Oracle Users In Action (A Collaborate16 Conference Review)

The recent COLLABORATE16 conference held by the 3 major Oracle user communities (IOUG, Quest and OAUG) brought together individuals focus on Oracle technology, middleware and  applications such as JDE and PeopleSoft. The event was attending by about 6,000 professionals from around the world.

The 4 day event had many themes and introduced ideas but my thoughts was focused on the messages in the following areas:

• The upcoming release of Oracle Database 13c. An updated version with expanded features. Still under NDA so we have little to discuss at the moment.
• The Cloud
• Business Intelligence (Discussion around the concept of bimodal BI)
• Security
• Big Data and Internet of Things

We all attend many sessions during a 4 day conference and people either make a great or insightful statement which we later quote or they use a quote to make a point. In one case the use of a quote made an impression on me. It was a quote by Edwards Deming in 1942 which continues to resonate today:

“Scientific data are not taken for museum purposes; they are taken as a basis for doing something. If nothing is to be done with the data, then there is no use in collecting any. The ultimate purpose of taking data is to provide a basis for action or a recommendation for action. The step intermediate between the collection of data and the action is prediction.”

-          W. Edwards Deming

o   On a Classification of the Problems of Statistical Inference, June 1942, Journal of the American Statistical Association.

This idea which Deming states is that we should not collect data without purpose, without a use case. He was working for the US Census Bureau and said that unless data is useful why collect it. We need to consider the same when we work with data today. We should not try and boil the ocean; rather we should look to use data with focus.

Core to the conference was discussion around the database. Seminars included backup, security, performance tuning and databases on appliances like Exadata. The conference also held Oracle 13c beta session about new functions and features and to prepare people for the upcoming release. It is expected that the next release of the Oracle database (13c) will be around the Fall or sooner, depending on how beta testing progresses but one can expect it will be out in time for Oracle OpenWorld at the latest. There was onsite beta testing taking place at the event for customers who are part of the beta program.  Enterprise Manager 13c which includes support for both on-premise and in-cloud databases is improved and extended.

A big topic of conversation was Cloud. This permeated across all technology and applications. Oracle is focused on becoming the biggest Cloud provider of databases, applications and other components provided through their SaaS and PaaS strategy. 

(http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-KT065_1013_c_G_20151013173315.jpg)

All products which Oracle provides are now available via the Oracle Cloud. This strategy allows for monthly feature and fix releases which are said to not impact past functionality…… current prices for the Oracle Cloud are quite aggressive in comparison to their competitors

Consider Oracle’s new Data Visualization product. This product to compete against products like Tableau are currently inly available as a desktop single user version or as a Cloud service. (https://cloud.oracle.com/en_US/data_visualization?resolvetemplatefordevice=true&tabID=1445271963053). This is indicative of the Cloud strategy where software is developed so that the minimum viable product is made available and then development of features continue.

This leads into the new concept of Bi-Modal Business Intelligence. The concept of bi-modal is the merging of two approaches to information management. The first being the traditional approach where formal processes and policies are put in place to support well defined and mature requirements. The second mode is one which is more Agile and addresses issues using an approach of discovery. The following slide from Gartner provides some guidance on the differences between the two modes:

(http://images.indianexpress.com/2015/04/bimodal-it.jpg)

This approach was originally created to support a general change to how development works and to introduce Agile into the workplace, it has been further extended for BI. The following illustrates these modes as they relate to Business Intelligence:

(http://www.targit.com/~/media/images/targit/blog-images/post-images/bimodal.ashx?h=384&w=701&la=en)

One seminar talked about how the Oracle tool set addresses these 2 modes of operation. Oracle and a couple of the speakers address the question by suggesting that the Oracle BI suite satisfies both sides of the equation. The idea is that OBIEE is the Mode 1 approach with highly governed and structured approach to reporting. Although the product does include the ability for some individuals to create Mode 2 reports, the requirement for curated data defined by the semantic layer does go against some of the concepts within the definition of Mode 2.  Oracle is now offering Oracle’s Data Visualization (DV). This is the product Oracle has released to compete with Tableau. The advantage is that you can better govern the data access to data sources which is a step ahead of Tableau which thrives on using non-curated data. At this point this product should appeal to organizations who wish to reduce the complexity of tools which they support. DV is currently only available as a Cloud service. There was some discussion of making it available as a stand-alone version, but not as a server-based version.

