It’s a question that many Oracle customers are asking now, as a new year often means time for a new or revised Oracle strategy. SearchOracle.com recently talked to some Oracle industry analysts for tips on crafting such a plan, and the experts’ suggestions included putting security, automation and middleware decisions at the top of your New Year’s resolutions list.    

These lists have already begun showing up in the blogosphere. So, what are some Oracle gurus resolving to do in 2009?

Database developer Chet Justice has four resolutions for the new year: Go the entire year without losing his job, become proficient in OBIEE, build a PL/SQL test harness and contribute something tangible to the Oracle community.

Dan McGhan, however, has different goals, which include becoming an Oracle 11g Database Administrator Certified Associate and completing a new open source project after a previously failed attempt. 

Michael Sheehan of XML journal thinks this is an important year to focus on cloud computing. He offers his own suggestions, including taking some time to both understand what it is and research different cloud computing providers.

Your Oracle New Year’s resolutions obviously depend on your own job and experiences. However, whether or not you accomplish your resolutions also depends on what Oracle accomplishes this year.

For example, Senior Analyst Chris Wolf came up with a New Year’s resolution not for himself, but for Oracle. Wolf thinks 2009 is the time for the software vendor to “publicly define official support and offer virtual CPU-based licensing for all prominent x86 virtualization environments.”

We’ll be posting a story later this week on what some other users have outlined as their goals for 2009. What do you think Oracle should resolve to do in 2009? What are your own Oracle-related resolutions for the new year and how do you plan to accomplish them?

Or, did they?

The software giant announced its entrance into the appliance market with the Exadata product line, revealed Beehive, its new collaborative platform, and gave other updates on Oracle E-Business Suite, Siebel, cloud computing, partnerships and more. While this news excited some, others – - like CIO.com blogger Thomas Wailgum, who called OpenWorld a “SnoozeFest” – - just didn’t see what the big deal was.

Many attendees were actually more disappointed about what wasn’t said than what was. As many bloggers asked, where were the Fusion-related announcements? We didn’t learn much, except for that the first suite of Fusion Applications may not ship until 2010. As pointed out in in this News York Times article, while Oracle was forthcoming with its cloud computing plans, it remained tight-lipped on Fusion Apps:

“Chuck Rozwat, Oracle‘s head of product development, largely deflected questions about hotly anticipated technologies such as Fusion Applications during a Q&A session with reporters at the OpenWorld conference,” wrote IDG News service reporter Chris Kanaracus.

Also missing was any news on a second release of Oracle 11g. Besides the fact that 11g R2 is about to start its beta program, there were no major announcements on the release and no features were revealed, to the disappointment of many.

Here are some other takes on what did and didn’t work at OpenWorld 2008:

Ellison’s keynote and the Exadata announcement:

• Peter Scott at Rittman Mead Consulting: “For strange people like me, people that see the world as moving large amounts of data around, it was exciting news. For me, data retrieval and storage are bulk processes and need to be achieved in way that does not swamp the capacity of that weak link, IO bandwidth.”

• CIO.com’s Thomas Wailgum: “…Ellison’s odd keynote on Oracle’s new hardware and branding partnership with HP? Sorry. Boring!”

• Former Gartner Analyst Vinnie Mirchandani: “About the speech, though – what was fascinating was there was no mention of Fusion – or indeed any of the Beehive or “social” CRM apps Oracle showcased earlier in week. No shots at Oracle’s major competitors – SAP, Microsoft or soon to be Cisco in the collaboration space. Instead he picked on Teradata and Netezza?”

• Tim from Oracle-Base: I think I’m in the minority when I say I was a little underwhelmed by the keynote yesterday. I’m sure there are many positive points about Oracle Exadata Storage and HP Oracle Database Machine, but it all seems a little irrelevant to me.”

• Doug’s Oracle Blog: “Stuff like the HP Oracle Exadata storage appliance are exactly why I’m in this business. I love systems and new architectures and high performance. Call me crazy, but who *cares* how many customers will benefit from it.”

The Oracle Beehive Announcement:

• ZDNet’s Sam Diaz: “I’m a bit leery about getting excited over Beehive, largely because I just saw a bunch of different Web-based collaboration products showcased at the Office 2.0 conference a few weeks ago.”

• Knowledge Infusion CEO Jason Averbook: “I have seen many blogs and clips about people saying ‘nothing new, same old thing compared to Twitter and Facebook.’ One of the things that people forget is that these tools ARE NOT in most enterprises today and organizations are struggling with how to use them. Oracle’s foray into this space is very exciting as one of the way’s enterprises will adopt Web 2.0 tools is if they are tightly integrated with their daily business applications.”

