Mars Phoenix Lander and Twitter

Anybody who reads this blog on a regular basis knows I work at the Jet Propulsion Lab. Well, I was sweating tonight as the Phoenix Lander approached Mars. The good news is that we appear to have a successful landing. I also have to say that the neatest part of watching the NASA Phoenix Lander touch down on Mars this evening were the Tweets from Twitter during the "seven minutes of terror." Neat stuff!

Is The Worm Turning?

"The worm will turn when trodden upon" is from an ancient proverb meaning the meekest among us will fight back when provoked. It can also mean a change in fortune - Adapted from The Urban Dictionary

It's the "change in fortune" meaning of the idiom that is on my mind these days.

I get quite a few calls from recruiters over the course of a week. These calls provide opportunities to expand my network and help me keep a finger on the pulse of the Oracle skills marketplace, so I try to take them whenever I can.

Over the past three or four weeks, I've noticed a change in the types of recruiter phone calls. Seems like I'm getting fewer of "I have this great opportunity, would you or anyone you know be interested" types of calls. Instead, I'm getting more of "I have these great people, do you have any opportunities for them?" I still get more of the former type of calls, but the mix is definitely changing in favor of the latter. I'm starting to wonder if the worm is turning...are we seeing a drop in demand for Oracle skills?

So, what's the deal? Do those of you in the Oracle skills marketplace (whether you're hiring people, seeking a job, working as a contractor or you're a consultant) see things slowing down? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

It's Still The PITS

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit...struggling through a serious case of writer's block (or maybe it's better called blogger's block).

I want to update all of you on the effort to rename the project I'm managing with a spiffy new acronym. As you may recall, the project customer came up with PITS (Personnel Inventory Tracking System). You may also recall my concern over all the negative connotations and bad jokes that will come with that acronym. Well, we presented several nifty names to the customer: MAP, SCIMITAR, iMPS, iBaP, and PACE. And the customer chose...to stick with PITS!!! Seems our customer likes the connotations and feels "The PITS" is an accurate description of his current business process. So we're stuck with PITS.

Despite my inability to save my customer from himself, I nevertheless appreciate everyone's willingness to help out...there are some seriously creative folks out there.

Que Sera, Sera - Oracle's Web 2.0 Division

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be
- From Que Sara Sara by Doris Day

Sounds like Oracle will be forming a Web 2.0 division. The upshot is that Oracle will be promoting WebCenter out to businesses as a platform for building wikis, blogs, and content management for Web 2.0-style collaboration. Personally, I'm glad to see a major software vendor putting some skin on the table in promoting Web 2.0.

The value proposition Oracle develops with this new organization will be interesting to me. I like the idea of social networking, collaboration, and the other elements that comprise Web 2.0. It's interesting stuff. However, convincing C-level executives that it's worth the investment has been a struggle for me and apparently for many other Web 2.0 evangelists (just Google it up...you'll see lots of venting on the issue). Until we answer the question of how it will add value to the enterprise, it will be a tough sell.

Just this week, in a presentation to thought leaders in my own shop, this question was asked more than once: "This is interesting technology and maybe even fun, but how will it help us do things better, faster, or cheaper?" The presenter really couldn't answer the question, other than stating that we should explore these technologies in an attempt to discover potential value for us. With all due respect, I'm not spending my very limited IT dollars on what could be a dry well...we have to do better than that.

So it'll be interesting to see Oracle attempt to form and sell a good value proposition for Web 2.0. Wish I had some insight on how they plan to do that, but Que Sera, Sera...

Fusion Middleware - And The Beat Goes On

drums keep pounding rhythm to the brain
La de la de deee
La de la de daaaa

When you have reached the edge by far
History has turned the page by far
We still wanna hear a brand new thing uh huh
We still need a song to sing uh huh

And the beat goes on...
- From Sonny and Cher's "And The Beat Goes On"

Big developments today in Fusion Middleware as the product line continues to evolve.

For Eclipse fans, Oracle has released the Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse. The pack is a certified set of plug-ins for use in an Oracle environment where Eclipse is the preferred IDE.

Oracle has also released a new preview of Fusion Middleware 11g. This new preview includes improvements in the SOA Suite for Complex Event Processing and Business Activity Monitoring, enhancements to the WebCenter Suite, and incremental upgrades to JDeveloper and ADF.

As always, you can download and explore all these components as well as many other Oracle products, at the Oracle Technology Network.

The Fusion Middleware products continue to evolve...the beat goes on.

