Apps Driving Value

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about how applications, ERP and otherwise, can drive business value. Of course, that's always the promise...it's just that the promise is not always fulfilled. I've been wondering about that. A few days ago, I had an experience that really made the point for me.

As many of you know, I ride a commuter train to the office. It works pretty well most of the time, but there are some glitches from time to time. One of those glitches popped up earlier this week when a freight train running several miles in front of the train I was riding home hit a car at a railroad crossing. As a result, my train stopped at a station about 30 miles from home and the conductor announced we would be waiting at that station for quite some time.

Rather than sitting on a stopped train and stewing about the time I was wasting, I had a software application that I'd obtained specifically for a situation just like this. I pulled out my trusty iPhone and fired up an application named "Call A Cab". This app determines your location and generates a list of cab companies (with phone numbers) sorted by distance from you. Turns out there was a cab company less than a mile from where I was sitting. I called the company, made arrangements for a pickup in 10 minutes, then stood up in the train and loudly asked if anyone would like to split cab fare to the next train station (which was the station closest to my house). Two people jumped at the chance. 30 minutes later, I was home. I learned later that my train was delayed over two hours before it got underway again. The time I saved by using "Call A Cab" represents substantial, easily measured value to me: I spent two hours with family rather than growing frustrated on a train stuck 30 miles from home. In that situation, that app drove value. BTW, "Call A Cab" is a free app from the iTunes store.

My experience with the delayed train and "Call A Cab" really shed some light for me on how apps can drive value. In the business world, I've had some similar experiences as well. An app that gave locations of a building's gas shut-off valves after the Whittier earthquake comes immediately to mind. I know at least one Oracle customer controlling their manufacturing volume and managing their cash flow (and thus their business afloat) by using a Portal-based dashboard to track their book-to-bill ratio in real-time. I see all these examples as instances of apps driving value.

How about you? Any first-hand examples of applications really driving value? Share your story in the comments.

Elegance Of Design

For those of you who have been reading this blog on a regular basis or following me on Twitter, you know that I've been considering a switch from the PC/Windows world to a Mac/OS X system for the past several weeks. Well, I finally took the plunge this weekend. In fact, I'm writing this particular post on my new iMac.

I've experienced several noteworthy highlights in working through my switch over the past weekend, including improved speed and stability. However, the single most outstanding highlight is my new appreciation for the importance of user interface design. In every instance where the computer system interfaces with the human user, the Apple system is markedly superior to my PC systems. The software's appearance and ease of use (the learning curve in switching is almost non-existent), the tactile response of the keyboard, the feel of the Mighty Mouse in my hand: all these factors have combined to make my initial experience the best technology experience I've had since...hmmm, come to think of it, since I bought an iPhone. Yup, when it comes to elegance of design, Apple gets it.

So, in the realm of Oracle apps, I have to admit that I'm not nearly as excited about the 11i EBS user interface. In fact, I've spent more than a little time this weekend fantasizing about how wonderful it would be if Oracle could come up with a user interface design that provides all the benefits that Apple has worked into their own UI design...at least in terms of the software user interface. Wouldn't it be great if a new user could sit down in front of the Oracle EBS, or PeopleSoft, or Siebel, or JD Edwards, or whatever other apps they own these days, and just start using it because the intuitive nature and ease of use designed into the user interface essentially eliminated any learning curve? Customers would really experience a substantial, measurable benefit from the elegance of user interface design. As I write this, we're a pretty far cry from realizing this dream in the Oracle apps space.

The good news here is that Oracle has a team focused on user interface design. This team leads a program known as the Oracle User Experience, which is intended to use a customer-centric process to deliver high-quality user interface designs. Even better news: you can participate through the Oracle Usability project. Oracle is actively seeking customers to engage in the design process. This is the opportunity for customers to help inject ease of use and intuitive design into the Oracle enterprise apps they use.

After my switch to Apple this weekend, I really understand the importance and benefits of design. Oracle customers can drive the same importance and benefits in their enterprise apps, simply by getting involved. So get involved.

Notes From TFSOTW - Tuesday

A few random notes from OOW08 Tuesday...

• It's not nearly as crowded as it was Monday or even Sunday. Feels more like the last day of the show rather than the middle. I'm also noticing the increase of folks with one-day passes. Must be a sign of the economic times...or maybe the weather is so good that folks decided to play a little hookey.
  

• Most of the cool stuff involving Fusion Middleware is happening around the underground Salon area of the Marriott. I managed to hit the Fusion Middleware Lounge. Also sat in on a great presentation entitled "Identity Management for Oracle EBS". Oracle's Stephen Lee and Sid Choudhury did a great job of laying out the future direction and architecture for integrating Identity Management with EBS, especially in regards to moving from Single Sign-On to Oracle Access Manager. The second half of this session was conducted by Agilent Technologies' Mike Cohn, who shared his experiences in leading an implementation of Identity Management with EBS. This was probably the best session I attended all day.
  

• The sessions previewing EBS R12.1 are also pretty exciting. The enhancements in the business processing in 12.1 will provide some motivation for customers who have been holding off on upgrading from 11i. I'm also getting the feeling, just from talking to other people in the EBS sessions, that the uptake for R12 is beginning to ramp up. Seems to me as though the uptake will really take off with the release of 12.1 (which I'm guessing will be sometime in 2009). I suspect we'll an order-of-magnitude increase of customers in production on R12 by the close of 2009.
  