Cloud computing plans:

• Matt Asay from CNet.com: “One area in which Oracle did shine was in CEO Larry Ellison’s shot at cloud computing, calling the infatuation with the cloud ‘complete gibberish.’”

Blogger/Press designations:

• Steve Gillmore from TechCrunchIT: “This year marks the detente between what Oracle PR calls press and what they call bloggers. Each of us media types was given a large badge with either press or blogger written in enormous red letters. I think the theory was to allow Oracle and third-party vendors to tell at 100 feet what type you were and suggest management procedures based on that triage…The basic problem is that there is actually no difference between the two designations.”

Michael Phelps’ appearance in Charles Phillips’ keynote

• Diaz: “I didn’t catch anything in the speech that would generate any real excitement. Maybe that’s why Phillips welcomed Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps to the stage. It was cool to see the scruffy-faced Phelps but what was he doing there? The only thing he really told us was that he eats, sleeps and swims all day. I kind of already figured that’s what his day was like but I didn’t expect to have it confirmed at Oracle OpenWorld.”

What about you? Who do you agree or disagree with? What are your final thoughts on Oracle OpenWorld 2008?

It’s a question that’s been asked many times, but for now, we seem to have an answer: Not as much (numerically, at least) as it once was.

As pay for certified SAP skills is seeing significant increases, other IT certifications – - including the Oracle Forms Developer Certified Professional (OCP) – - are seeing large declines in market value. According to the compensation-focused research firm Foote Partners, those with OCP certifications have earned more than 18% less pay in the past 12 months.

Oracle Certified Professionals certainly aren’t alone – - IBM, Microsoft and Novell have seen even greater pay decreases – - but what does this mean for the future of Oracle certifications?

There is no easy answer. In fact, there seems to be a lot more questions than answers in the Oracle certification debate, many of which have been raised in Oracle’s new Oracle Certification Blog. In Paul Sorensen’s two-part post, To Certify or Not to Certify, he asserts that while certification is a great part of building a career, it’s just that – - only one part. 

So, while Sorensen doesn’t seem to have strong feelings either for or against Oracle certification, it seems that one can make a case for either side. Here are some interesting points from Oracle DBAs and experts that I have come across regarding the value of an Oracle certification:

From a tip by SearchOracle expert Craig Mullins:

-”I do recommend that professional DBAs take the time to study and pass the certification exams. Not because certification will make you a better DBA, but because it will make you more employable.”

-”Some things you just have to learn by doing. Now, I am not saying that certification is useless. Indeed, taking the test and focusing on the questions you miss can help to point out areas of weakness upon which you can improve. But does anyone really believe that someone passing a formalized test will be as capable as someone with several years of experience as a DBA?”

From Oracle DBA Howard Fosdick:

-”Whether you decide to certify is a highly personal decision. Every DBA weighs the costs and benefits differently to come to his or her own conclusion. Don’t be swayed by what others decide or by propaganda from the booming ‘certification industry’ — do what’s right for you.”

From “The power of Oracle certification” by SearchOracle expert Michael Hillenbrand:

-”Those with certifications will usually argue that they are important; those without them will most likely turn up their noses at them.”

-”While the OCA seems to be a viable option for the average DBA, those who wish to pursue certification on their own, without company sponsorship, will find it financially next to impossible to earn an OCP (two courses) or OCM (five total courses).”

Do you agree or disagree? Do continued pay decreases change your opinion? If OCP certification is so expensive to begin with, is it still worth the time and effort if you won’t be compensated for it at your job?  

Then the Oracle Applications User Group (OAUG) has a place for you. The OAUG offers over 75 Special Interest Groups (SIGs), each of which allows members to connect with others who work in their industry or with a specific application; for example, discrete manufacturing, Hyperion or Internal Control and Security.

The OAUG unveiled another SIG yesterday, and will offer interested members a chance to learn about this new group at Oracle OpenWorld.

The group, CRM Connect, “was formed to accommodate users of all Oracle-owned customer relationship management (CRM) applications and to facilitate communication between the CRM users community and Oracle,” according to the OAUG press release.

The group will serve users of the entire Oracle CRM community, which includes PeopleSoft Enterprise, Siebel CRM and Oracle E-Business Suite. The CRM community was created almost one year ago exactly.

A couple of weeks ago, the news surfaced that PeopleSoft Enterprise and Oracle E-Business suite had been left off Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation. While sales of these applications may be on the decline, CRM Connect will give users — whether or not they’re considering a switch — a chance to stay in touch and voice their concerns. According to OAUG, not only do these groups allow you to talk with your peers, but they present “opportunities for dialogue with Oracle associates about issues such as product development, quality and support.”

As you’re planning your OpenWorld schedule, consider blocking off some time to learn more about this SIG. The CRM Connect meeting will be held in two parts: Sunday, Sept. 21, at 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in room 3001 at the Moscone Center.

Do you find groups like these useful? Have you ever (or do you currently) belong to any Oracle-related special interest groups? What have your experiences been?

It may be a good idea to do what many of our fellow bloggers have done — start making up a schedule. With more than 1,500 sessions to choose from over the course of five days, you should probably have a plan of attack before you arrive.

Doug at oracledoug.com‘s five-day plan (which he, like many others, made with Oracle’s Schedule Builder) includes sessions such as “SQL Tuning Roundtable with the Experts,” “Inside Oracle Database 11g Optimizer: Removing the Mystery” and “Time-Travel Through Your Data with Oracle Total Recall.”

He admits to purposely leaving off any Web 2.0 or ‘Futures’ presentations, but you can find these in Oracle ACE H.Tonguç Yilmaz’s schedule, which includes a visit to the session “Web 2.0 Development with Oracle Application Express.”  Mark Rittman of Rittman Mead Consulting is especially looking forward to “Using Cube-Organized Materialized Views” and “New Technologies in Oracle BI Suite Enterprise Edition.” And all three of these Oracle gurus are planning to spend time in the OTN Lounge, where Oracle ACEs will be holding ‘office hours.’

This is only a tiny sampling of the vast array of OpenWorld presentations, sessions, keynotes and roundtables to choose from. Of course, your choices depend on your interests, industry, product area, etc. But here’s a list of a few sessions that I (and some of the aforementioned bloggers) found interesting — and that you may want to add to your list!

• Oracle OpenWorld Unconference: This is a more informal workshop, in its second year, where anyone can sign up to present a session on their topic of choice.

• Keynote with Charles Phillips and Chuck Rozwat (9/22 at 9 am): Rittman speculates that this may include announcements about the first Fusion release and key features of Oracle Database 11gR2.

• Oracle 11g Cram Session: This is part of OpenWorld’s Exam Cram Series. Other Oracle Certification activities include on-site certification testing and an OCP Lounge.

• Oracle Applications User Group (OAUG) Knowledge Factory session: This session gives an overview of the an overview of the OAUG’s Knowledge Factory, which was launched at COLLABORATE 08.

Which sessions are on your ‘must attend’ (or ‘must not attend’ ) list? What would you recommend to others? Seen any of the speakers before? Similar presentations? Are they worth it or not?

The mystery facility in question is a new “Global Information Technology facility” that Oracle recently announced it would be building in West Jordan, Utah. The 200,000 square foot building is expected to have about 100 employees, whose wages will be well above the Salt Lake County average.

So that they could “do a favor for prospective job applicants looking for more information,” the WSJ attempted to inquire about the specifics of the facility. More specifically, they asked, what exactly is it?

While almost all signs point to the facility being a data center–including being cited as such in numerous other articles– the Oracle spokeswoman in question declined to confirm this, Vara says.

Of course, this now leaves the answer up to the imagination, as seen by the extraterrestrial staring down those who read the WSJ blog entry. Here is one reader response when asked for speculation about what is planned for this “facility:”

“It could be the world’s largest testing tank for an America’s Cup yacht, crewed by a select group of sister-wives; the real secret is the use of extraterrestrial technology to be able to harness the solar wind as an aid to propulsion.”

That’s a good guess–but can you come up with anything better?

Here’s a hint: it’s not Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who was knocked down to No. 11 after holding the top spot in 2006.

So, who took Jobs’ place? That would be Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who also ranked No. 1 on Forbes’ list of overall best-paid CEOs (a list on which Jobs ranked No. 120).

The rankings were based on “the overall compensation for the past year for executives, factoring in salary, cash bonuses, vested stock grants, stock gains and exercised stock options.” Nabeel Gareeb of MEMC Electronic Materials and John Chambers of Cisco Systems rounded out the top three of tech CEOs.

It’s interesting to take a look at what the blogosphere has been saying about Ellison’s “victory.” Silicon Valley reporter Sarah Lacy says that “he may not deserve how much he’s making, but he deserves to be one of the most highly paid CEOs in the Valley.”

She goes on to list Ellison’s accomplishments, including that he both “gets where technology is going” and “gets where technology business is going.”

And to all the Ellison loathers out there, Lacy (who seems to question why she isn’t one herself) had this to say: “But shareholders are not electing him president or best friend. They’re paying him to be a good CEO, and he may be one of the only ones worth what he’s being paid.”

CNET News.com blogger Charlie Cooper has a different take on things. He says that a CEO’s success should be measured by their company’s stock performance, and given Oracle’s stock performance over the last 10 years, Ellison is not worth $193 million (even though many readers leave comments criticizing the data he presents).

