OAUG president talks Collaborate '09 and the future of Oracle apps

By Shayna Garlick, Assistant Editor 06 May 2009 | SearchOracle.com

Oracle news and trends Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

SearchOracle.com: What are your reactions and what have you heard from users after yesterday's keynote and all the new product announcements?

Raymond Payne: The big takeaway from yesterday's keynote was in two specific areas. Everyone's really excited about release 12.1 (of E-Business Suite), the new modules and new applications which that's bringing -- our membership in particular. They are extremely interested in that and really glad to see it hitting the market and see that Oracle's continuing its promise to use the latest versions of technology. The integration with Fusion Middleware is spot on, and for many customers like myself, that is very important. The other big takeaway was the announcement of the fee waiver for Extended Support for some of the earlier releases. That's a key factor for much of our membership. We're frankly suffering from the economic situation, and that goes a long way in helping us out in that we have a little more flexibility in our planning for upgrades, and for a time we won't have to worry about yet another expense to add on to our support coverage. That was huge.

SearchOracle.com: What specific features of the E-Business Suite are users excited about?

For more on Collaborate '09 Read all the latest news and analysis in our special report Hear what IOUG president Ian Abramson has to say about the conference

Payne: We're seeing a comprehensive list of products. Many people characterized release 12.0 as a Financials-only release, and even though the other products were there, there are major improvements in projects and that whole area, almost so much so that you can call those new products. That's absolutely a big thing. In the administration area, in particular, some of the improvements that they've done, taking advantage of the middleware stack that we're sitting on, are going to help tremendously in things such as configuration management, patching and maintenance of the E-Business Suite. That's a big cost saver and time saver for us.

SearchOracle.com: It doesn't seem as though Oracle has been saying much about Fusion apps lately – do you know the latest news on that?

Payne: They're still out there; they're still coming. They're positioning things. I think that getting the Fusion middleware out there and getting it established has been a big part of their strategy, encouraging our membership and their customers for some time to install Fusion middleware, get used to it, understand how it is. I think we're going to see that continue to grow, hear more and more about it at OpenWorld later this year, and I think it's progressing nicely. There's a lot of interest in it (among users).

SearchOracle.com: What kind of adoption of AIA are you seeing among your users?

Payne: That in particular is very popular in our user base. AIA had some fits and starts, as any new product does, but as the rest of the technology stack is continuing to mature, it is part of that Fusion middleware stack. I know that there are many customers and many of our members who are looking at AIA as a bridge for them to leverage and build an approach to Fusion when Fusion comes out. So that's a key part and, yes, there's a lot of interest in what's going on with AIA. I think if you looked at the catalog of sessions here, there are quite a few sessions around that.

SearchOracle.com: Have you heard from users about obstacles or problems they are having when adopting AIA?

Payne: No -- the only thing is that it's like any other new piece of technology. There's some ramp-up time. OAUG has a lot of partner members that are partners with Oracle and are helping our membership understand that, and that's a tremendous service that our partners provide.

SearchOracle.com: What reactions have you heard from users about the new technologies that will result from the Oracle-Sun deal?

Payne: The user community is obviously very interested, and the thing I remind everybody is that anything we say about that is pure speculation. We're not talking about that.

SearchOracle.com: What has been your overall impression of the show so far? How has attendance been among OAUG members?

Payne: That's actually a good question. We knew that we were going to be down in attendance. I have traveled over the country in the past four months and attended several other events, saw what was happening, and we were planning for it. The good news is that we saw a last-minute up-tick. I don't have the final numbers, but we actually had, from my understanding, a good number of walk-ons. So we were pleasantly surprised. All the OAUG members that I've talked to are recognizing that the value definitely is here -- it's still here even in this down economic time -- and they're all glad they got here. We're working with them to enhance services and provide new services, and they're all very excited to hear about that.

Tags: Oracle Fusion applications,  Oracle applications implementation and upgrades,  Oracle E-Business Suite,  Oracle JD Edwards,  Oracle aquisitions,  Oracle strategy and product roadmap,  Oracle support services,  VIEW ALL TAGS

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT Oracle Fusion applications Users caution to look before you leap with Oracle Fusion Applications Oracle opens up the product floodgates at OpenWorld Oracle unwraps Fusion Applications, new user support portal Oracle applications learning guide Oracle brings Fusion Middleware into the modern age Ellison sees new opportunities for Oracle with Java on mobile devices Oracle Application Integration Architecture: Where it is going? Special Report: Collaborate '09 Oracle and Java: Some think advisory board would comfort users Enterprise software market won't grow this year, report says Oracle applications implementation and upgrades Users caution to look before you leap with Oracle Fusion Applications Oracle delivers database fixes in Critical Patch Update Oracle opens up the product floodgates at OpenWorld Oracle's PeopleSoft 9.1 has improved user productivity Oracle updates Agile PLM for food and beverage compliance Oracle OpenWorld 2009 Special Report Oracle CRM On Demand data integration raises big issues Oracle applications learning guide Collect America chooses Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g over open source Oracle raises prices on database management packs Oracle applications implementation and upgrades Research Oracle E-Business Suite Part 3: The final ERP transition: Crossing the finish line successfully Part 2: Maintaining your place in the race -- ERP project management Revving your engines: Tuning up your ERP project plan Ventana's Mark Smith on Hyperion and Oracle BI Oracle delivers database fixes in Critical Patch Update Oracle CRM On Demand data integration raises big issues Oracle applications learning guide SMART weighs Oracle vs. SAP, picks E-Business Suite 12 for IFRS compliance Oracle's E-Business Suite consolidates HBO's financial operations Ellison sees new opportunities for Oracle with Java on mobile devices

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary