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.