Oracle OpenWorld, A Huge Success

Finally back from OpenWorld and a short vacation. OpenWorld this year was another great success for BI Consulting Group, unfortunately I missed the Appreciation Event but it sounds like the Team had a great time! I take my hat off to the BICG marketing team for coordinating such a great event. We had a ton of visitors stop by our booth wanting to know more about our organization and how we can help them. Our nerf footballs were a huge success, it was a good thing we received an additional order as we went through almost 750 the first day!

The OPN Partner Forum on Sunday was very informational and it was great to hear Charles Phillips speak. It's nice to hear how much Oracle values the relationships it has with its partners and just how crucial we are to their success. Specialization seems to be one of the key focuses this year, and we are in a great position to serve that with our exclusive focus on Oracle BI and EPM.

While OpenWorld can be exhausting it's one of the highlights of the year and I can't wait to do it all over again next year.

Reflections on a Different OpenWorld

Now that I've had a few days to get back into the groove (and catch-up on emails), I find myself looking back on OpenWorld from a fifty-thousand-foot perspective. If you've ever been there, you know that OpenWorld is a lot like a wedding - it goes so fast, there's a lot of chaos, and it's over before you know it. If you're an Oracle partner, that analogy is even more true given how much planning goes into being an exhibitor, speaker, and more (hats-off to our Marketing group for another great year).

So as I look back on my OpenWorld experience, I can honestly say that this year felt very different from past years. True, we had a typhoon in the middle of the week, and you could tell that attendance was a little down, but it was more than that: Oracle people were talking the same language.

That may sound like a funny comment to make, but the reality is that Oracle has been on an acquisition spree for quite a while, especially around EPM, BI and Data Warehousing. At past OpenWorlds, you could tell that, despite having successfully integrated the acquired companies into their P&L, they hadn't ingrained everyone with both the big picture and all the little pictures. Oracle Employees still spoke in their native tongue, so to speak.

But attending sessions in the EPM/BI track and talking to PMs, it's clear that Oracle has turned the corner in this regard. People are giving the same answers and a tap-dance doesn't accompany them. This is a good thing, because it means that the software is following suit.

Despite the repetitive revenue recognition slide (everyone chant: "sometime in the next 12 months"), Oracle was very forthcoming about what's coming and how it's all going to fit together - at a very detailed level. Not everything is known nor shared at this point, but for the first time we got to see live examples of things like XML Publisher (BI Publisher) and OBIEE converging further, Interactive Reporting(IR)/SQR and XML Publisher converging, IR and OBIEE converging, Essbase and OBIEE converging, how to use and position ODI and Golden Gate, the convergence of OWB and ODI, why OBIEE and ODI are part of Middleware, and much much more. None of this was major news - we've heard the roadmap presentation before - but you could actually see it coming together and, more importantly, everyone you talked to or heard from was saying the same things, giving the same answers, talking the same language.

I can recall hearing at OpenWorld last year that Oracle had over 9,000+ products in their software pool and what a mess that must be to bring synergy to small subsets of them. EPM/BI has felt that way for the last 2-3 years, but 2009 marks a change. Looking into the future, we can finally start to see the beacon growing on the horizon. The vision is getting closer and closer to becoming reality. 2010 should be a fun year!

Recap on Oracle OpenWorld

Today wraps another Oracle Open World. Outside of some extreme weather on Tuesday that had everyone scrambling for umbrellas, the event went off without a hitch. Many of the sessions provided real world insight to customer deployments and technical details, but it was difficult to differentiate these from the sales & marketing presentations just by the session title and description.

Of greatest interest was finally seeing Oracle’s holistic vision for Integrated Analytics to serve ERP, CRM, EPM and Industry Application needs and understanding where the Analytical Foundation fits in the mix. Oracle is hitting the mark. As for the Customer Appreciation night, I’ll just say that Carnival Games are harder than they look and Steven Tyler can still rock the house!

BI Consulting Group is Ready for Oracle OpenWorld

Visit our booth at Moscone South, Booth 2201 - located FRONT ROW to the RIGHT!

Put the following BICG Events at OpenWorld on your calendar:

* Monday, October 12th, 10:45am - 11:15am
~ Spotlight on Oracle BI at PNC Bank
~ Moscone South, BICG Exhibit #2201

* Monday, October 12th, 12:45pm - 1:15pm
~ Introduction to Oracle Exadata
~ Moscone South, BICG Exhibit #2201

* Monday, October 12th, 3:45pm - 4:15pm
~ Introduction to BICG Identity
~ Moscone South, BICG Exhibit #2201

* Monday, October 12th, 7pm - 9pm
~ BICG Happy Hour featuring Insight Awards
~ Ponzu Lounge, 401 Taylor Street

* Tuesday, October 13th, 10:45am - 11:25am
~ Spotlight on Oracle BI at LCRA
~ Moscone South, BICG Exhibit #2201

* Tuesday, October 13th, 3:45pm - 4: 15pm
~ Conducting Gap Analysis with BICG Impact
~ Moscone South, BICG Exhibit #2201

* Tuesday, October 13th, 5:30pm - 6:30pm
~ Procurement and Spend Analytics at Los Alamos National Laboratory
~ Marriott Hotel, Salon 12/13

* Wednesday, October 14th, 10:15am - 11:15am
~ Maximizing Oracle Business Intelligence Adoption: Amway, LCRA, and PNC Bank
~ Moscone South, Room 310


* Wednesday, October 14th, 12:45pm - 1:15pm
~ Migrate from Interactive Reporting/Brio to OBIEE the Smart Way
~ Moscone South, BICG Exhibit #2201

* Wednesday, October 14th, 2:45pm - 3:15pm
~ Spotlight on Oracle BI at Motorola
~ Moscone South, BICG Exhibit #2201

Additional information can be found at www.BIConsultingGroup.com/OOW.

BICG at Oracle OpenWorld

Check out the BI Consulting Group exhibit at this year's Oracle OpenWorld. Located in Moscone South, Booth 2201. You will have the opportunity to meet with the BICG management team and get firsthand insight on how their in-depth experience can better serve your company.

Oracle OpenWorld runs from October 11-15, dates and exhibit hours below.

Monday, October 12th: 10:30am - 6:30pm
Tuesday, October 13th: 10:30am - 6:30pm
Wednesday, October 14th: 9:15am - 5:15pm

BICG will host their inaugural Insight Award winner event on the evening of Monday, October 12th. Event details yet to come!

BICG Exhibiting at Oracle OpenWorld October 11-15, 2009

BI Consulting Group's booth can be found at Moscone South, booth number 2201. Stop by the BI Consulting Group booth to speak with management and learn about their professional services. During this year's event, BI Consulting Group will be hosting a happy hour event on the evening of Monday, October 12th. Details yet to be announced - looks to be a great time!

BI Consulting Group in attendance for Oracle OpenWorld 2009

Location: Moscone South, booth number 2201.

BICG will be showcasing their professional support services for EPM & BI as well as their state of the art third party tools for OBIEE. BICG is participating in two official OOW presentation sessions: 1) with Los Alamos National Labs presenting on their Oracle BI Applications Deployment, and 2) with Capital One, LCRA, PNC, and Motorola presenting on How to Maximize Oracle BI User Adoption.

Additionally, BI Consulting Group will be featuring their Inaugural Insight Awards and Insight Award winners will be participating in the OOW festivities. Winning companies, events, and exact times to be posted at a later date.

Oracle OpenWorld dates are October 11-15, 2009 located in San Francisco, CA.