• I love my iPhone for many reasons. Today's reason has to do with avoiding long lines. I hit the Oracle bookstore and actually found several books worth having. When I tried to check out, I lost patience after waiting in non-moving lines for about 10 minutes. Set down the books, picked up my iPhone, and placed an order with Amazon for said books. They'll be waiting for me when I get home this weekend. No fuss, no muss. Like I said, I love my iPhone.
  

• I did get to spend a few minutes at the ACE dinner. This is always one of the most enjoyable events of any Oracle-related conference. It's always great to see old friends as well as meet the new members. Got a nice jacket out of the deal too.
  

• Also managed to swing by the reception for the presentation of the Oracle ACE Awards. Being a judge was a tough job this year. Picking winners was a difficult job.
  

• Did manage to get by the Apple store last night. Now I'm really infected by the halo effect. I suspect I'll be back there Thursday...I'm going home with a new Mac Book Pro.
  

• Also tested the power of Twitter last night. I sent out a tweet letting folks know that I would be hanging in the Marriott hotel lobby-lounge around 9 p.m. with my wife (who flew up for Tuesday and today). A couple of people wandered by at 9. A few more rolled in around 9:20. Folks kept trickling in until 10, when my wife and I broke away for dinner. Came back at 10:30 and the crew was till there (and even grew a bit more). We all finally called it quits around 11:30. Neat. Diggin' the Twitter thing.
  

I really slacked on the picture thing today...only took a pic in the Fusion Middleware Lounge and another in the Oracle Game Room, plus a few really bad shots of presentation screens from that great Identity Management session. You can see what little I got here. I'll try to do better tomorrow.

More Thoughts On OOW

Oracle OpenWorld 2008 will offer me a perspective I have missed out on for a long time - that of someone "just attending" ("just attending" is a phrase that's always bothered me - without the folks "just attending", there is no conference). Granted, I'll be highly engaged while attending, but I'm "just attending": no presentations, no panels, no nothing...strictly an audience member. This is a perspective I have not experienced in several years and, to be honest, it's really cool.

I don't miss the pressure of building presentations and keeping them current in the weeks leading up to OOW. I also like the independence and schedule flexibility. Finally, I like being able to focus on those things that will allow me to be a "highly engaged" attendee and add value to the Oracle user community in new ways during the conference. One example of this: I'm writing this post from my iPhone, using LifeCast - be a nice way to blog in real time (other than Twitter) if this little test is successful.

So my goal for this OOW, other than learning about the important subjects mentioned in my last post, is to fire up real-time discussions during OOW. The mix of the blogger and Oracle Ace credentials Oracle was kind enough to pass my way (thanks Justin) with some nifty social networking technology may allow us all to be "highly engaged" this year. I can't wait!

Posted with LifeCast

Adios Clamshell and Other Random Thoughts

Most of this post is off topic, but I hope it's still interesting...

Adios Clamshell

Last week, I finally bid a fond adios to my beloved trailing-edge Nokia clamshell phone. My wife gave me an iPhone as a "no special reason" gift...yup, the woman's a keeper. I really think she did it due to fatigue from my incessant whining about the need to be fully connected all the time. I've only had the iPhone for six days and I'm already wondering how I ever lived without it. If nothing else, the iPhone may encourage me to stop being such a "Twitter slacker" (I follow lots but don't tweet much - have yet to figure out why).

Web-Based Apps Experiment

I actually began this experiment a few weeks before receivng the iPhone gift, but getting the iPhone just makes this idea that much more interesting. On March 1st, I began an experiment of attempting to go an entire month without using locally-based apps for anything. That's right, 30 whole days without Excel, Word, or PowerPoint. Instead, I've been working with web-based apps such as ThinkFree and Zoho (in fact, I'm actually writing this post from scratch on Blogger).

The iPhone adds a new twist to the latter half of the experiment, as I'm narrowing the field to only those apps that will allow me to generate content via the iPhone. That eliminates ThinkFree and Google Docs entirely, as well as the spreadsheet and presentation software from Zoho (although Zoho's Writer still qualifies). I'm starting to use EditGrid for spreadsheet work, but I'm still looking for a PowerPoint substitute. I suspect I'll conclude that the iPhone is a great appliance for staying connected but not so hot for generating content (translation: I can leave my laptop computer home on short trips, but I'll still need it for anything longer than about two nights on the road - that's the max amount of time I can go without generating some type of spreadsheet, doc or presentation).

Whatever Happened To Oracle Discoverer?

With all the recent acquisitions, BI servers and reporting tools, I have yet to hear anything official on the fate of Oracle Discoverer. It doesn't mean that there isn't anything official from Oracle, it just means that I've looked but have been unable to find anything official. Anyone have any reliable information on the future direction of Oracle Discoverer?

Flexing The E-Business Suite

Anybody doing any work with extending the E-Business Suite using Adobe Flex? I'm getting a bit interested in Flex and my mental gears are churning out some possible ideas, but I just haven't found the time to integrate Flex with the Oracle apps server and try any of those ideas out. I'd really like to get a hands-on feel for the differences between Flex and AJAX, and how those differences might apply in an E-Business environment. If anyone out there has done anything like this, please let me know.