Help With A Spiffy Acronym

This is off-topic, but might still be both useful and fun for all of us. I need some help from ya'all in starting up a new project - I'm the project manager. This new project is a system from managing access (security badges) and provisions (email accounts, keys, etc.) for all types of people (visitors, employees, contractors, etc.) at the Jet Propulsion Lab ("JPL").

In the culture at JPL, a project will get have any traction or acceptance without a spiffy acronym. For example, our discrete manufacturing system is known as iPICS: Production Inventory Control System (with the ever-popular buzz-building "i" in front).

I've got a great customer for the early part of this new project. Great guy, good communicator, strong vision...but I don't think he's too strong with the spiffy acronym thing. He's dubbed the new project as the Personnel Inventory Tracking System...yup, my new project is the PITS. I'm sure your imagination can take off and run with this one: this project is the PITS, my work is in the PITS, and so on. It's an acronym, but I don't think it passes the "spiffy" test - it sure doesn't build much enthusiasm for the project. So I'm looking for a new name and acronym for this project (and I've already thought of "System for Personnel Inventory Tracking" or "SPIT", so let's dispense with it right now, okay?). I need something that will accurately describe the project and also provide an acronym we can use for marketing the project.

Usually, I'm good with catch-phrases, spiffy acronyms and all that stuff, but I'm not having much luck here. So I'm looking for help from all of you. If you'll submit your suggestions by comments to this blog by May 16th, I'll pitch the best ones to the team here. If we wind up using someone's suggestion, that person will get some token of my appreciation (a JPL Mars Rover mission hat or a NASA Shuttle Mission t-shirt, something along those lines). So, all you creative thinkers out there, show us what you've got...I could really use the help.

The Ice Cream Truck

I've written this article in response to recent inquires from several executive-types who seem convinced that they must buy one of almost every Oracle product in order to maximize Oracle's value for their businesses. I hope this helps clear things up...

In the town I live in, we have a lot of ice cream trucks working our neighborhood. One after another rolling through, each playing some bells and chimes version of "Green Sleeves" or "Home On The Range", selling a plethora of ice cream treats and snacks. In fact, each one sells so many different products that I have a tough time keeping up with all the stuff they're selling. Some of the kids in the neighborhood trive are regular customers (hey, why would an ice cream truck work the neighborhood if we didn't have a truckload of kids?), while some only buy sporadically. The same holds true for the grown-ups, although most of us fall in the "sporadic customer" category. Many of the grown-ups also buy different products from those popular with the kids. Me, I prefer simple chocolate (fudge bars, chocolate ice cream, that kind of thing) while the kids argue about which yogberrytofflenut snack is best. One especially hefty kid in the neighborhood tried to settle the argument once and for all by eating one of each snack each of his buddies felt was the best snack...in one sitting. The only thing that got settled that day was that we all agreed he wound up as sick as anyone we'd ever seen.

I've been thinking lately that ERP software vendors have a lot in common with the ice cream trucks. Each rolls through with a nifty-sounding value proposition and a literal truck-load of components in their respective product lines. You listen to the music, you read the ads on the side of the truck, and listen to the other people in line to buy and soone you want to buy it all...in fact, you get concerned about how your enterprise will survive otherwise. When you get to thinking like this, remember the kid who tried to eat one of everything from the ice cream truck...all he got was mighty sick.

I've come to believe that the trick with ERP software and software vendors is to figure out what your enterprise needs, and then buy only that software that meets those needs. Let's consider the products in Oracle's stable as an example. Oracle's "innovation through acquisition" strategy has turned the company's product lines into one huge, really well-stocked ice cream truck (especially in light of the recent BEA acquisition). Take a few minutes to explore just the Fusion Middleware products (which you can do through the Oracle Technology Network) and you'll be quickly overwhelmed by the volume of the offerings. However, I'm just not convinced that I need one of everything in order to run my enterprise successfully. I need to pick only those components that have value for my business. For example, because integration of multiple data sources and multiple technology stacks is important to my shop, the SOA Suite looks valuable to me. However, I already have a data warehouse and ad hoc database that together look an awful lot like the Oracle Master Data Management product, so I'm not so convinced I need MDM. An even more basic example: what value will JDeveloper bring to my development shop if my developers are already skilled with Eclipse? If I buy it all, I suspect my enterprise will wind up like the hefty kid who just got mighty sick...we'll have all this great software, but the licensing and maintenance costs will bleed our budget dry. The trick is to buy only what you need.

