The Year Continues for Oracle Users

It is sometimes interesting how you react after a big event. Just like the adrenalin that we build towards that moment that we need to deliver. So whether its a hockey final or a big golf tournament or an annual conference, the feeling afterwards is always the same, it is a let down.

So here we are as we move on from the conclusion of the COLLABORATE09 event. It was great and I think everyone who was there and everyone who attended via our virtual conference offering. And now it is time to move on.

We begin our work of running a user group and helping our users maintain their networks and education all year long. We are working with Oracle on what we should be looking at to help our community. We are working with the community to provide content via webinars and other methods. Of course if you are a member you will be getting access to all of the conference content including podcasts of all sessions. Right now you need to hve attended the conference, but soon all full members will have access, so it will be time to sign up if you are not already a member. I think that it is time to see the value of being a member as just one tip from one of the world experts in the Oracle world will pay for your membership.

So it's time to get the momentum going again. I am looking forward to a great 2009 for the IOUG.

Thanks for COLLABORATE

Now that life begins to return to normal. I come to look back at the IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE09 and consider its successes. The week was one where we had the opportunity to rub elbows with the greats of the Oracle world. It is a rare chance to meet with the users experts and the Oracle experts but last week was when it happened.

Orlando was a wonderful venue to hold this event. The event attracts people from all over the world and I expect from all 50 states and 11 provinces here in North America and if you remember this past winter, coming to a place like Orlando and the sun and heat was a great relief. You just needed to remember to stay hydrated.

The conference requires so many people who put time and effort into its success. I have the opportunity to see the planning and execution of the event and it is a labour of love for everyone. The feeling of triumph at the end of the event comes from those who had the chance to attend and were able to come away with value. When you tells us you learned something or met someone and it is going to help we need we have succeeded in our annual mission of COLLABORATE. The people who work behind the scenes are so numerous but I did want to mention a few people who really make this all happen. Alexis Bauer, Jon Wolfe, Julie Ferry, James Lui, Abbey Nystedt, Peggy King, Ellie Hurley, Carol McGury, someone I must have forgot, the entire IOUG Board, the conference committee, the SIG leaders, the speakers and on and on I can go. It takes close to 200 people who volunteer time and staff that truly keep us on track to put this event together and to them I thank you. I appreciate it from the perspective of another attendee and see the value that such an event provides. This is what it is all about and it shows us the strength and resiliency of the community. And I appreciate it from a leadership perspective. These people are good and the event reflects the quality at every turn. It is a constant pleasure to work with these teams.

I can’t wait until 2010 in Las Vegas for COLLABORATE10.

COLLABORATE 09 Day 3 (Wednesday)

Finally, it’s hump day at the IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE09 and what a week it has been already. I have been able to meet with so many great people and so have already had a chance to learn some new methods and techniques for the Oracle technology user community.

Yesterday, I had a chance to sit in on a session all about Essbase. The technology is one that Oracle acquired as part of the Hyperion purchase. The product is a solid one with a long track record. The session really showed how easy it is to use the product, but as with most analytical tools, it requires an understanding of what business problems you want to solve and how to best dimensionally represent it. I also learn a little interesting tidbit that the name Essbase comes from Extended Spreadsheet Database.

I also had a day that truly represents the power of an event like this one. I recently was asked by some of the people at my company, if we could provide some support for Oracle’s Universal Content Management product. This is a great technology and one that has a strong user community. Coincidentally the UCM Special Interest Group of the IOUG had an event last night. It was one of those golden nuggets that provide one of those reasons to attend COLLABORATE. I had the chance to meet with the user leaders in this area and discuss what we were trying to achieve and the best practices around UCM and its various components. This is the real power of the in-person experience.

This morning which has already been quite busy. I had meetings with ODTUG, the Oracle developer user group about how we can work together in the coming months to bring more knowledge to our communities. The meeting was great and really is an illustration of how independent groups can work together to the betterment of the entire user community. In addition I had the chance to meet with Dan Goldstein from Oracle Field Marketing. He is a great person who appreciates how the user communities can complement the information that Oracle provides. As we already know customers who are members of user communities tend to be happier with their Oracle investments and do more with the technology investments that they have made. Another reason people need to get involved. We talked about how the IOUG can help Oracle and how Oracle can help the user community. I expect that you will see more user group presence at a number of Oracle technology events that will be coming in the next few months.

Next up is a meeting with the Fusion Applications folks who will tell us about the upcoming direction for Oracle. It should be great.

COLLABORATE 09 Day 2 (Tuesday)

Day 2 of COLLABORATE. The conference looks to be a great event and the folks that were able to attend are really enjoying it. We have so many great sessions here this week. I wish I could get to all of them .

I moderated BI Panel yesterday on critical success factors for BI projects. The key factors really looked at making sure that you have business sponsor involved in a project. Generally when IT drives a BI project, the benefits can be limited. As well there was discussion on making queries run fast. So if you can’t return data back fast enough people will not want to use what you build. Another point was made that people need to work incrementally and not try to boil the ocean, but to focus on a project that will provide the best return in the shortest amount of time.

Right now I am in a meeting with some of the Regional User Group leaders. These are the folks that help to get the Oracle technology message to users on a local level. The IOUG helps these groups and works as a place where we can share best practices. There are people here from the Florida, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Up State New York and Tina Weiss from Oracle. It’s great to hear how each group is putting together events to serve their local constituents. These folks are great volunteers and put in so much time in organizing their events, and I feel that everyone should support their local Oracle group. You can’t undervalue of these local meetings for learning and networking. It’s always amazing to me when I attend a local meeting the people that I meet, this interaction is so important.

Party last night at the event was an IOUG “Tuning” party. This was an open mike and karaoke party and was awesome. It’s really amazing to see some of the hidden talents of some of the IOUG attendees. Who would ever think that James (an Oracle DBA) could belt out some classics from Les Miserables. Of course the networking opportunities were amazing and got to meet so many great people.

On with the show......

IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE09 (Day 1)

Wow...finally. The latest and greatest Oracle user event has finally started. It is amazing to see all of the folks that are here. There is nothing that truly replaces the face to face interaction that these types of events offer.

The conference kicked off with the general session that was delivered by Charles Phillips. Of course the Presidents of each user group (me for the IOUG, Ray Payne for OAUG and Sue Shaw for Quest) were all up there introducing Charles and thanking everyone for coming. Considering the reduction in business travel these days we appreciate the folks that were able to attend.

Charles Phillips opened the event by discussing numerous items including new release of Beehive (Oracle’s collaboration tool), BI Applications, more and free extended support of Oracle products and a new eBusiness Suite release. And Charles restated Oracle’s support of the user community and its shown by their active partnership at the event. The picture above are all the user group Presidents (courtesy of Peter Smith) doing our introductions.

In addition the IOUG is offering to all those individuals who could not attend in person the chance to be part the event. We are hosting 35 sessions that run throughout the conference to people in-person here and streaming it in an interactive manner to people in the virtual world. This is the first hybrid event and on day one it has been working great.

On to a BI Panel for the BIWA SIG. Later

The New 2009-2010 IOUG Board of Directors

Today may be Saturday, but the user group is busily working and planning our future. The IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE09 will begin in earnest tomorrow. Today the IOUG is holding one of the Board meetings that we run each year. The meetings generally cover operational issues and of course plot our strategic direction to meet the coming challenges. With the economy changing on a daily basis so we need to put in place programs that provide members the most benefits possible to help them be their best and make membership an important part of every Oracle technology professional.

One other item that we covered this morning was the election of directors for the IOUG. As part of the election process the user community elects people to be Board members and then the Board internally votes on who will fill which Board positions.

So who is the new IOUG Board of Directors for the coming year:

• President Ian Abramson
• EVP Andy Flower
• VP of Finance Kent Hinckley
• Director of Education Jon Wolfe
• Director of RUG/SIG Todd Sheetz
• Director of Marketing Steve Lemme
• Director of Advocacy John Matelski
• Director of Content Judi Dolittle
• Director of Membership Michelle Malchar
• Director of Social Nets Andy Flower

I look forward to seeing where we go in the coming year. The challenges continue and I expect that we at the IOUG are ready to take it on with vigour.

IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE09....One week to go!

In less than a week the IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE09 will begin. Many people have been working very hard in the background to make this amazing event come together. When you attend the event you see many of these folks. They are the conference committees, the planning committees, Board members, speakers, and many more people who volunteer their time to the user community.

These people deserve so much credit for what foes on each year. The event will be spectacular as the top speakers and knowledge-meisters come together as part of the most in-depth Oracle program of the year. This is where people come together to learn and the best teachers are part of this annual event.

The IOUG Forum will feature presentations on the topics are of most interest and concern today. It focuses on security, migration, administration, business intelligence, architecture and even some things that as the face of Oracle evolves may be of interest to you. We have recently added a couple of sessions on what Oracle Professionals need to know about MySQL.

The IOUG is there for the community and we hope that as many of you can come and join us next week. The event is second to none and the best possible use of your training dollars. The knowledge is real, the advantages are substantial. See you in a week....let the countdown begin.

IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE09....Less than 4 weeks to go!

Here we are with under 4 weeks until the IOUG Forum kicks off at COLLABORATE09 in Orlando. The date of May 3rd will bring together the Oracle technology and applications communities once again for our annual get together and is where you need to be if you are serious about your Oracle career.