The conversation around Security continues to be a big concern for most database professionals. The speakers discussed methods for securing data which includes masking and other advanced methods of encryption. When using Oracle there are enough features when used in the basic and advanced security features that no database today should be left unprotected. Generally the issues are caused by organizations not using what is available today. In the Big Data space, security continues to be an issue. The Data Lake is presenting new challenges to ensure that data in Hadoop is protected. Most organizations today merely place Data Lakes in restricted areas/servers. This is really only the first step, security is developing in the space and should be a major concern. In a recent survey, Oracle customers stated that security and performance are the two major concerns with the adoption of Big Data in their organization.

During the opening session the results of a survey of Oracle users was presented on the topics of what people are doing and planning and what are the biggest challenges they are experiencing. The key findings were around the adoption of Cloud which is advancing while Big Data is moving with more caution.  A good summary of this discussion may be found at; http://www.dbta.com/Editorial/News-Flashes/Ground-Breaking-Research-on-New-IT-Trends-Adoption-is-Presented-at-COLLABORATE-16-110361.aspx

The last area which I will focus on is that of Big Data and IoT. The conversation of the topic continues at the periphery of this group. While almost all attendees have Data Warehouses, few have active Big Data initiatives and fewer in IoT. One interesting presentation was about using R for Data Quality. I found this to be a great approach to using the new Big Data tools to ensure quality within the repository. The use of R provides many of the statistical methods which may be used to profile data. I thought this was a good approach to how one may implement a DQ profiling approach. The presentation may be seen at: http://www.slideshare.net/michellekolbe/data-profiling-with-r

I find it interesting that this user community continues to be very much focused on databases and not in the evolution of data. They are doing a good job in sharing information about the database, middleware and applications but they also are more resistant to newer technologies like the transition to Big Data. This may be the nature of this group, but considering that the people here are the technologists who manage most of the business critical applications the biggest trend for them is moving to the Cloud, and to a lesser extent the data which is being generated by these applications.

If Someone Says “I Think”; Tell Them to Prove It! – IOUG Real World Performance: A Review

Seems like an odd statement. We always hear people say “I think…” and then they go on to tell you what they have hypothesized. Now you wonder is this story factual? Does it REALLY work? It is then time that you need to ask them to prove it. We don’t often challenge our peers to “Prove It”. We accept thoughts and then experiment on our own to see if this thought proves to be correct.

This past Friday I had the chance to attend the IOUG’s Real World Performance seminar which was held in Toronto. It was at this seminar led by 3 of most knowledgeable Oracle people in the world, where the proof showed us how to change the way we think. As they say there is no reason for things to run slowly today, but that instead that people have made the choice to run this way and not take advantage of new technology and new methods.

Andrew Holdworth, Tom Kyte and Graham Wood, led this amazing day of proof.  The image below is a picture from my chair… of the 3 of them up front in the room(as they were all day)

It was a day where the 3 Oracle database performance gurus showed us a new way to look at performance. They discussed data warehouses and operational systems. So what were some of teh highlights:

• Showed today’s data warehouses have undersized CPU’s and insufficient I/O
• Improve data loading, as data size will continue to expand
• Stop using SQL*Loader, it’s time has passed. Consider external tables
• Read compressed data if possible
• Statistics are critical to success
• Make sure cardinality is accurate in table statistics
• Use SQL*Monitor to investigate performance of SQL
• Manage your database and system resources. Use Instance Caging if needed
• Used set-based operations as often as possible
• Check your SQL statements for issues

The biggest thing takeaways I came away with is that today we should try to achieve full CPU utilization, we should optimize how we transfer data into a data warehouse, we need to make sure our SQL statements work as expected and that indexes and partitions can be your friends and your enemies.

