Update - 10 Things You Can Do To Prepare For Fusion Applications

It's no big secret by now that I enjoy hearing Oracle's Nadia Bendjedou speak. Her enthusiasm for apps technology, as wellas the information content in her presentations, makes attendance worthwhile. At Collaborate 07, Nadia provided E-Business customers with an updated "10 Things You Can Do Now To Prepare For Fusion Applications." In an earlier post, I promised to review the updates in detail. Although it's still essentially the same presentation I reviewed last October, there are some changes worth noting. What follows are my perspectives on the update highlights:

• Master Data Management (formerly known as Oracle Data Hubs) seems to have become a more critical component of the Fusion Applications stack. My own opinion is that the new emphasis makes perfect sense in light of the need to consolidate standardize business object data (Oracle's strategy for this is called "Enterprise Business Objects") in order to ease integration.

• The recommendation to move in the direction of native web services (HTTP over SOAP) for hub-and-spoke integration is a wrinkle I just noticed; it was in the presentation before, but I don't recall hearing much on this point. I'm still contemplating why this is important.

• The Applications Integration Architecture is not an alternative to Fusion Applications as much as it is an integration strategy or all Oracle Applications product lines, including Fusion Applications. Enterprise Business Objects and Process Integration Packs (pre-designed business processes that integrate across application stacks) are both important components of the Fusion Applications solution set.

• Oracle Applications Teams are using the Business Process Analysis Suite (part of Fusion Middleware) to deliver business process models for Fusion Applications.

• Fusion Intelligence is a new component in the business intelligence layer of the Fusion Applications stack. This product leverages Oracle Business Intelligence - Enterprise Edition to provide role-based dashboards with pre-configured analytics. It also integrates with the E-Business Suite's Daily Business Intelligence (DBI). Now, before somebody drops me a line asking about the differences between Fusion Intelligence and DBI, let me make one thing very clear: I'm not intelligent enough to have figured out all the branding differences in Oracle's intelligence products yet. I'll let you know what I think I know as soon as I figure it out.

Overall, I came away with a new appreciation for both the functionality and the technical complexity presented by Fusion Applications. Fusion Applications will offer some great value, but will require some significant planning and preparation in order to realize that value.

Postcard From The Edge...Of Collaborate 07 - Wrap Up

This is the last of the "Postcard" articles for Collaborate. Just a few final impressions on the conference...

• The conference this year had much more energy than in years past. It also had much more of an international attendance. OAUG in particular is truly becoming a worldwide organization.
  

• The interest level in Fusion was definitely through the roof this year. Any session having anything to do with Fusion Middleware or Fusion Applications was packed to the roof. (hmmm, maybe I should have thrown Fusion into the title of my session on iterative project management - might have drawn a few more people).
  

• Although the interest level in Fusion Applications was very high, there was not much new information from Oracle on the subject. To a very great degree, much of the information was a rehash from last year's OpenWorld. While the dearth of new information is not terribly surprising, if my understanding of where the project stands at the moment is correct (Business Requirements Docs are complete and coding has begun), Oracle will need to provide some new information fairly soon in order to maintain the high level of customer interest.
  

• There is quite a bit of info available on the technology involved with the overall Fusion vision (old though it may be), but not much noise being made about the specific business benefits that can come to end users through that technology. I thought about this quite a bit while in Las Vegas and decided during the ride home that getting the word out on this subject may be my focus over the next year.
  

• With the increasing complexity of Oracle's applications stack, I'm surprised more customers are not focused on leveraging their customer support agreements to implement some type of proactive support programs. More complexity means more issues. The best way to control those issues is to address them before they arise. Proactive support is analogous to a project's risk management plan and, as any good project manager will tell you about the risk management plan, you "don't leave home without it."
  

• I'm much more impressed with E-Business Release 12 than I was before Collaborate 07. In addition, I'm also impressed with the composite apps plus process orchestration strategy that lies at the heart of the newly announced Applications Integration Architecture. The combination of these two impressions will drive me to restructure my own organization's enterprise applications roadmap.

• For Oracle apps customers, the challenge is no longer one of adequate choice. Instead, the challenge comes with the ability of digest all the available choices and make intelligent decisions in the face of the many options Oracle has provided us.

• Business for implementers and integrators must be getting better. This week, I met bunches of vendors I've never heard of before, all of whom have "...been doing Oracle Apps for 20 years."
  

Within the next week, I'll begin to review some of the sessions from Collaborate. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this final thought: are you an OAUG member yet? The value of belonging far outweighs the nominal cost in so many ways, with Collaborate just being the latest example. If you're a member, get involved. If you're not a member, consider joining.

Postcard From The Edge...Of Collaborate 07 - Thursday

The last day of the conference provided some great highlights:

• Oracle's Jose Lazares presented an architectural review on the Application Integration Architecture, especially the Process Integration Packs.
  

• Oracle's Cliff Godwin discussed three case studies on leveraging Fusion technology, under the theme of using tomorrow's technology today.
  

• Solution Beacon's John Stouffer provided a comparison between the underlying technologies of E-Business 11.5.10 and Release 12.
  

