needs.

Which one is more important?

The question requires an individual assessment considering one’s career prospects, technical expertise, and Oracle project preferences. Since HCM Redwood is mostly concerned with the improvement of the employee and HR experience, while OIC concentrates on integration, automation, and application connectivity, understanding their differences may prove beneficial in making a wise career choice.

Understanding Oracle HCM Redwood Training

Oracle HCM Redwood is a term used for Oracle’s contemporary user experience and application design strategy for its cloud applications. Oracle HCM Redwood provides HCM professionals with a better intuitive, personalized, and employee-focused experience.

Oracle HCM Redwood training usually enables the professionals to learn how to use the contemporary Oracle HCM interface, how to set up user experiences, personalize pages, and utilize newer HCM features.

This type of training can be beneficial especially for:

• Oracle HCM functional consultants
• Human resource technology professionals
• Oracle HCM administrators
• Human resource business analysts
• Consultants for implementation and support
• Professionals currently working with Oracle Fusion HCM

The major benefit of Redwood training is the way it leverages knowledge about HCM. If you know about concepts such as Core HR, Absence Management, Talent Management, Payroll, and Workforce Compensation, it will help you transfer your expertise to Oracle’s new user experience.

Redwood training is not highly technical.

What Does OIC Certification Offer?

The Oracle Integration Cloud, also referred to as OIC, provides solutions for integrating applications, automating business processes, and exchanging data.

Certification for OIC or training in OIC will help in the development of skills in such areas as:

• Application integration
• REST and SOAP APIs
• Web services
• Data mapping
• Integration patterns
• File based integration
• Error handling
• Business process automation
• Integration between Oracle Cloud applications and other third-party applications
• Troubleshooting integrations

OIC specialists can perform their duties on various Oracle Cloud applications and not be tied to HCM.

For instance, an OIC specialist can integrate Oracle HCM with payrolls, accounting systems, identity management applications, recruiting apps or any other business applications.

It makes OIC very appealing for those who want to build an Oracle Cloud technical career.

HCM Redwood vs OIC: The Core Difference

Probably the easiest approach to comparing the two would be to review their use cases.

OIC: “How can I join various applications and automate transferring data between them?”

They both serve a valid purpose but have different skill sets.

Which Skills Are More Valuable in the Job Market?

The real question is not about which certification is better everywhere, but rather about which skills are harder to automate.

Projects based on Oracle nowadays use various cloud applications. The organization might be using Oracle HCM, ERP, payroll vendors, identity platforms, banking platforms, recruitment software, and other third-party products.

They need to exchange information.

This is where the expertise in integration comes in handy.

The OIC expert who knows API development, authentication, transformation, orchestration, error handling, and integration architecture can possibly participate in projects within various business domains.

However, the organization still needs HCM experts who know HR processes and can tune the employee experience.

Domain expertise and technical integration expertise go hand in hand.

Why HCM Professionals Should Consider Redwood

Directly shifting into technical integration for an existing Oracle HCM consultant may not necessarily be required all the time.

Redwood can be a natural progression for an existing HCM consultant who wishes to continue in his/her specialty but also build Oracle Cloud skills.

To illustrate, an HCM consultant who has the know-how of the traditional HCM configuration and Redwood will be able to assist companies to shift from legacy interfaces to modern employee experiences.

Such combination is particularly relevant in HCM transformation initiatives.

Professionals need to be careful that Redwood must not just be treated as a user interface skill. Rather, it is important for the professionals to know what is the need of a specific HCM experience by the company and how it is going to fit in the Oracle Cloud context.

Why OIC Skills Can Provide Broader Opportunities

The transferability aspect of OIC is another significant feature of it.

The OIC specialist is not limited to the implementation of HCM integration projects only.

The same principles of integration can be used in integration of Oracle ERP, SCM, CX, HCM, databases, SaaS applications, and external systems.

This versatility of OIC use can make it appealing for:

• Integration developers
• Technical consultants
• Oracle developers
• Middleware specialists
• Application architects
• Cloud engineers

People who are familiar with programming, API, SQL, web services, and middleware technologies may like OIC.

Certification Alone Is Not Enough

To start with, one thing that is significant with regards to both careers is that certification or training does not in itself guarantee better job prospects.

Companies tend to favor those people who are capable of solving problems with regard to projects.

In the case of HCM Redwood professionals, it would mean being able to understand the configuration of HCM experiences and their impact on the users within the human resource department.

In the case of OIC professionals, it would mean having skills in integrating the processes, debugging the failed transaction, converting the data, securing the process, and understanding the architecture to explain it to stakeholders.

Which Path Should You Choose?

You must be highly influenced by your previous background in making your choice.

HCM Redwood training is a good fit for you if:

• You are currently working in Oracle HCM.
• You are an expert in HR technologies.
• You intend to continue in the HCM domain.
• You are intrigued with the latest Oracle HCM user experience.
• You would like to enhance your expertise in HCM.

OIC certification might be the right choice for you if:

• You want a technical career.
• You like APIs, data, integration, and troubleshooting.
• You want transferable knowledge for other Oracle Cloud applications.
• You have a development/middleware background.
• You are moving into integration development/architecture.

The Strongest Combination: HCM + OIC

The best way to go for professionals who have enough time and inclination might not lie in choosing either one of these.

Take a professional who is familiar with the workings of Oracle HCM processes, Redwood experiences, and OIC integrations. Such a professional would not only know the requirements of the business but also the ways of communication between various systems that could meet these requirements.

For instance, an HCM consultant could be familiar with the employee onboarding process, while an OIC consultant would know how to integrate that with identity management, payroll, background checks or any other system.

Final Verdict

Therefore, Oracle HCM Redwood training versus OIC certification—Which skills are more important?

There is no clear winner in this scenario.If your aim is to become more proficient in Oracle HCM, then Redwood training is very relevant to your purpose and will keep you in tune with the Oracle cloud experience. On the other hand, if you have wider technical needs, then OIC skills will be more flexible for cross-application purposes.

It will all depend on your career path as opposed to the certification which is currently popular.

• For functional experts in HCM: focus on Redwood.
• For technical and integration experts: focus on OIC.
• For seasoned Oracle consultants with wider capability requirements: consider both.

In the end, the most valuable Oracle professional is not the one with a number of certificates. It is someone with business-domain skills, technical skills, problem-solving skills, and hands-on experience.