It is amazing to me to see how we things have changed over time. Today we need to manage our data better, our databases more effectively and the improve the process of loading and retrieval. The tools are there for you, we just need to use them. As Tom Kyte said, “Why would people choose to run their database slowly?” 

There are more of the IOUG Real World Performance being held this year. If you get the chance to attend, you should; as it can change your life or at least the life of your database.

Data Security Do Companies Still Not Get It?>

The story today about the CitiGroup data breach just makes me wonder what companies are thinking?

I believe they understand the importance of security, but what are they doing about it. The tools to support what you need to do to secure your information are available. Security requires two things: focus and investment. You must focus your business on the requirement for security. Build the secure processes and enforce them. As Gene Kranz once said "Failure is not an option." People must be dedicated to an overall sense of information security.

The IOUG is currently running a security survey, what do you think?

Data is a corporate asset. It also contains sensitive personal information about customers, vendors, staff and corporate intelligence and we must make the investment. As a person who works with this type of information on a daily basis I never underestimate data security, but often companies do. They often secure externally facing data, but forget other points of access and ultimately face a breach. And what becomes of this data is the real fear. In the information age.... data is king. Time to roll out a security detail.

Data comes in many different forms and it is necessary to protect it throughout its lifecycle. You don't want to be the next headline in the USAToday

Success….Oracle and Sun a Reality

The story of the day has to be the information that the Oracle Sun deal may finally be coming to a close.

So what are the sign? The first was this morning when ComputerWorld that the European Union has cleared the deal that will allow Oracle and Sun to complete the deal and get on with business. The other was an invitation to be at Oracle HQ in Redwood Shores next week when we will get an update on the “progress” of the deal.

I feel that I have a vested interest in this deal finally being completed as it was envisioned as I had the great privilege to speak on the Oracle user’s behalf at the EU Competition Commission as part of the Oracle team. Being in the room on that day, I had been convinced that this was right decision and that the vision was nearly unanimous that this a good deal to go ahead with. It is an industry that loves to go their own way and competition will continue and open source will continue to be open.

I am so happy for Safra Catz who lead the Oracle team through this journey. I have the chance to see her leadership and now have a better appreciation for the tough job she has and how successfully she does it. I have to thank Oracle for allowing me to strike off one more thing on my list of “1000 Things To Do Before You Die”. I still have some Belgium Chocolate left….maybe I should bring it next week. Might be good for the celebration.

So it looks like everything is finally a go. You should expect to see more about it next week as I will be blogging from Oracle HQ. As well COLLABORATE 10 will have sessions on MySQL. It’s a good time to be part of the Oracle community.

The Adventure Begins

Today is the day that I have had little time to really mentally prepare for as my trip to the European Commission. I still find it amazing that I have this opportunity to speak as part of the government process to complete this multi-billion dollar deal. Somehow I am now in the middle of it and today is the day that I finally fly to Brussels.

The entire trip to Brussels is a first for me, I have been many places and seen many great things. I find that breathing in a great city from its architecture so important when I go to places with great history and Brussels seems to have held onto its ancient roots. As for my presentation. Another first, I have spoken in front of many audiences in my day but for most of those talks it has generally alright to open with a joke. I expect that after the team gets through reviewing my content they may decide to pull the joke and go with the more serious stuff.

I am actually very exciting to present some preliminary information about the types of databases that people are running. The IOUG along with Unisphere Research we have been conducting a survey on virtualization and we have some results already that are interesting. Turns out that of the people who took the survey close to 90% run Oracle as their enterprise database and of that almost 90% of those companies also run MS SQL Server and then 44% use MySQL. The results are interesting and deeper than this but some of it will form the basis of some of are existing arguments. I together with Ronin Miles, the Chairman of the UKOUG, will present the position of the user communities and it all begins in just a couple of days.