So the challenge for customers is to figure out which Oracle (or other ERP software vendor) components add value to their individual enterprises. That means you need to know what you do and what your needs are. Neither of these is an easy task. Once you've figured those things out, buy only the software that meets your needs...this will obviously vary between enterprises. The car wax manufacturer will have different needs from the company that builds satellites. The good news is the Oracle ice cream truck is full of great stuff. Just buy the treats and snacks you really like...unless you want to end up like the hefty sick kid.

Fusion On A Shoestring

You ever have one of those days when you realize the workload has gotten overwhelming? Too many things to do for too many different people who all want their stuff now? For me, today is one of those days. I handle days like this by going incommunicado...I don't go to work, I don't take calls, I don't check my email, I don't Twitter. No contact with the outside world until I knock a few things off the list. That's what I'm doing today. Now, the fact that I've been feeling a bit under the weather and took a sick day to get better helps this strategy work. Nevertheless, I must admit that I'm home mostly to knock some work out - the rest time is almost secondary.

One of those items I need to knock out is this particular post. The ideas here have been on my mind for a few weeks but really just started insisting that I write about them in the last week. When an idea grabs hold like that, I don't get much sleep until I write it up. I'd really like to get some sleep tonight (despite my discounting the importance of rest in the last paragraph, you've got to get some sooner or later), so here we go.

Just before and during Collaborate, I spoke with quite a few customers in a quandary over the whole Oracle Fusion thing. They want to get going with moving to Fusion, but most just lack the budget or funding to really get going. It's an expensive proposition and, in the current economy, finding money to upgrade is a challenge. So the issue is "what can I do now without spending a lot of money"? In other words, how you prepare for Oracle Fusion on a shoestring budget? After kicking the idea around a bit and talking it over with a few people, I have five brief ideas.

Patch Up To Current

Patch up to the latest version of software you already own, while not free, is relatively inexpensive. It's also a great way to eliminate many problems that you may run into if you're not current on your Oracle patches.

What to I mean by patch up to current? If you're on E-Business Suite 11i, get to 11.5.10.2. If you're on E-Business Release 12, be on 12.04. As part of doing so, check Oracle Metalink's "Certify" and make sure that you're on the latest releases of your middleware, database, and operating system products certified for your particular apps version - patch up or upgrade those components if you're not (and it's usually a good idea to patch up or upgrade these components before upgrading the apps suite).

Identify Your Customizations and Work Out A Plan For Each One

The most difficult and, frankly, the riskiest part of an upgrade to Fusion Architecture is and will be migrating customizations into that new environment. For example, if you've got some custom mod/plsql work, that stuff won't run in R12 (there is no supported mod/plsql in R12). Custom views or tables? You can't look to Oracle to anticipate your customizations and build a migration path as part of the product, for obvious cost reasons. Don't even get me started on custom Oracle Workflow processes.

My advice to avoid the pain and cost of moving your customizations forward? First, identify them. Second, map the functionality to the E-Business Suite and see if they can be eliminated. Some of those customizations you've been moving forward since 10.7SC can now be replaced by "vanilla" functionality. Third, if you can't replace the customization, plan out exactly how you'll bring it into the Oracle Fusion Architecture. Will you remodel a custom business process in BPEL? How about moving custom reports to BI Publisher?

Learn the Middleware Technology

The Fusion Architecture is really dominated by Fusion Middleware...if you understand the middleware, you're well on your way to understanding the entire Fusion Architecture. The difficult part? Fusion Middleware is a large and rapidly expanding category of Oracle products. It's a challenge to develop the needed detailed technical understanding of these products just due to the breadth of the product line. My suggestion here is to take an incremental approach, learning one key component or group of components (such as ADF or the Business Process Analysis tools) at a time through hands-on experience. And the best way to do this is by leveraging the Oracle Technology Network.

I'm continually amazed by the number of customers who don't know about the Oracle Technology Network ("OTN"). Great forums for talking about and trouble-shooting Oracle technology, best practice centers for extending Oracle applications with Fusion Middleware (EBS, PeopleSoft and Siebel), opportunities to download and try out Oracle technology and tools...the list goes on and on. You'll find most of the Fusion Middleware components available for download and exploration for free, the limitation here being that you can't build anything for a production environment without purchasing the appropriate license. OTN is the best means for learning the technology and taking a "try before you buy" approach to ramping up your knowledge and skills.

Build a Roadmap

Consider the core functions of your enterprise. Then consider what Oracle's Fusion-related products offer in terms of enhancing those core functions or expanding into new ones. You'll see some elements of Fusion Architecture that add value for you and some that don't. Limit your uptake to only those that offer enough value to make sense for you. Then build a plan with tasks and dates for the uptake. That's all there is to roadmapping...but it's a lot tougher than it sounds here.

