Yet Another "Off To OpenWorld" Blog Post

So, here we go…it's OpenWorld time (as though you didn't know). As usual, my schedule is already pretty much locked down so all I have to do next week is be where my iPhone tells me to be when it tells me to be there. I will say the prep is overwhelming, especially this week (and I'm a customer - the Oracle folks have been much busier, I'm sure) - I'll be really happy when the prep stuff calms down in a few days.

I'm actually flying to San Francisco tomorrow (Thursday, Oct. 8th) to spend some time at Oracle HQ: some pre-OOW biz to take care of on Thursday (more on that in a later post - promises to rock in the extreme; yup, this is a teaser) and the ACE Director gathering on Friday. I'll change hotels Saturday morning, settling into downtown San Francisco, and do some preliminary scouting Saturday afternoon. The OOW hubbub starts Sunday and I'll be running hard until the following Thursday - a week of learning, presenting, meeting new friends and catching up with old friends (my favorite part of OOW).

I'll be blogging on the OOW events, although I can't promise how timely I'll be in posting…the days promise to be pretty long and it's tough to keep the energy level up late at night once you get to be my age (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). I'll be as timely as I can.

My wish list for news at OOW:

• Some new info on the progress of Fus…uh, I mean Next Generation…Applications.
• Lots of info about Oracle's pending acquisition of Sun: especially in terms of the future for various Sun products as well as some plans for blending Oracle software with Sun hardware.
• Some specific info about Oracle's plans to continue the integration of Hyperion into the Oracle product family.
• Some info on the future strategy for WebLogic, especially in terms of how it will continue to integrate into Oracle's Applications Unlimited products.
• Future directions for the E-Business Suite: future R12 releases, maybe some incremental changes to the underlying tech stack, etc.
• Finally, some good info on the impact of the retirement of the classic Metalink interface.

One last thing: I'll be carrying a bunch of nifty Jet Propulsion Lab Mars Rover stickers in my bag. If you're into stickers and/or space exploration, track me down and get one before they're all gone.

Any additions to the wish list should be left in the comments. Hope to see you next week!