Posts Tagged ‘Oracle Open World’


Oracle Open World Return Trip Adventure

October 22nd, 2009 by Jon Davis • No Comments »

While returning from the Oracle Open World conference in San Francisco, Steve Steinheimer and I had a rather long delay in the SF airport.  During this time we had the unexpected pleasure of meeting Megan Munsell who works for a non profit organization called United World Colleges (UWC).  Ms. Munsell was on her way to an annual board meeting in Vancouver.  What Steve and I learned is that UWC’s mission is to promote world peace and a sustainable future.  While that sounds like a goal that most everyone would embrace, they have a specific strategy for trying to achieve this lofty goal.  That strategy is to build schools around the globe and fill the schools with students from all races, religions, cultures, and economic status.  The idea is that the children will discover that they are actually more alike than different once they get to know each other, and that will lead to dialog rather than armed conflict to resolve problems in the future.

To quote from the UWC web site “The first UWC – UWC of the Atlantic – opened in 1962 and today there are thirteen United World Colleges across five continents. Almost 40,000 students from over 180 countries have studied at UWC and there are over 120 National Committees. In the turbulent world of the 21st century, UWC’s aims and objectives are as relevant today as they were in 1962 – perhaps even more so.”

I would like to personally wish Ms. Munsell and UWC the best of luck in obtaining their goal.

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Oracle BPM 11g Preview at Oracle Open World 2009

October 13th, 2009 by Mark Peterson • 4 Comments »

I think the wait was worth it. After BEA’s AquaLogic BPM (formerly Fuego) was purchased by Oracle, the product became part of the Oracle Fusion Middleware suite. But instead of being in the lime-light of Fusion, for the past year it was hardly mentioned. The Marketing story focused on SOA, Tuxedo, WebCenter and WebLogic. For BPM pure-plays, BPM has its own story, a good story; one with business centered not IT centered values.

Well there it is! It re-appeared in a General Session at Oracle Open World 2009 with all the other Fusion Middleware products. The product development team must have been busy. They took Aqualogic BPM apart and re-assemble it with more features and benefits for the business than ever before. Eduardo Chiocconi and Mariano Benitez demonstrated the new version of BPM at the Moscone West Exhibit hall. The product has been integrated with JDeveloper and Enterprise Manager. It is part of the Fusion middleware product suite and seems to have more capability than before.

For businesses, the need for a rich user-experience has been achieved. The BPM studio is integrated with the ADF development environment; a JSF-based technology. You can develop UIs from studio or import ADF projects and use them in interactive BPM activities. This segmentation of the business process from the UI should also allow the UI to take advantage of externally developed UIs; something that was lacking before in BPM. This segmentation may make it easier to integrate legacy UI applications, perhaps even UIs not based in ADF.

BPM 11g has also improved on the type of roles available for activities. You can now specify interactive tiers for approval or review activities. For instance, if the CFO needs to approve purchases over $100,000, then the work-item can be escalated without coding specialized escalation processes to route the purchase orders based on these rules. These rules of who and when people need to review or approve work can change. BPM now handles this without the need for re-writing and re-deploying the new processes. An administrator can simple re-configure the user-roles.

BPM 11g has many other features as well. It has a state-of-the-art rules engine. It can handle most business rules and conditional requirements without the need to integrate third-party rules engines. It has a new milestone activity switch to enhance business activity monitoring and instance processing by the workspace. It also has integrated Oracle BAM to enhance the ability to obtain information about the business process.

BPM 11g adds these features on top of the 10g BPM feature set, so the return for implementing BPM is improved. I was only able to get a glimpse of the new Oracle BPM 11g, but from this glimpse I am excited about the possibilities. Oracle 11g will not be available for download until Feb 2010. I am looking forward to getting my hands on the new version and feel at this time, the wait will be worth it.

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The First UnOfficial Oracle Open World 5K

October 12th, 2009 by Robert McMillen • No Comments »

It’s 6:30am and I’m wondering what I’m really doing wandering the streets of San Francisco at this hour.  There’s not much traffic and those who are out are generally washing down the sidewalks.  I’m heading over to 5th and x because my friend Mark knows how to use social media and has found out that there is a 5K Fun Run happening at 7am.

Mark isn’t with me, he’s out running before the run so he can get in some real mileage.  Not me, I’m saving my energy for the run.  Since this is an unsanctioned event, I’m wondering if it will just be me and Mark at the corner.  I’m gratified to find that there are 15 runners stretching and talking when I reach the corner.

My big concern is whether the course will have any hills.  I’m assured by a confident runner next to me that the course isn’t hilly at all.  That makes me feel much better.

We start off promptly at 7am at that typical too-fast-to-finish this course pace.  Fortunately the traffic lights are my best friend and we often are stopped long enough for me to catch my breath.  Around mile two we approach a turn and I notice that the street is Powell.  That seems very familiar and I’m trying to remember why that is the case.  As we turn I see an enormous hill (remember I’m from Dallas) and I see the famous Powell streetcar coming down in the middle.