On the lighter side I was thinking about some of the great adventures and places that I have been part of my life already. And in no particular order:

• Discovering Israel (wow….that’s history)
• Exploring Rome
• Living in London for 6 months
• Exploring the ruins of Pompeii
• St Petersburg
• Dubrovnik, Croatia
• Attending the 1976 Olympic in Montreal
• Meeting Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
• Being at the 1994 NY Rangers Game 7 win in the conference finals
• Nos Expos (enough said)
• Attending 3 Stanley Cup parades
• Being there as my home province of Quebec was considering separation; I heard one of the greatest speeches in Quebec history as Rene Levesque called on Quebecers to rally after the loss for the separatists
• Seeing the kids grow up….that’s the greatest adventure
• And now on to: Speaking at the EC

I am sure there are many others……it’s amazing to look back and see where we have been and how much we have already done. Of course there is still so much to go.

Another Day Closer to Brussels

Friday and another day closer to me going to Brussels to speak at the EU. In a way it seems a little surreal at this point in time.I continue to work on my presentation to get ready for next week and still have to do my day job to do and boy are things getting busy these days at Thoughtcorp as we build momentum in the Enterprise Data Group during this time of a BI explosion. Always good to be busy.

My logistics are done and I am looking forward to seeing Brussels if only for a short time. I’ve been to Belgium before. I plan to see what I can in the evenings, this is a country with long history and we are going to be in the core of Brussels close to the old city. There are a number of UN Heritage Sites in the city which I look forward to seeing during the holiday period. I always loved the way London comes alive during the holidays. I seem to always time my European trips during the Fall and Winter, not sure how it works out, but one day. A few years back I had the chance to attend the UKOUG conference in Birmingham and if I am not mistaken it rained 8 out 9 days. A perfect week in the UK in December, so hopefully it will be better next week in Brussels.

One thing that has been interesting to see the reaction of people when you let them know that you are going away next week. This must be important as I have to miss hockey next week and I don’t like to miss hockey. Being the goalie you need to be there. So I told the team last night, and this is a team where I am on the older side of the Bell curve and most of the guys are in their 20’s. When I tell the story of how I was going to speak at the EU, the reactions ranged from disbelief to amazement. I play hockey with these guys but they don’t really understand what I do in my job let alone the IOUG. I am still trying to figure out how I am going to be part of this process but one thing is that I am going to soak up the experience.

Right now my wife is planning her days while I will be sequestered at the EU. Belgium and Brussels of course is known for its chocolate. I think she plans a tour and tasting of each in the city. And Belgium has a connection to Canada via the poem that in Canada symbolizes the sacrifice of our soldiers have made for us and I can remember hearing it every Remembrance Day growing up. We even have a part of the poem on our $5 bill. Finally they tell me that I need to eat waffles, French fries and beer……so I look forward to a fun gastronomic experience.

So the wheels are in motion and the experience of a lifetime is getting closer. At least I have two hockey games between now and when I leave to keep my mind clear. The weekend pack and plan before I know it I will be looking in the souvenir shops looking to add to my travel snow globe collection.

Standing Behind Your Words

I am about to embark on an experience which I would never have imagined would have been on my path in life. Next week I will be going to the European Union’s Competition Committee to present the position of the IOUG on the pending acquisition of Sun by Oracle. As you may have already read previously in my blog; the IOUG’s leadership is of the opinion that the purchase will not affect competition in the database market. We feel that the technology community are innovators and they will respond to the needs and desires of the marketplace.

So I have been asked by Oracle, on behalf of the IOUG, to go to Brussels and be a part of their presentation to the EU. This has all evolved very quickly. I have to thank everyone at my company, Thoughtcorp, for their support during a hectic time. To me it illustrates the leadership that companies like ours can show in today’s diverse technology landscape.

So believe it or not I am flying to Brussels (Home of the EU) next Tuesday (arriving Wednesday morning) and then on to lunch and meetings…..wonder if they will be serving waffles?