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

The Oracle Fusion domain is changing rapidly. New products, sunsetting technologies, more acquisitions...the rate of change is dizzying. You'll need to keep track of those changes and adapt where appropriate. There are several great ways to keep track of the changes, but I've personally had my best luck with the Oracle Applications Users Group ("OAUG"). I get quite a bit of benefit from hearing the discussions between users about the changes and developments in the Fusion domain. I think these discussions and information exchanges will have even more value with the release of the Knowledge Factory.

As Chair of the OAUG Fusion Council this year, I'll do my best to get info pushed out for everyone as soon as it happens, both through the Knowledge Factory and this blog. In fact, the Fusion Council has a surprise or two in the works for sharing information about the evolution of the Fusion Architecture. Stay tuned!

At any rate, that's what I've got on my mind. As always, I encourage your thoughts and comments...

Time

Time has come today
Young hearts can go their way
Can't put it off another day
I don't care what others say
They say we don't listen anyway
Time has come today
(Hey)
- From "Time" by The Chambers Brothers

Now that Oracle has stretched out Premier Support for E-Business 11i customers, I'm wondering what those customers will do with the extra year? In my shop, we view the extension as a great opportunity to do additional work in extending our 11.5.10.2 EBS apps with Fusion Middleware...especially in terms of driving integration with external apps up the tech stack as part of the move to BPEL-based integration. I know I'll feel much better when I can close down database ports and retire custom interfaces by replacing them with exposed EBS APIs and loosely-coupled web services. The bonus here is that using the SOA Suite tools will help prepare both our EBS environment and our people for our later moves toward Fusion architecture.

So now that you know my plans, how about sharing yours?

Springtime In The Rockies - It's A Wrap

It's a wrap for Collaborate 08. Observations, thoughts and highlights include the following:

• Oracle's announcement extending Premier Support for E-Business 11.5.10 for an additional year is a great relief for most E-Business customers, who should all be grateful to the OAUG Customer Support Council for advocating this change with Oracle execs. I suspect many of those customers will delay any upgrade to R12 or Fusion Applications as a result. The delay also makes Solution Beacon's new book, "The ABCs of Workflow for E-Business Suite Release 11i and Release 12" very relevant for EBS users.
  

• I heard a great number of statements about bugs and rumors of bugs in the Payables module of EBS Release 12. I'm looking forward to the releases of 12.05 and 12.1 to see if those bugs are resolved.
  

• The OAUG Fusion Council would be lost without James Hobbs. In fact, James is driving the council to deliver a surprise or two over the next few months...stay tuned!
  

• After releasing three Fusion CRM applications, the next increment of Fusion Applications will likely be a Fusion Applications GRC module.
  

• While some type of integrated Fusion Applications ERP suite will be released before the end of this calendar year, it likely won't be general available for quite some time thereafter. It will initially be provided only to selected customers with background in leading edge or early adoption; this probably rules out most public sector organizations. In addition, because manufacturing will not be included in the initial release, enterprises based on manufacturing will likely not be on the list of the first Fusion Apps companies.
  

• The user interface for Fusion Applications will bring about a huge improvement in the way people do their work...I can't overstate the impact here.
  

• Building a business process using the SOA Suite is actually much easier than I thought. I've been inspired to investigate the SOA Suite further.
  

• I'm really looking forward to this year's round of Oracle Excellence Awards. The use cases of customers extending Oracle Apps with Fusion Middleware have proven to be a rich source of great ideas for my own shop.
  

• If I made my living as a developer in the Oracle space, I'd make sure my skills were sharp in XML, Java and BPEL.
  

• The extension of Premier Support for EBS 11i gives those users more time to come up to speed with Fusion Middleware tools. It will be interesting to see how many take advantage of the opportunity.
  

• OAUG's Knowledge Factory has the makings of a great tool. I hope we'll see user uptake very quickly. I also hope we'll be able to partner up with the guys at Oracle Mix, with each environment consuming services from the other.
  

• Two days later, I still feel humbled and less than worthy about winning the OAUG President's Award. There are some many smart, dedicated, and hard-working people in OAUG...
  

• The toughest part of attending Collaborate is always heading back to the day job. You spend a week with people who understand the value the technology brings to the enterprise, and you see the incredibly creative things they're doing. By mid-week, you're elated just to be around these people and their ideas. Then the conference ends and it's back to the real world of administrative meetings, funding limitations and organizational hooey. well, Oracle OpenWorld is less than five months away...