Many years ago, Ray Lane, the former President of Oracle, stood up at the annual IOUG user conference and said that people go to Oracle World to learn where the product is heading and how it is supposed to work and that IOUG conference attendees come to learn how the product actually works. This is the partnership between customer and vendor that we all expect and ultimately produce a better product. The history of Oracle and the user community is a long and storied one but one that has always looked out for the best of the customer and the best of the product. We both have the same goal to create a database environment for the benefit of our organizations. COLLABORATE09 will be the user event that will provide solid content on the latest in Oracle technology and how to optimize your Oracle investment from the source. Oracle’s executives and product experts will be at the event telling us all how to make the most of your Oracle assets in these difficult times. These are the people who make things happen at Oracle and can have a real effect on the direction of the product. I encourage you to attend and engage the Oracle folks and tell them what you think, tell them what you need and ask them how they can help. Oracle comes to our event to allow people this chance that is rarely available and so valuable if taken advantage of.

The conference will have sessions covering the technology space, the application space and just about anything else around the Oracle technology stack. The sessions will be provided by people who are involved in using the tools on a daily basis. They will tell you how the product really works and how to get the most from it. The educators that share their knowledge as the best Oracle technologists in the world and you have the chance to meet all of them. By attending you can network with these experts. These people can help you one day and can save you and your organization from serious downtime. The networking in person is something that cannot be replicated on any social network, although maybe Collaborate2027 may be held in Second Life and I can’t wait to see what my Avatar looks like.

The Collaborate conference is going to be another great example of the partnership between Oracle and its user community. There are many reasons to not attend (based on short sighted economic reasons), but consider what you will learn and how you will prepare for the coming changes in technology by being there and being part of the best Oracle professionals in the world. Orlando in May is where you need to be if you are serious about your future.

IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE09....Come be part of it!

Today is the final day to take advantage of the Early Bird registration for the IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE09 . This year’s conference will once again provide everyone that attends with the opportunity to learn about the complete Oracle technology stack. So whether you want to learn about the database, middleware, business intelligence, architecture, or the latest and greatest about Oracle, this is the place to be at the beginning of May 2009 (in only a few weeks).

We understand that these are difficult times and that travel budgets have been cut, but it is time for each of you to realize the value of this expenditure. The event is the only event of its type in the world. There is no other conference that covers all aspects and depth of the Oracle product line like COLLABORATE. This is where you learn how to optimize your investment in Oracle technology. Considering the millions that organizations have spent on Oracle, the attendance at the conference is one that is similar to what one spends on a gardener. If you think of Oracle as your backyard and the DBA, developers and architects as its gardeners, then you need to decide if you are going to have a organic garden that uses the latest techniques to encourage growth or are you going old school with chemicals that have a long-term impact. Your data needs to be cared and investing in the latest methods to maintain and encourage growth is why you need to find a way to get to this year’s event.

I hope to see everyone at COLLABORATE09 its going to be the best real education event of the year. I expect to have my sore back, back in good shape and may even start some Yoga again by the conference.

The Economy...Time to Recover

This past weekend the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, who was on 60 Minutes and said that the economy was on the road to recovery and it was possible that we may see the results of this in the second half of 2009. He also warns us that we are “not out of the woods”. He mentions that the Fed is working on averting the risk of anything more serious. The issue of course is that there is a need to rebuild the financial industry and this could be difficult. Consider that Bernanke has a PhD. in Economics from MIT and has specialization in the Great Depression, seems like he might be the right choice for our times. His key strategies are to not repeat the major fiscal failures of that time, such as the tightening of the money supply as well as the failure of the banking system and banks. If you consider the reaction to this crisis; it is completely opposed to that approach, they have reduced interest rates to all time lows and saved banks (although some would question how it has occurred). This approach is learning upon the lessons of the past.

The user community is similar in your Oracle economy. The IOUG user group and the COLLABORATE09 event are the places to spend your limited funds to get the greatest return on investment. From other experienced Oracle technology professionals you get the chance to learn from the past. You are generally not the first person to experience challenges with your Oracle investments, learning from what others have done can save you time, money and productivity. And at a time like this it is more important than ever to reach for those goals.

Get ready for the economic turn around and make sure you have the skills you will need in the coming years.....it’s going to be a challenge.

Social Highlights

This morning I received a note from a Facebook friend. It was about golf clubs and food, which are two of my favourite topics. What also struck me was how people use social networking sites and what they say. This is made more interesting that I am posting this thought via a social site as well, which I believe might put us in a potential infinite loop.

I find what people put into their Facebook status very interesting. Some people put down things about where they are while other put down something profound. Not sure how people get these statements, but I like them.