Overall, the conference had a pretty strong finish. I'm glad I stayed for the last day.

Postcard From The Edge...Of Collaborate 07 - Wednesday

Wednesday was another great day at Collaborate. From my perspective, some of the highlights included:

• Oracle laid out the roadmap for their content management product line, which seems to have benefited greatly from last year's Stellent acquisition. If I understand the roadmap correctly, several components of the content management product line will find their way into Fusion Middleware over the next year.

• The OAUG Support Council Panel was even better than I anticipated, as Oracle Support shared their latest performance metrics. It was interesting to see how Oracle Support measures their own performance.

• I understand that Tim Dexter's XML Publisher session was outstanding, especially in terms of laying out the differences between the XML Publisher and BI Publisher brands. Although I personally planned to attend, I found myself pulled into a business meeting that conflicted with Tim's session. It was disappointing, as I not only have interest in the subject matter but also hoped to finally meet Tim face-to-face. On the up side, the sign of a good conference is the need to make difficult choices about allocating your time...

• I also spent quite a bit of time exploring the worlds of RAC and Grid. I don't know as much as I should on either of these subjects, so this was a great opportunity to start getting up to speed. In the near future, I'll write on what I think I know regarding these two subjects and why they are important.

• The raffle portion of the OAUG General Membership Meeting was pretty entertaining. This year, each OAUG attendee received a flash drive as part of registration check-in. The flash drive contained a file entitled "coupon" with a unique six-digit number - I understand that around 4000 flash drives were distributed. So when the raffle began, a random number generator determined the winning raffle numbers - the winning number for each prize was projected onto a huge screen on stage as it was generated. All of this led to a very entertaining situation: the random generation logic seemed pretty good for the first two digits, but the last four appeared to be unlimited. Well, all the possible 4 digit combinations with a digit range from 0 to 9 comes out to much more than 4,000 possible combinations. It took quite a few tries, mixed in with lots of good-natured humor, to come up with winning numbers for the three prizes. As the process ran on, Steven Hughes (OAUG's Executive Director and the Master of Ceremonies for this event) joked that he hoped we finished the raffle before next year's Collaborate (which is April 13-17 in Denver, Colorado).

• I understand that the OAUG Member Appreciation bash was also outstanding. Personally, I passed on the bash in favor of spending an evening with some old cronies from my Oracle days - we try to get together at every Collaborate and OpenWorld. It was nice to wrap up the day with this group.

While there is another day of Collaborate yet to go, I do recognize that the conference essentially wrapped up tonight for most attendees. Many folks will be working through the logistics of departing Las Vegas and heading for home. And that's a real shame. I consider this to be the best Oracle user conference in years (and you don't want to know how long I've been attending these things). There is an energy behind this year's conference that separates it from earlier events. Maybe it's due to all the changes in the works, the location, or some other cause. I only know it's been great, and those that depart early are cutting short a valuable experience. I recognize the need to get home, but it's still a shame to cut short such a great event - it's like leaving a Springsteen concert before the 1st encore.

Postcard From The Edge...Of Collaborate 07 - Tuesday

Ever have one of those days where everything seems to go well? For me, today was one of those days. They are rare, so I've learned to savor them when they come along. I had the opportunity to run into many old friends today, and to make some new friends as well. As I write this, I'm still savoring...

Some of the more noteworthy events to take place during this great day:

• Someone made the statement today that E-Business Release 12 is really just "11.5.11". Just in case anyone reading might be thinking the same thing, please let me assure that Release 12 is not just another E-Business "dot release." The biggest change involves the middleware. Release 12 runs on Fusion Middleware, specifically the 10g Application Server. Release 11.5.10, although it includes some Fusion middleware components, runs on iAS 1.0.2.2.2. The change in middleware alone constitutes a significant set of changes. Release 12 is definitely not just another dot release.
  

• I also heard a statement that Fusion Applications will just be a combination of the best functionality from E-Business, PeopleSoft, JDE, and Siebel. Although Oracle has learned quite a bit from the various apps product lines, and that learning will be applied to the Fusion Apps, I can tell you that this is not the case now that I've seen some very preliminary indications of the functionality to be included in the first release of Fusion Applications. On the other hand, it does look as though the business processes included in the Integration Application Architecture may include the best from Oracle's various apps product lines.
  

• Although it's not been stated explicitly, there seems an underlying assumption that users of the latest apps versions (at least the E-Business, PeopleSoft, and JDE users) are on some type of RAC or Grid infrastructure. If you're not already exploring RAC and Grid, you may want to start soon.
  

• It's become very clear that the newly-announced Applications Integration Architecture does not make Fusion Applications irrelevant, but it does offer another set of choices to Oracle customers. The challenge for Oracle Applications customers is rapidly becoming one of understanding the wide array of available choices and paths.
  

• The OAUG Customer Support Council is developing a theme of "The Power of Support", with a strong emphasis on the value of proactive support. You'll hear quite a bit on this subject in the coming months, beginning with the Customer Support Council panel session tomorrow. If you're with us in Las Vegas, may I reiterate my recommendation for this session? The CSC Panel takes place from 11 a.m until noon in Breakers F. If you are unable to join us here, I'll post the highlights from the session shortly after the conference concludes.