This entire process is one that illustrates to me how you need to be prepared for anything when you make a statement. You need to be confident in yourself and the great team around you to make such a curveball into one of the great experiences of ones life. My segment before the commission will be around 15 minutes and basically present the position the IOUG published in our recent press release. I have to thank the Board and staff at the IOUG who all took part in building our position on the subject. I am ready to tell the EU why the IOUG made the statement that we did and why we support the deal, sometimes you need to stand up for what you feel is right and this is about as big a political stage they could find.

So here I go; I get to be part of something that for me may be a once in a lifetime experience. I am excited and anxious about how it will all come together, but I am confident in my knowledge and abilities to represent the IOUG community in a responsible manner. After all this is done, it would be nice to say that the Oracle database user community stood up and made a stand and helped to influence the direction of tomorrow’s technology landscape.

I look forward to sharing as much of my experience with you as I can; as Ian’s Excellent Adventure begins.

Responding to the EU Objection to Oracle’s purchase of Sun

The past few days have been an exciting and interesting series of events. Recently the European Competition issued objections to the purchase of Sun by Oracle. Remember that this deal has already been approved by the US Competition Commission. So what’s the hold-up?

It appears that the EU feels that Oracle acquiring Sun will limit competition in the database marketplace. On the surface this seems like an valid observation based on market share alone. Consider that Oracle is the #1 database in enterprise environments and that MySQL is leading in smaller database environments. So that means that Oracle will be the #1 database vendor. Does it limit competition when you dominate the marketplace? Does it stop companies like IBM, Microsoft and others to develop and innovate in their own product stacks. The IOUG Board discussed our response and it was a consensus opinion that the acquisition of Sun and MySQL will not limit competition. Considering that we are the user group who focuses solely on Oracle database and middleware technology that we were well suited to respond in a meaningful way.

We feel that the delay is causing even more damage by adding a level of uncertainty to the company’s future and will impact profits and dollars. Considering that Oracle has purchased other databases in the past illustrates how well Oracle continues to support and innovate in these various DBs. Oracle purchased RDB years ago, and more recently TimesTen, Berkeley DB and Essbase, and each have been supported and extended. Oracle purchases products that help them in being leaders in both proprietary databases as well as open ones.

For me this is really a question about innovation and not competition. As we often say…”If you build a better mousetrap…”, and it is not different in this case. MySQL was created as an inexpensive alternative to the big databases. It was built by a private group named MySQL AB who felt that a small cheap and sometimes free database would be able to grab market in the competitive database field. Somehow they did capture marketshare from companies that felt they were untouchable. To go on and become the leader in many verticals especially on the web. So where is the next MySQL and how will step up and compete and how does this purchase stop it. Competition is driven by innovation, differentiation and market needs, and the IOUG feels that the EU objection is ungrounded.

Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Is Now Available

Today is a big day in the lifecycle of the Oracle database. Today Oracle released it’s first port of the 11g R2 for Linux. With the release of this version of the database Oracle has brought us a solid release of the 11g database.

This release focuses on reducing costs and Oracle has provided and improved numerous features that will provide this support. The move is to easier management and features to optimize feature management. The new release will make ASM management easier and ASM will now support all data structure storage. The database has improved more than storage but the way that data is stored. Improved compression and partitioning. Being so data warehouse focused, I always look at those aspects. There is improvements in OLAP and Analytics. You might want to find Charlie Berger of Oracle, who would will tell you the depth of analytical capabilities in the database. I am always surprised how many people buy SAS and don’t know what is available in their Oracle database. And if you have a Linux server you can download the latest release.

The IOUG was heavily involved in the beta testing of release 2 and the feedback was really good, so the anticipation has been building for all of us to get to this release out and into the public.

I am excited about this release as it should give organizations the confidence to start wide adoption of 11g. The time has come for Oracle Database 11g and release 2 will provide the confidence and stability that is needed in today’s 24/7 world.

Check out the Oracle 11g Release 2 web page for more information. The IOUG is planning some 11g R2 webcasts and will be the talk of OpenWorld.

