Off To Harness The Ch'i

There's been quite a bit of chatter on the Intertubes over the past day or so related to next week's Oracle OpenWorld. Lots of attempts at last-minute arrangement - kind of a frantic feeling in the air, much more so than in years past. In fact, the noise level is starting to get a little overwhelming. So my plan is to leave the office today, unplug from this evening until Sunday morning (when I arrive at San Francisco), and follow the advice of my oldest daughter to "harness the Ch'i". Before I do so, one last thought on getting the most value from your OpenWorld experience: dedicate some time focusing on the area that is mostly likely one of the largest IT costs for your enterprise and probably the most neglected...support. Think about it: most folks study the details of their warranty or maintenance agreement when they buy or lease a car. While it may not be the most exciting stuff (well, maybe it's exciting when your car breaks down on the highway outside of Ponca City or something like that), it's some of the most important stuff and a big consideration in the new car selection for many buyers. Why wouldn't you do the same with your Oracle support contract?

As recently pointed out by Frank Scavo at the Enterprise Spectator, the current cost of Oracle support compels customers to essentially pay again for the originally purchased software license in less than five years. Until the business model for software support changes, one of the best things customers can do is squeeze as much value as possible out of their support agreement with Oracle. That means understanding what tools and services are available (most at no additional cost) under your support agreement, how support works, and building a strategy to proactively address as many issues as possible before they arise.

I'm not going to plug specific sessions related to Oracle Support in this article, as I already did so here. Just wanted to put the idea on the table that Oracle Support is where you burn a big chunk of your IT budget, so you may want to invest some time in maximizing the benefits...just a thought.

I'm off off to harness the Ch'i now. Hope to see ya'all at the Big Dance. Next up: my first post from Oracle OpenWorld 2008.