About Collaborate 11

I went into Collaborate 11 hoping to focus on a few specific areas: Fusion Applications and E-Business R12.2. So, short, sweet and to the point: I came back with 4 important highlights worth sharing:

• Upgrading to EBS 12.2 will require a bit of technical mojo, as the upgrade will include migrating the supporting middleware server from OC4J to WebLogic. It'll be cool to see the rock-solid data model of 12.1.3 layered with WebLogic (yeah, that's my inner geek talking).

• Oracle's VP of Applications Development, Steve Miranda, got a little feisty during the Q&A portion of one of his sessions (I personally liked the feistiness - it's about time). When asked if Fusion Apps were ready for customers, Steve responded that Oracle's Early Adopter Program was ready: "bring 'em on". Steve also stated that Fusion Apps would be available via e-delivery "in a couple of months." Methinks we're getting close.

• The whole Fusion picture came together for me at Collaborate…the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Fusion Architecture, Fusion Middleware, Fusion Applications. I'll be writing more more here about how it all works together over the next few weeks.

Already looking forward to Collaborate 12...but I doubt that Vegas has any Brazilian steakhouses that will match up to the one in Orlando discovered by my friends from the Oracle UX team (thanks for letting me tag along). But if you come to Collab next year, maybe we can try to find one together!

Updates From Collaborate 11

In the past, I've provided updates on the conferences I attend through nightly updates to the blog. Well, truth be known, I'm kind of lazy at heart...always struggled to work up the energy for that. And the updates were not as close to real-time as I would like.

So this year, for Collab 11, I'm changing it up. No blog post updates. Be doing it through Twitter instead - quick, concise, real-time. Better for you and better for me - a win-win.

To catch my Twitter updates, you can follow me: fteter@twitter.com. For those of you who are Twitter-challenged, I'm putting a Twitter widget into the blog so you can follow. Yeah, it's actually the funny-looking window over on the right...

Collaborate 11: What Looks Good To Me

Collaborate 11 kicks up next weekend in Orlando, Florida (assuming the weather and the US Government budget permit the planes to fly). I'm looking forward to it for several reasons: 1) getting face-to-face with friends I only see a few times each year; 2) gathering more user stories from Oracle Applications customers; 3) hearing more about Fusion Applications (some folks on this subject are sharing more info, while others appear to not know what they're talking about - some presentations will be educational and some will just be entertaining).

As usual, I can't get to all the interesting stuff in this conference. I'll be focusing on Fusion Apps, E-Business Suite, and maybe a little SOA and BI if I can get it in. Based on those focus areas, this is what looks good to me at Collab 11:

Product Release Announcements

I expect we'll hear about one significant product update, possibly two. We may also hear about one or two product releases…I definitely see some noisy water on a few fronts, so it'll be interesting to see if any results surface during the conference. This is all speculation on my part, but isn't that half the fun of Collaborate?

Oracle Fusion Soup to Nuts II

It's nice to see Soup to Nuts take on a life of it's own. I haven't really had any role in this year's set of workshops, but it's good to see other people running with the idea. It's taken on a life of it's own and this year's agenda looks really strong.

My Presentations

I'll be presenting twice on Fusion Applications:

• Fusion Applications: A Peek Under The Hood, Session ID 7631, Monday, 3:45 - 4:45 in Room W105B

• Fusion Applications: How Is The Journey So Far?, Session ID 7642, Tuesday, 3:15 - 4:15 in Room W105B

I'll be walking my usual thin line between sharing information without getting myself into legal trouble…should be an entertaining dance, so come on by if you have the time.

E-Business Presentations

Oracle E-Business Suite Technology: Vision, Release Overview and Product Roadmap - Lisa Parekh

Get Ready for EBSR12.1! Tasks to Complete Now to Ease The R12.1 Upgrade Process

Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut Factor at the World's Largest Healthcare Payer - John Stouffer

Key Techniques and Tools to Reduce Your Oracle E-Business Suite R12 Technical Upgrade - Elke Phelps

Advanced Technology Deployment Architectures for Oracle E-Business Suite - Steven Chan

Leveraging Cloud Computing in an ERP Eco-System - Mike Rulf

Oracle E-Business Suite Applications Strategy and General Manager Update - Cliff Godwin

Oracle E-Business Suite and the Coexistence Strategy with Fusion Applications: Platform Perspective - Nadia Bendjedou

CS - Accounting in R12: Procure-to-Pay Process - Mohan Iyer

Technical Roadmap for Oracle Fusion Middleware, E-Business Suite R12 and Oracle Fusion Applications - John Stouffer

SML Publisher in E-Business Suite for Newbies - Srini Chavali

Business Flow Overview and Master Data Management - Mohan Dutt

Fusion Applications

Oracle Fusion PPM: Next Generation Project Portfolio Management Applications - LIam Boyd

Record to Report Business Flow in Oracle Fusion Applications - David Haimes

Fusion Applications - Move Now or Wait? - Debra Lilley

Implementing Fusion Applications Using The Oracle Unified Methodology - Bruce Dehner

Oracle Fusion Middleware Extensions and Patterns for Oracle Fusion Applications - Paul Johl

Oracle Fusion Applications Technical Architecture and Deployment Overview - Steve Miranda

The Fusion Applications' User Experience: Transforming Work into Insight

Other Stuff

Facebook for Oracle! All About Oracle Webcenter for Non-Technical Folks - Basheer Khan

Physical Ordering of Data - Is It Ever Useful? - Mark Farnham

Understanding Oracle and Industry Cloud Computing Directions - A Decision-Maker's Guide - Ron Batra

Grid Next Generation - The Virtual Enterprise Extended - Ray Payne

So there you have it...my picks, for what they're worth. Collab 11 looks to be a pretty spiffy gathering...hope to see you there (look me up and say "hi").