The Best You Can Be; Can Be the Best You Are With

I always look to Friday as a day that should be something more than work. It is a day I usually reflect and look back at how the week was good and how I could have made it better. This week I realized something about team and being a teammate. I know I have gone on in the past about team work and my hockey team, but today I realized something about work that sparked today’s blog entry.

I work for Thoughtcorp, we are a reasonably sized solutions company based in Toronto. These guys have been around a long time and at one point were a competitor of mine, so this type of business is nothing new to me. What I realized this week is that this is a team with great talent (which I already knew) but what I didn’t get this week was the energy this team had and the focus it puts into doing business. I realized that some of the old companies I worked for had lost it and I too missed the signs that it had happened. The concept of a team in those organization was lost. We lost the ability to motivate each other, we got into a rut. Those companies may not even realize they have lost the internal challenge to be great, but I see it now. It is critical for an organization to survive it needs to be its best. the motivation I found this week made me realize that work again is like hockey and golf

How do we get better at any sport? We learn from and play against people who are more skilled than us. Taking up the challenge and not shirking away from it is how we can harness the motivation to be better or at least better than our competitors. In a team environment it becomes a way of making the entire team better….if you don’t constantly challenge yourself to be as good as those around you you will never be great.

The user community is the same way in an Oracle sort of way. I look at how my career has been impacted by the user community. Would I have authored a book? Become President of the IOUG? Helped to create two companies? Created solutions that matter? Maybe but I feel that my taking the chance to take an active role in the IOUG has made it all happen in some way. It was the motivation of meeting the people in the community and learning what was possible. The people in this community are leaders and by using them as examples and mentors the value to an individual and organization it limitless. We need to use this motivation to make us better individuals. It seems so clear and easy but you need to see it and realize the value to all those around you. Then you become the motivator for others. Make it a great weekend!

Oracle 11g Release 2 is Coming

Being part of the user group like the IOUG does have it's privileges. One of the things we get to do is take part in the Oracle database Beta program. As most people know; Oracle has been feverishly working to complete the latest release of the database (Oracle 11g Release 2). The user group was able to help Oracle test this release of the database, by suggesting customers who wanted to take part in the Beta testing. This is truly a value to the individual, their organization and Oracle. Together they work to bring a solid product to general release.

So what is most compelling about the upcoming release of the database? Of course I can't answer the specifics of that until Oracle releases the product some time in the near future, but what I can say is that this is the release of the 11g database that people should find to provide the stability and performance. The old joke goes how can you tell if someone is a Junior or Senior DBA? The answer goes that when the first version of the software arrives the Junior DBA wants to install it straight to production and the Senior DBA throws out the CD and waits for Release 2. Sadly the reality of this joke has some truth in it as organization often wait until the second release before installing the latest product. So here we are with Oracle 11g Release 2, and based on what I have seen I would suggest that as the information about this release is disseminated you should start to consider the adoption of the this release. It will increase performance, increase features and increase the return on your database investment by doing things better and smarter.

It is time to put on your Oracle Database 11g radar and start collecting the information that will help you decide if the time is right for you to enter into the 11g universe and start to using it to help your business be better and more effective

User Group and Oracle Loyalty

Recently the IOUG and Oracle embarked on a survey that collected the value that people receive from user groups like the IOUG and Oracle. I mentioned this survey previously and I hope that many of you took the time to complete it.

So what did this survey tell us? What did it tell Oracle? It told us that generally people are very satisfied. The survey showed that 80% of people who are associated with one of the participating in a user group are Very Satisfied with this relationship. This is no surprise for people who are already members, and has now confirmed this with Oracle.

So what did you identify as the most valuable reason for being a member? I think that question is quite obvious; it is Networking. Again over 75% of respondents said that Networking was a very valuable benefit of being a member. In addition similar numbers were seen in the Education provided by the user community. This confirms what we see as being our value. The user groups are the best place to go to meet people who have similar Oracle interests. The value of in-person and virtual networking are two of the foci for the coming year for the IOUG. The only place you can get unbiased information about Oracle technology comes from the user communities and this survey has confirmed this value.