• Around noon, I found myself in a video interview with the team that puts together the Oracle AppCasts. They're an amazing group of people. If you're ever offered the chance to do a podcast or video endorsement, don't pass it up. Just meeting these people makes it a great experience.

• If you ever get to Las Vegas, the view from the iMix Lounge at the top of TheHOTEL is breathtaking. Make it a point to experience the view if you ever find yourself in the neighborhood.

This is developing into a great conference - can't wait for tomorrow!

Postcard From The Edge...of Collaborate 07 - Monday

Well, sure enough, things have ramped up today. Some interesting pieces of information that surfaced today:

• The Oracle Applications Framework (OAF) will merge with the Applications Development Framework (ADF) with the release of Fusion Applications. Only ADF will survive the merge.
  

• The long-rumored "Project X" was announced as the Applications Integration Architecture (AIA). The idea is that BPEL will be used to achieve integration for specific business process across different composite apps (both Oracle and non-Oracle). Oracle will provide integration through pre-designed Process Integration Packs (PIPs). I'll write on this in more detail in a few days, including what I see as the difference in value propositions between AIA and Fusion Applications.
  

• There is quite a bit of change taking place in Oracle's Business Intelligence space, with more to come. Some of the changes are simply branding changes, while others are something more. I'll make an attempt to walk through this in a post sometime in the next few weeks.

• The big session of the day seemed to be Dr. Nadia Bendjedou's reprise of "Oracle E-Business Customers: 10 Things You Can Do Now To Prepare For Fusion Applications". The presentation has been updated a bit, mostly to accommodate some recent developments in BI, but it's essentially the same presentation I reviewed last October. Nevertheless, I always enjoy listening to Nadia because her enthusiasm for the software is so evident in her presentations. I'll review the changes in detail during an upcoming post.

• The Mandalay Bay is such a huge hotel, with some many shops and restaurants, there is really no reason to ever leave. It's like a city unto itself.
  

Postcard From The Edge...Of Collaborate 07 - Sunday

I thought it might be nice to post some brief information and impressions on Collaborate 07 as they happen. Kind of a "spur of the moment" flurry of thoughts. So, in the words of Hannibal Lector, "okey dokey, here we go..."

I pulled into Las Vegas Sunday around noon. Collaborate was pretty quiet on Sunday. The SIG meetings I attended were pretty quiet other than hearing the somewhat unsettling news that there will be no migration path for custom workflow designs into the BPEL environment. And there was that dinner Sunday night with some OAUG folks and the user group from Japan...definitely a very lively bunch.

Lots of folks were late coming in from the eastern U.S. due to the big Noreaster back there. Things should gear up tomorrow.

Life on Planet...uh, I mean Project...X

According to the rumor mill, Collaborate 07 will include an announcement about Oracle's Project X Integration Framework. Project X is a composite application integration framework that allegedly will allow users to pull together the best pieces or features of Oracle's various application stacks into a single, unified business process.

Project X sounds similar to what many in the industry thought Fusion Applications would be when they were first announced. In fact, this could turn out to be a much bigger deal than Fusion Applications for the Oracle apps community...if the rumors are correct. Can't wait to see or hear what happens...

Viva Las Vegas

I haven't been to Vegas in almost a decade, so attending Collaborate 07 next week will give me a chance to see how the city has changed. If you're planning to attend Collaborate yourself, please consider yourself invited to attend my session on implementing Agile software development methods:

JUMP into OpenUP: Implementing Agile Development at the Jet Propulsion Lab, Thursday, 11 a.m., Breakers L

During the session, I'll provide information on:

• The benefits from taking an iterative approach to projects
• The value of Agile
• An overview of OpenUP
• What we're doing with Agile and OpenUP at JPL
  

If you can't make my session, I'll also be participating in one form or another with a few panel discussions:

• Oracle Fusion Middleware 10g and PeopleSoft in the Financial Services Industry, Monday, 7:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., OAUG Mini-Theatre

• OAUG Fusion Council Panel, Monday, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m., Breakers F

• OAUG Customer Support Council Panel, Wednesday, 11:00 a.m. - Noon, Breakers F

Please step up and introduce yourself if you make the session or one of the panel discussions. Technology considerations notwithstanding, nothing beats a face-to-face meeting.

See you in Vegas!

A Late But Great Entry For Collaborate 07

Those of you attending Collaborate 07, the Oracle User Conference, in Las Vegas next week may want to consider attending an important session on XML Publisher that's just been added to the schedule. The session, titled " The Greatest Of The Latest XML Publisher from Tim", will be conducted by Oracle's Tim Dexter.

Tim is one of the driving forces behind XML Publisher (or BI Publisher) at Oracle and a very engaging presenter as well. His web conferences on XML Publisher for OAUG's "Demystifying Fusion" program were very popular - we've had many requests for a repeat performance.

Tim's session will be held on Wednesday, April 18th, in the South Seas F conference room at 4:30. If you plan to attend Collaborate 07 and want to learn about XML Publisher , this is a "must see" session. In fact, I'll see you there!