Making sure to renew your IOUG Membership

We often say that membership has its privileges and being an IOUG is one of those items. The concept of being a member of a user group is one that is appreciated by many and foreign to others. The value that we get has already been discussed (take a look at this entry), but of course we understand that the content that can be found via the IOUG is very valuable and often available only via our website. This includes whitepapers, presentations, webcasts and podcasts. The network that you can build is second to none, so are you ready to join or renew?

We often think that the low membership price for joining the IOUG is an easy amount for any individual or organization can afford, but with these times we are experiencing it is important to include your IOUG membership as an important part of your spending. The budgeting cycle for many companies is starting during the “dog-days” of summer. So it imperative to get your dollars ready for your renewal to make sure you have the dollars you need when your renewal comes up.

So like everything that is important to you, you need to plan. So remember when your budget comes up you should include make sure you budget for your membership. The cost of your membership can be saved by one tip or one contact who can save you enough time or money to be able to justify your membership for years to come.

Wizards and Templates

It seems that we look at application development at something that is specific and that we are the first company that wants to build this application. The idea is that our business is so different than others that there can’t be anything out there that satisfies my business needs. Of course the truth in 2009 is different than the realities of the 90’s.

The ability to quickly create and deploy solutions is paramount today, as a result of the concept that we are not as different than we think, companies like Oracle provide out-of-the-box capabilities and quick start services and objects that can be leveraged to provide significant functionality that address many of our needs. So if you are implementing BI for your financial, telecom, or almost any other industry, Oracle provide a number of pre-packaged BI components such as financial analysis, marketing support and many others. It is from this point that an organization can ensure that they buy the basics and then build the competitive advantage pieces.

The same goes for WebCenter. Webcenter comes with a number of services that enable the deployment of Portal technology in a fast and effective manner. So if you need a portal application that supports, email, social networking, document services, discussions, wikis and more. So the question we ask today is why build. Why not customize?

The choice of Oracle technology is one that comes with a significant price tag, but the value that you can get from the products that will reduce costs and shorten implementation times. We all need to dig a little deeper and learn from the past to save money in the future.

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

Oracle Purchases GoldenGate

Another day and another acquisition by Oracle. The latest is GoldenGate. This is a company that has created products that provide real time Data Warehousing and high availability solutions.

As with most Oracle acquisitions, this one is not that different. Oracle has purchased GoldenGate as it is one of the leaders in these various areas. It will be interesting to see how Oracle will integrate these technologies into their own stable of products. Word from the street is that GoldenGate customers are very satisfied with their products.

From a Data Warehousing side the real-time warehousing will be a nice addition and extension to the current offerings of ODI and OWB. GoldenGate leverages CDC technology and provides timely data warehouse updates.

From a high availability perspective, the acquisition will provide additional stand-by options and reduce outages. I expect to see much of this technology rolled into Oracle existing products to extend and improve them.

The IOUG is excited by this purchase and we welcome the GoldenGate user community to the Oracle fold. I expect that as we move forward we will work on integrating this community to provide them with a network of other Oracle professionals who serve their needs. It is an exciting time to be working with Oracle.

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)

An Oracle User Summer

As the summer moves along, I look back and forwards to see where the IOUG has come from and where we are going.

COLLABORATE was of course the big in-person and on-line event of the technology user year and it was another great success. Considering the economy, the value that we are got from the annual event was spectacular. The new content about the database and middleware was better than ever. It is always great to see the speakers who come each year and share their experiences. So now we are on to planning next year’s event and I am more excited than ever.

Next year COLLABORATE 10 will be held in Las Vegas in April 2010 and the focus will be on Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing. We will provide a focus and a larger number of sessions

Planning for our next events this summer and fall are well underway. We are working with Oracle on various user group activities that are part of Open World. We will be putting on technical presentations on the Sunday of the event. As well as numerous sessions during the week. I know I am excited as I will be unveiling my latest presentation named “An ETL Framework for OWB”. The IOUG and our members will be there in force and we look forward to seeing everyone again.

In addition we are working on either a RAC or BI focused event. Considering the growth of these areas and the experts that are active members of the community make these subjects top of mind and 2 areas that the IOUG continues to focus on.

Finally as President I will be attending the North American User Group Presidents meeting at Oracle’s office in Atlanta. It is at these meetings where all the user groups get together to discuss the subjects that are of most interest. As you should already know the IOUG recently worked with Oracle on a survey about user group value and priorities. The results of this survey will be released at the meeting and I look forward to sharing it with you in the coming weeks.

So things are busy around the IOUG and I hope that the group is helping you solve you business challenges.

Vote for your User Group

The IOUG and Oracle have recently teamed together to survey IOUG members and non-members about the benefits of being a member of a user group.

The survey is open to everyone who is involved in the user community and I encourage everyone to vote before Thursday, July 3 (that’s this week!).

To vote you can press this link: http://www.oraclesurveys.com/se.ashx?s=251137454671BECB and have Oracle hear about the values that a user group provides.

This is an important time in being part of a community and just as important to voice your opinion so that we can build a strong user community with a strong voice within Oracle.

So have your voice heard and vote today! And thanks for taking the time.

How Lucky We Are?

 

The tales of economic recovery or economic collapse are spread on a daily basis and we are told about how much we have lost. We sadly heard of the passing of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett yesterday and we think of what we lost. I think we need to look at what we have and appreciate it for what it is and what it was.

I think of the trendsetting music and dancing that the Gloved-One brought to us. I think of the joy that Farrah contributed to my youth. They both leave an amazing legacy. I look back at each and look at how much we gained as a result of them being parts of our lives in some small way.

I also think about how lucky we are and how we need to appreciate what we have and who we are with. My life is one that I look at each week and realize how lucky I am. I work with a great team at Thoughtcorp, where we are building valuable data systems for our clients. I get to work on the IOUG and share my love and knowledge for Oracle. My life is also great and I appreciate it. I have a great family with a couple of pretty cool kids. I also get to play sports and it was then that I realize how lucky we all are and how we need to appreciate it. Last night was my first hockey game back since I hurt my back in April. So it was 2 months and I had no clue what it would be like. I always liked summer hockey; the idea of walking in to an arena in shorts appeals to me. I got the chance to see some of the guys I play with during the winter and all the joy of playing the game came back, the smell of the arena, the ice and the game. The fun of being out with my pals and playing a game I love, I was lucky I could be part of it. Today I get to really complete the week, with golf with some of my close friends. This is the game that I look forward to with the most anticipation. Today I get to compete and see if I can elevate to beat these guys. I need the win, but the chance to play and be with them is where I gain satisfaction. I appreciate what I have, I look at it as a chance to contribute to life. We should look back and say we did it and we were lucky to have the chance.

I am lucky, but my guess is that most of you are as well, and I expect that you are luckier than even you realize. Add it up.

Dealing with Oracle Block Sizes

   When working on a data warehousing project that will be deployed on an Oracle platform, the discussions often turn to the Oracle database block size that should be used.

   We all know that in data warehousing environments one needs to move lots of data. This means that we are probably going to increase the size of the blocks in which Oracle will store data. The question then moves on to which one should we choose? Should we use 8KB, 16KB, 32KB or even 64KB. This is not a simple question to answer and if you ever did a search to find information on this decision; you find the information rare and often esoteric. The decision needs to be one that considers how information will be loaded and retrieved from your data warehouse.

   So when we decide we look at our data usage. We know that we will be loading millions of rows a data via a bulk loader like DataPump; we know this benefits from larger block sizes as the writes will pack more rows into each database block. We know that we are going to be doing updates during the DW process, so if are going to do any lookups then we need consider that these blocks will contain a larger number of rows, which means our reads will also retrieve more information than we really need. As for the reporting perspective; generally this will require reading larger volumes of data for analysis and aggregation. Again this benefits from larger block size by reducing the number of individual reads, which is good. Now we need to consider multi-block read counts. If we have increased the size of blocks and teh multi-block read count, means that we may move large amounts of data through our I/O channels that may cause bottlenecks, so this is another area that we need to manage and be concerned with.

Ultimately there is no right answer, other than it depends. It depends on the exact nature of your data and your data usage. This must be balanced with the server to optimize performance. The last thing we want to do is introduce new bottlenecks. Generally data warehouses will see block sizes that range from 8KB to 32KB, with multi-block read counts in the 8 to 32 range. Bottom line is test what works for you using a real world load to determine what works best for you.

Random Knowledge

It seemed interesting to me this morning that people tend to know some of the most random bits of knowledge. The daily dose of Jeopardy proves this as the questions continue to be answered by both those on the shows and by myself to the amazement of my family at times. How to do come to this random memory and how can people take advantage of the gift for knowledge.

So this morning I was listening to Howard Stern’s radio show and he had a game on named the “Homeless Game”, where they ask a homeless person random questions. The person today knew the language of France, the author of Shakespeare, Seinfeld’s first name and many other answers, but missed on the number of letters in the alphabet (I guess you could think 22 is right), who is J-Lo all math questions, and numerous other humorous results. What this really showed me was that we all have a capacity for knowledge and we all know random facts and various skills. We need to harness this knowledge and use it to our advantage.

So we think of technology and the amount and variation in the types of knowledge we all need to have. We need to encourage the value of knowledge and variations in that knowledge. Considering the vast number of technologies that we use on a daily basis, we need to look to our peers and use them to provide complete solutions.

We all have random knowledge, some in math, some in history, some in music and many others in many other subjects.  So we take this, enjoy the sharing of knowledge and the surprise that we see when people just know something that we need to know and don’t. Use random knowledge for good.

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.

The Data Warehouse Team

Building the right team is a subject that I have discussed here before, but I wanted to talk about how to put the right team together and what skills are needed to build a data warehouse or business intelligence solutions.

So who is on the team?

• Project Manager
• Data Warehouse Architect
• Business Analysts
• ETL Lead Developer
• BI Lead Developer
• QA Analyst
• Various other developers and analysts.

So where do we start? The key to me in any successful data warehousing project is having someone who can be the Data Warehouse Architect. This is the person who will drive the solution and ensure that the most efficient solution is implemented. This person must have the ability to understand DW/BI technology and understands how to translate business needs into a solution. This person will directly impact the project’s success so choose carefully and choose experience.

DW and BI projects need standard project management controls, as many projects are complex and have many moving parts. This person should be knowledgeable in the DW and BI arena. Just another project to manage.

The ETL and BI Leads are also critical to the ultimate success of the project. These people will create and establish the approach that will be used to deploy the system. These people are generally the most experienced technology people on the team and can provide leadership to the rest of the development team. These people may also be development leads, but generally we try to focus these roles on ensuring that development is executed as needed.

Finally you need you QA, analysts and developers who will fill the remainder of the team.

Ultimately the team will need to work well and the leads are important people who must ensure that communication occurs between various people so that everyone understands their role in the overall project and can see how it contributes to success.

So build the right team with the right people who want to build solutions that provide organizations with competitive intelligence capabilities.