What do you think is the best way to measure the worth of a tech CEO? Does Ellison (or anyone, for that matter) deserve to make $193 million in a year? Or, do you think such rankings don’t even matter at all?

I started at TechTarget during the height of the dot com bubble — a time when a rash of ill-conceived and ultimately doomed Internet companies let stock options fly like wedding rice while encouraging employees to wear roller skates to work. Back then, I didn’t even really know what an operating system was, and I thought the Love Bug worm was something you cured with penicillin.

Then the bubble burst and, at first, I feared my newfound career in technology journalism would meet an untimely end. But TechTarget survived the fallout and actually continued to grow at a rapid pace. It soon became clear that my new career would continue — if I could manage to learn more about the world of IT. And that’s where you came in.

From the Oracle DBAs in the trenches who taught me the meaning of ‘SQL Query,’ to the CIOs in the corner offices who schooled me on the necessity of ROI, you were always there, always patient and always willing to help, even if it meant answering embarrassingly basic questions like: Could you explain that to me again like I’m a three-year-old?  
 
For all your help, I just wanted to say thanks. I leave this job knowing that the Oracle user community and larger IT marketplace is filled with unbelievably intelligent people — people who taught me a great deal.   

Remember, SearchOracle.com will remain the number one stop on the Internet for Oracle professionals long after I’m gone. For now, however, please send those Oracle-related tips, comments, story ideas and feedback to news director Barney Beal.

As for me, I’ll be trading in my pen for a meat slicer and an apron. Hopefully my new customers will be as supportive as you’ve been. But somehow I doubt that’s possible.

Take care of yourselves.

– Mark

Here is our look back at your favorites of the year that was 2007:

1. Is Oracle technology too darn expensive? – This year, many IT professionals said they would consider an alternative to Oracle because of the high cost of running Oracle database or business applications.
2. Oracle SQL Developer gets an update – Last January, Oracle unveiled a new version of its free SQL Developer tool and also the SQL Developer Exchange site.
3. Author Mike Ault sizes up the new Oracle Database 11g – This exclusive podcast interview features Mike Ault, a popular speaker at all the major Oracle conferences, discussing Oracle Database 11g’s new SQL replay and memory management capabilities and much more.
4. Oracle shows off Database 11g – Last July, after a nine-month beta test, Oracle unveiled its Database 11g, the long-awaited overhaul of its flagship database management system.
5. Oracle SQL Developer vs. Toad: Users speak out, part two Oracle developers had differing opinions on the best PL/SQL editing and debugging tools.

And here on the blog, the posts that got you the most riled up were as follows:

1. “Database administration is for suckers”?
2. Is Oracle supportive?
3. Does anybody really like SQL?
4. Oracle ACE program “almost completely worthless”
5. Thirty years of Oracle innovation — but is it really a RDBMS?

But wait, there’s more! We also list the most popular tips, expert responses and learning guides of the year. For some interesting data management predictions for 2008, check out SearchDataManagement.com’s compilations.

From all of us here at SearchOracle.com and TechTarget, we wish you a happy and prosperous 2008!

–Tim

Does that concern you DBAs? Is this the beginning of the end of the in-house DBA?

For managers, Oracle’s pitch is compelling:

With more than 1.7 million users, including enterprise customers with the most rigorous requirements, Oracle On Demand simplifies enterprise computing by reducing the need to handle software upgrades, patches, and the day-to-day maintenance required to keep customer solutions available and secure.

. . . not to mention a lower TCO, including no six-figure salaries to those pesky senior DBAs.  It’s the “best of all worlds” as the Oracle site melodramatically puts it.

Unfortunately for DBAs, SaaS is likely to grow in the forseeable future. Oracle’s upcoming Fusion application suite is said to be heavily SOA- and SaaS-enabled. And Oracle is certainly not alone: other hosted apps include SAP’s A1S, IBM, NetSuite.com, SalesForce.com, Workday.com, and many others. Gartner predicts that the industry will be worth $10 billion by 2010, with 30% of software delivered using a SaaS model. It’s already a $400 million business for Oracle.

Worried yet? Perhaps you DBAs should think about moving to Austin, where Oracle’s massive data center for hosted apps is located. The 10,000 Linux servers running 10g and 2.5 petabytes of storage there should keep you busy until this whole SaaS thing blows over . . . or not.

Do you think that Oracle DBAs’ days are numbered because of the growth of On Demand? Or will it never really catch on due to security, reliability and customizability concerns? Do you think DBAs will always be needed, regardless of SaaS? Let’s hear your thoughts.

Cheers,
Tim