Have you noticed that Facebook changed the format of the page again? Not sure I like the changes but we could start a campaign to get them to change again...already done.
So what are my friends saying? Here are some samples:

• John wonders why when all is said and done, more is said than done.
• Debra is going for 3rd hotel this week – Solihull
• John - Hey! Heard you have cheese for Thursday! Cheese is goooood.
• Ari said hi to Al Roker - 2nd time this week already.
• Dan - Me: "What did you learn today?" My 5yo daughter: "Vultures pee on themselves to cool off." Love public school :)
• Susan - joined Twitter. Not sure I need to update my status as no one is watching. But I'm watching John Mayer and I feel like I'm part of his life! :O
• Peter is just sending out the email to the Ottawa Oracle User Group about our meeting on March 25th. Also getting a plug in for the COLLABORATE09 conference.

I’m not sure about what it all means and still working on when smeone said "They were embracing their inner Galt". I do know that I love how each person has personalized their use of Facebook to their own personality. It provides us an insight into people and an insight into the way they think and see the world. I am looking to see how we as a user community can answer the call and make this a valuable platform for ideas and exchanges of thoughts.

Social networking is emerging and we are trying to get the community involved. The IOUG is actively involved in utilizing the social networking scene to mobilize the Oracle technology population to attend the great IOUG Forum this May 3-7 in Orlando it is a great event.

Getting the Word Out

Today I hope to provide you with another view from the inside of the IOUG. As part of my job of being the IOUG President is to represent the user community in the Press. This means discussing numerous topics and how they impact the users of Oracle technology. I get to do a few of these each month and with the approach of the IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE 09 event, the pace increases.

Recently I have been talking about security, business intelligence, the economic downturn and its impact and the upcoming event. Generally in these interviews we have talked about the current risk that organizations are exposed to due to a lack of database and application security. We have talked about how BI is one if the technologies that organization’s can use to lower costs by identifying issues before they become problems and identify trends in advance of the competition. A recent IDC report showed that BI spending in the next year would be one of the few that will see an increase. I have discussed how people in user groups a generally more skilled and more effective employees and ultimately at a time of economic turmoil you need to be the best you can be, in order to stay in front of the competitors for your job. Finally we discuss the upcoming Collaborate event. We talk about the benefits and the value that attendees will get from being part of the conference. This is where you need to be to learn from the best and be the best Oracle technology professional you can be.

Generally, the press is looking for a new angle, so that they can tell a new and better story. I have to be agile and ensure that we keep to the message to represent the community in a meaningful way while continuing to promote the group to continue it’s growth.
If you get the chance to talk to the press some day, I would encourage you to take the opportunity. The key is talk about what you know, and don’t guess. You either know or you don’t, the press can turn a guess into something else, so keep to what you know.

A Look Inside the IOUG

When I started this blog, I wanted to expose people to my thoughts on Oracle, data warehousing, and the user community. I also wanted to provide people an inside view on some of the activities that go on as we run the IOUG. So today that will be the focus, the running of the user group.

Last night we had our monthly IOUG Board conference call. On the calls we deal with strategic direction, operational matters and then general user community issues. We discuss SIGs and RUGs, Select magazine, the IOUG website, the Collaborate conference among other topics. So last night was much like any of the calls. We had people from all over the continent on the call. Attendance last night was almost complete, as we approach COLLABORATE 09 we have a lot to get done.

The call starts with a review of the recommendation from the IOUG Election Committee. The committee was mandated based on direction from the Board to provide us with a recommendation of the people they feel will best represent the membership as well as providing strategic direction. The candidates this year were awesome. Each of them would have been a great Board member. I will tell you later this week who they are, but I figure I should tell each “in person” before the blogasphere. So stay tuned.

We then discussed the Volunteer of the Year Award or the Chris Wooldridge Award. This goes to an outstanding volunteer who exhibits the values of the IOUG, is a VERY active volunteer, and some who has worked tirelessly over the past years. Again we had a number of great nominees that came in from the various Board members and of course, I can’t tell you who won. You will to come to the COLLABORATE 09 event and find out.

Finally we discussed the conference. The conference is our biggest activity of the year and drives much of the other offerings that we provide each year. Our focus was on getting the word out to everyone we know. I feel that the value of what you get the COLLABORATE 09 event will provide you with the knowledge to keep ahead of your peers and keep your job as you are asked to take on more work and you need to do it more efficiently. Now is the time to KNOW best practices, not just read about them. This is what I expect people will need to keep their jobs in the evermore competitive marketplace. This is what an in-person event like ours provides and we will work to get this message out. We also had a discussion around coffee at the conference, and let me tell you coffee is surprising not a small cost when you are serving 7,000 people. We discussing the hotels and I would encourage all members to stay at one of the conference hotels. It provides you with better access to the conference as well you helping the IOUG.

So another monthly call was done. We have many more items that we are working on the coming month, including more SIG news and the ever nearing COLLABORATE 09. I hope this little window into what we do as a Board helps you understand how the IOUG works on a daily basis.