I manage to struggle to the top only to find out that running down steep hills is even harder.  I’m oxygen-deprived at this point so I’m trying to keep some focus on the growing number of pedestrians and the buckled concrete and the buses and the cars.  When things start leveling out I’m lost but have a small contingent of runners following me.  We consult our map and find an alternate route back to the starting corner.  There we have a bottle of water and a nice Oracle Partner towel waiting for us.  That’s when I realize that I’ve only got a one mile hike back to my hotel…

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IPod for the Enterprise – Oracle’s Vision

October 11th, 2009 by Robert McMillen • 1 Comment »

This afternoon the President of Oracle, Charles Phillips, spoke on Oracle’s strategy for providing solutions that are Complete, Open and Integrated.  With plans to wrap up the SUN acquisition, Oracle is clearly focusing on vertically integrating their products using SUN hardware.

Looking to the Apple model, Oracle sees the opportunity to leverage the SUN hardware and their software to improve the quality and performance of the end product.  With the ability to tune the applications from the disk up through the database and middleware, Oracle believes they can build pre-integrated application appliances with exceptional performance.

The big announcement today was about the new SUN Exadata system with performance that exceeds IBM’s current TPC-C results. The challenge for Oracle will be navigating the existing partner relationships and convincing customers that this change in paradigm is worthwhile.  With SUN in their arsenal, Oracle will have to continue to maintain relationships with IBM, HP, DELL and other hardware vendors.

LarryEllison Speaks

In one session today Larry Ellison spent a lot of time being critical of IBM because of IBM’s attempts to take advantage of the uncertainty by SUN customers.  Larry’s comments highlighted the problems that Oracle will be creating as they make SUN their preferred hardware platform and work to tune it to work best with their software. The old saying is that when you fix one problem, you often create another.

It will remain to be seen if Oracle’s strategy to build hardware/software appliances will be popular with customers.  Clearly it will be a hard pill for the hardware vendors to swallow.

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Sunday Afternoon at Oracle Open World 2009

October 11th, 2009 by Robert McMillen • 2 Comments »

I’m over in the Moscone West building after registering for Oracle Open World.   We arrived via SFO and rode BART into San Francisco, getting off at the Montgomery Station.

I just attended a meeting with the Communications and Media International Users Group.  It was lightly attended but we got a chance to learn more as there were several speakers from Quest and Oracle there.

Josh Aroner, the Senior Director for Global Communications Marketing, spoke about the origins of his Oracle business unit and their focus on Oracle’s Communications products.  They work with Oracle  customers using Communications Billing and Revenue Management (formerly the Portal product), Service Delivery Platform, and Service Fulfillment software.

He said his group was formed about 3 years ago during the Portal acquisition.  The group’s managers and developers have deep communications industry experience and only focus on the above products.

He noted that currently 96 out of the top 100 Communications companies world-wide use Oracle applications to support their business.

I spoke with him afterward asking what he he felt was Oracle’s most exciting work in the Communication industry niche.  He mentioned several in spite of my question.  First he believes Oracle’s efforts to use Application Integration Architecture to integrate the multiple Oracle communications products into a seamless package are key to meeting the needs of organizations.  Secondly he noted that Oracle is very interested in creating a communications appliance that provided pre-integrated software and hardware in a tuned environment.  His last point was that Oracle will be delivering more support for the Point-Of-Sale area in Communications.

The meeting was managed by Sandy Callahan from Windstream.  She is asking for more organizations to get involved with the CMIUG.  If you or your organization is interested in finding out more, you can send an email to Sandy.

Here is a view of the Moscone West Lobby this afternoon.

Moscone West Lobby OOW 2009

Moscone West Lobby OOW 2009

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Can You Trust the Crowd?

October 11th, 2009 by Robert McMillen • No Comments »

One of the interesting sessions today was by Andrew McAfee from MIT, discussing Enterprise 2.0.  His research is focused on social software platforms like Twitter, Blogging, Discussion Forums, etc.  He started by discussing human altruism and why in a net-based social environment, individuals will choose to help others with their questions.

As an example he told of a personal situation where he was unable to get his key to work on a rental car.  Using Twitter, he sent out a message looking for solutions and within 15 minutes had over a dozen solutions proposed.  His belief is that we will jump in to help others because it makes us feel good about sharing our expertise and because the internet provides such a low barrier to helping others.