The key is providing value. People today understand that they need to do more with less. So user groups need to provide this type of cost-effective education. The IOUG is looking at working on a BI event in the coming months. We expect this will be a virtual event in the late fall and one that will be delivered at a very advantageous price point. The IOUG is listening and our program is changing to meet our member needs.

One interesting tidbit that as mention today was mentioned was that according to some folks at Oracle, it seems like User Group members log less Service Requests for support. So now how will Oracle help the user groups is the question as we already know how user groups help its members and Oracle. As some people say “Membership Has It’s Privileges”…..take some time and join in. (www.ioug.org)

Communicating Success

The fact that we work close to people on a daily basis does not necessarily mean that we are communicating on the same levels. We need to consider communications internally and externally with a project team as one of the critical factors to a successful project.

We often work as part of a project team that needs to become the well oiled machine where all are participating actively in all aspects of the project; especially communications. Projects often set up communications plans that include a number of items. These plans will include regular meetings (daily and weekly), project dashboards, project wiki’s and other documentation and methods. These methods of communication work. A project that has clear communication plans and processes are projects that have a communication foundation for doing this well.

The key to any plan that you may enact really require cooperation rather that communication. The idea is that people need to understand the value of this type of information exchange. The team must be willing to share knowledge and information. The members of the team must be ready to share success and to know when to ask for advice. So it important to provide a facility where this information exchange can occur.

Communications are not simply about telling people what is going on and what is going to happen but it should also include a component of knowledge exchange. During any development project the team members must be willing to share information about the better way to do things. The ability to share best practices at a project level can be a critical factor in a project achieving its goals. We need to make sure we are not simply informed by that we are more knowledge about the project and the methods that we should use on each and every project.

Good communications during a project will help you and your project succeed. Just remember talk about things and make things better. The only real problem or issue on any project is one that is unspoken so make sure your project team is open and involved.

Oracle acquires Sun

Mondays seem to bring a lot of things. I met someone this morning dreading the start of the week as she was off to a meeting. I suggested that it was a great chance to get your week off on the right foot. It was an opportunity. Then I arrive at my desk and open my email and what do I find that Oracle has purchased Sun for $7.4 Billion. This is what makes today a great opportunity.

So today starts a new evolution in the Oracle world. For years Larry Ellison has created a company that provides almost all of the technology stack. They provided applications, middleware and database. To a certain extent they also supported hardware by providing Linux support and the launch of the Oracle/HP Database Machine. This now changes a lot of things. Firstly Oracle now like IBM can control their entire technology stack and provide single-vendor solutions from soup to nuts. How will this change the direction of the Exadata is not known, but I expect that in some form it will continue, it looks like we should expect some changes in this area.

Of course one of the biggest prizes from Oracle’s perspective must be the open source components of the company. Oracle now becomes the Java company, they have always been a market leader in the area and now will own the basic building blocks. Consider Ellison’s statement from this morning conference call announcement where he said `` Java is the foundation of Oracle’s Fusion Middleware and the single most important software we have acquired``. In addition there is MySQL, what will happen here? How will Oracle deal with this database which is a rival of its own?

This acquisition raises some interesting scenarios but at the basic level we are look at what Oracle strategy is for buying companies is are the best. Larry stated it today by saying `` One of the reasons Oracle is so successful is that we buy companies that are number one.``. We have seen it with Peoplesoft, BEA among many other where the company was the leader. It will also be great to see how Larry Ellison and Scott McNealy get along now that they have to work together everyday? These pioneers have always seemed to be allies; now that Scott works for Larry it will be fascinating to see how it works out. These guys have lots of energy and are superior thought-leaders, I expect that this combination could be a very powerful and visionary one, or it could upset the balance of power in the executive ranks. Acquisitions can be a tricky thing.

From an IOUG perspective we look forward to welcoming the Sun technology community. As this acquisition progresses the IOUG will keep everyone in the loop. It will be exciting to see how the to this purchase will change things at Oracle.

I love Mondays...you just never know what can happen.