Based on his research he had these recommendations for organizations looking to improve their collaboration and knowledge-base and effectiveness using Web 2.0 social software:

1. Stop obsessing about the possible negatives upfront
2. Reduce the barriers to altruism via the net
3. Use tools that let structure arise naturally rather than enforcing it at the front
4. Focus on involvement not structure
5. Allow the wisdom of the crowd to work.  The collective intelligence is very accurate over time.
6. Build communities that provide status indicators for regular contributors
7. Don’t try to replace email and the Inbox
8. Focus on building knowledge relationships, not just collaboration

One of his examples for the wisdom of the crowd was that social network systems more accurately predicted the final electoral college results in the past election than any set of polls or expert opinions.

He strongly recommends that businesses leverage these new social tools for the benefits they offer.  These tools can improve knowledge transfer, build relationships, improve problem solving, recognize expertise, aggregate organizational knowledge and improve training for new employees.

The real key, in his opinion, is to avoid over-controlling the environment and to provide the right incentives for participation.

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Oracle OpenWorld Updates Start Sunday

October 7th, 2009 by Robert McMillen • No Comments »

This Sunday, Oracle OpenWorld will be kicking off in San Francisco.  Five of us will be attending from SSG and several of us will be providing udpates via our blog.  The event will continue through Thursday afternoon at the Moscone Center.

The five of us will be focusing on the general sessions and attending dozens of presentations on Service Oriented Architecture, Business Intelligence, Communications Billing and Revenue Management, and Business Process Management.

This year I’m hoping to include more pictures in the blog, so I encourage you to subscribe and get our updates from each day of the conference.

As a preview, Sunday we will be attending several Special Interest Groups (SIG’s) and the Oracle Partners Network meeting.

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Oracle Open World 2009 is on the Horizon

August 3rd, 2009 by Robert McMillen • No Comments »

Oracle Open World 2009 is the premier annual Oracle event for organizations that rely on Oracle products for their business.

This year (October 11th – 15th) Open World will be kicking off with over 1,800 learning sessions along with hundreds of exhibits from Oracle’s partners.

SSG is actively participating in Open World and we have already made our reservations to be there.  This year we have decided to each  focus on a specific Oracle product area.  There is just too much to see and evaluate at such a large event…

  • I will be attending sessions on Fusion Middleware and Service Oriented Architecture areas.
  • Mark Peterson will be focusing on Oracle’s Business Process Management products which is one of his areas of strength.
  • Jon Davis will be covering sessions on Communications Billing and Revenue Management since he has over 12 years of background with that product.
  • Paul Scott is our in-house Business Intelligence expert and will be covering BI sessions.
  • Steve Steinheimer will be overseeing our client and partner meetings.

This will be my second year as an official conference blogger.  This designation provides me with access to all events at the conference.  Last year I posted a number of entries about the 2008 event.  In preparation I hope that you will sign up for our SSG feed via RSS so that you get an update anytime new blog posts are made on our site.

With the acquisition of SUN Microsystems earlier this year and the final integration of BEA products from last year’s integration there should be plenty of new announcements and product introductions this year.   Stay tuned!

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Oracle Open World Kicks off Today

September 21st, 2008 by Robert McMillen • No Comments »

For those who haven’t been to San Francisco, it’s one of those places blessed with ideal weather.  Of course it does get foggy and colder in the winter, but September is a great month to be here.  Nice, cool with some humidity, so you aren’t too dry.  Meanwhile, in the downtown area of San Francisco, things are heating up as Oracle Open World 2008 kicks off.

I decided to fly in yesterday and avoid the travel rush of Sunday.  It was a good choice, the airports were not crowded at either end.  Many attendees will arrive today, since the conference kicks off in full-force tomorrow.

Today’s schedule is primarily focused on many of the Special Interest Group meetings.  I’m planning on being at several OAUG SIG meetings today, including the OAUG Upgrade SIG and the Middleware SIG.  But there will be dozens of other Users Groups holding sessions as well, including QUEST, IOUG, IDTUG, and a lot of other acronymns I don’t recall.  There will also be other sessions that are more focused on new learning topics such as:

* IOUG and ODTUG: Building Web 2.0 Social Applications in Ruby on Rails with BEA AquaLogic Interaction
* Using Oracle SOA Suite to Integrate Oracle E-Business Suite with Your Enterprise
* Oracle Database 10g 10.2.0.4 Upgrade and Changes
* IOUG and ODTUG: BEA AquaLogic Versus Oracle Fusion Middleware Shootout

This will go on all day and then wrap up with a keynote speech by “Washington’s best-loved political couple, Mary Matalin and James Carville, who will entertain the crowd with a bitingly humorous look at the world of politics”.

Not sure what this has to do with Oracle’s products but given this is a heavy political year why not invite a couple who disagrees on just about everything in politics, right?

I’m rooming out near the airport to avoid the high prices of hotels in the downtown area so I’ll be commuting back and forth via BART.  This will be interesting, so stay tuned…

Incidentally, if you’re entering Triora Group’s “Oracle Open World Get Me Some Bling!” contest, I’ve highlighted the answer to today’s question. Just click on the answer, and you’ll be taken to the questionnaire.

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