Oracle Warehouse Builder - It is a Real Choice

Recently I have begun work on a project for my company, Thoughtcorp. On this project we are implementing a Campaign Management Tool for a marketing organization. The project is one that is reasonably complex, and one that will ultimately provide new value to the company. It is always exciting to be involved in projects where you get to see technology, most of it Oracle technology at work. My project is using Oracle 11g as its database and as a result of this choice the project is also using Oracle Warehouse Builder (OWB).

OWB has been around Oracle for a long time. This was the ETL tool that Oracle developed to enter into this market. Since that time the product was released in 200o, it has undergone many changes and evolutions. In addition Oracle also purchased a product named Sunopsis, which has since become Oracle Data Integrator (ODI). The goal is to merge much of the functionality of OWB and ODI to provide options in ETL choices while providing robust implementation options. Since OWB was released in Oracle 10g Release 1, its functionality has been available to the Oracle database community. This functionality has been lurking within your database and for my project it is time to use it.

The approach when starting a new project is to determine what tools you will be using to develop your solution. In many situations these choices are already made for you when you first start. The database is often a standard, like Oracle, the reporting tool, the ETL tool and others are often defined. In a scenario like my latest project was one that had a database and reporting infrastructure defined, but no ETL tool had previously been used or purchased. The solution could have taken two distinct paths, we could have gone out and acquired a new ETL tool, as there are many options, but the decision was to leverage the existing investment in Oracle and use OWB to act as our ETL tool. This decision provided the organization with a solid tool that is part of Oracle integration direction of the future and one that can support the requirements of our loading effort.

This decision is one that we now are working with and one that so far has shown to be a solution that can support our project’s and the organization’s ETL needs. It’s great to see Oracle’s wide breadth of technology to help to solve our challenges in a way that truly is cost effective. By leveraging the technology contained within our existing investment, we can help our organizations to be more effective without spending any new monies and in these times that could provide a very compelling reason to adopt this type of technology.

Working at Teamwork

On a fine Friday in Toronto, I wanted to discuss teamwork. Last night; my team The Steel Blades, won its first playoff game. The score was 2-1 but it was a game that exhibited a great need for teamwork to ultimately win. It is interesting for me to think that at the one moment of the game where we stopped playing like a team the other team was able to score on a breakaway, our teamwork had broken down. We were able to re-group and focus on the greater goal of the win rather than personal ambitions.
I work in teams all the time and I find it my most rewarding work and personal experiences. I think that being part of teams is critical for our success. I think of all the great teams I get to work with and each has its own dynamic and provide different value to me.

The IOUG is one of those great teams. We work with a great group of staff and volunteers. Each contributes a different component to the success of the user community. The volunteer Board provide strategic direction, as Mark Thorsby who advises the IOUG says, we are the front wheel of the bicycle and must steer the bike, the back wheel provides the power. This power for the IOUG comes from Carol McGury who provides great support and is a great advocate of the community. Carol along with the staff provides the IOUG with a great and powerful back wheel and are part of the greater IOUG team.

My company Thoughtcorp is another example of team work. We are a consulting company, but we work in a very cooperative way. We support each other and provide expertise in situations that complement each other’s skills. We work together on projects as well as on the growth of the company. They say there is no “I” in team, but I say that a team is a bunch of “I” each with their own skill which must be leveraged.

And finally how the IOUG and Oracle work together is another team example. We provide each other support to help each achieve our goals. I know that my discussions with Mark Townsend and Willie Hardie, who both a very senior and very smart people at Oracle in server technology, have worked with the IOUG to help to get out the word on COLLABORATE09 and the user community, to the greater customer base. So the next time you call support and they mention that a user group may provide you some benefits to learn more about Oracle, you will know that the IOUG and the Oracle teams worked together to evangelise the user community.

A team break down can happen quickly so you always need to be on your toes. You need to encourage communication and dialogue within the team. When people stop talking they tend to stop working as part of the team. Being part of a team is hard work, but is also the best way to ensure your success.