FROM THE ISV RESOURCE CENTRE TEAM...
We extend a warm welcome to all new members who have joined us over the past few months and look forward to welcoming more in the months ahead. Please pass this newsletter and details about the ISV Resource Centre to any of your colleagues and encourage them to sign up and support us. Please make a point of visiting the portal and provide feedback.
The autumn brought new releases of Oracle Database and Fusion Middleware. The improved and more resource-efficient technologies that feature in these latest releases will help you to develop and deliver applications of greater utility and value. In the case of Fusion, many of the new features were announced at Oracle OpenWorld in October. For a complete round-up of this largest ever Oracle event, please click here... For an introduction to the enhancements in Oracle Database 11g R2 that help to improve ROI and contain hardware sprawl, please see this article in HardCopy, the Grey Matter publication for developers and IT professionals. Further detail about the new cost saving features can be found here...
Oracle has also launched Oracle Partner Network Specialised, a restructured approach to partnership that provides more focus around partner skill sets and specialisms. This will allow ISVs to differentiate and market their unique offerings more easily. For further information about the new partnership levels, please click here...
Can you help?
Are you a developer working with Oracle technology or an Oracle database expert with relevant knowledge and experience you can share? If so, we would like to hear from you. Please contact me if you're able to contribute articles, a case study or can help in any other way.
LICENSING FOR ISVs
Grey Matter is currently working with Oracle to ensure ISVs are made aware of the cost savings and other benefits that can be achieved through the use of alternative Oracle licensing options. These include Application Specific Full Use (ASFU) and the Embedded Software License (ESL). Lower licensing costs will make your applications more compelling in tough economic times and the use case restrictions imposed by these licenses can sometimes make it easier to manage and support the application and database environment. Of course, the opposite might also be true and your customer may be able to maximise their licensing investment if other parts of their IT infrastructure can utilise the Oracle resources too. This would require unrestricted Full Use (FU) licenses. For immediate assistance in helping to understand the options and deciding whether you can benefit from ASFU or ESL, or from up selling to FU, please call Grey Matter on 01364 655129. They will be able to explain the options and help you decide which is best for you and your client's situation. They will also be able to help you through the approval and signing up process for the lower cost, restricted licenses.
NEWS
December 2nd: Oracle launches Oracle PartnerNetwork Specialised
Enabling its more than 22,000 global partners to better differentiate, compete and succeed in today’s dynamic marketplace, Oracle has launched Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialised. Building on its robust foundation of Enablement 2.0, Oracle also announced new and enhanced tools to help partners build their business. These new resources make it easier for partners to manage their Oracle relationships, gain the appropriate skills to achieve specialisations and expand business opportunities with new and existing Oracle customers.
OPN Specialised was formally kicked-off in a series of interactive, live virtual events hosted by Judson Althoff and leading Oracle partner executives from around the world. Partners interested in hearing about how to take full advantage of the new program can view these webcasts by registering here... To read the press release, click here...
November 19th: Oracle Database 11g on Windows-based Dell PowerEdge server achieves world record for price / performance
Oracle Database 11g has delivered a new world record price / performance result with the TPC-C benchmark. Oracle Database 11g Standard Edition One running on a Windows Dell PowerEdge T710 server with a single Intel Xeon E5520 2.26 GHz processor set a world record TPC-C price / performance. Oracle holds the world record for performance and price / performance and delivers the top six results in the TPC-C Top Ten by Price Performance. Click here to read the press release...
November 11th: Oracle announces Oracle PartnerNetwork Specialised training
To help partners succeed in the recently announced Oracle PartnerNetwork Specialised program, Oracle has announced the release of a variety of online training modules. The modules include an overall positioning podcast, program overview, details on the various partner levels (Oracle Remarketer, Silver, Gold and Platinum), specialisation benefits, portal navigation details and a migration summary. Click here to read the press release...
November 9th: Oracle Berkeley DB Java Edition 4.0 now available
Oracle has announced a new release of Oracle Berkeley DB Java Edition which includes significant new features for high availability, scalability and performance. The new release demonstrates Oracle’s continuing commitment to open source, Java and the developer community. Oracle Berkeley DB Java Edition is an open source, transactional storage engine for key-value pairs written entirely in Java that can be deployed as an embedded or “edge” database, enabling developers to build applications that require no manual administration. It includes new replication features for high availability and scalability and significant performance improvements for highly concurrent applications. Oracle Berkeley DB Java Edition 4.0 joins recently released Oracle Berkeley DB 4.8 and Oracle Berkeley DB XML 2.5. All three products are designed for developers, ISVs, OEMs and enterprises to integrate directly into their software applications, devices and equipment to deliver high performance, reliability and availability with virtually no human administration. Click here to read the press release...
October 13th: Oracle Database 11g customer adoption continues
The world’s leading organisations across multiple industries continue to turn to Oracle Database 11g. These include Agenor Technology Ltd, Athens International Airport, Grupo Elektra, the i-engineers, Ministry of Justice (U.K.) and others. Click here to read the press release...
October 13th: Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Can Help Customers Lower IT Costs
During an Oracle OpenWorld 2009 general presentation, Andy Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Database Server Technologies, Oracle, focused on how customers can lower their IT costs with Oracle Database 11g Release 2. Click here to read the press release...
October 12th: Oracle introduces new release of Oracle Business Intelligence Applications
Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) Applications Release 7.9.6.1 is now available. It introduces Oracle Spend Classification, prepackaged integration with Oracle’s JD Edwards World and expanded support for third-party platforms. The new release extends the significant product, content and integration functionality unveiled in the previous release to additional platforms and languages. A component of Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle BI Applications are comprehensive, prebuilt analytic applications for Oracle and non-Oracle Applications that enable customers to proactively make informed, actionable decisions and drive toward optimized performance across the enterprise. Click here to read the press release...
October 12th: Oracle delivers new releases of Java, SOA and Web 2.0 development tools
Committed to providing the most complete, integrated and hot-pluggable tools for Java, SOA and Web 2.0 application development, Oracle has announced the planned future releases of Oracle JDeveloper 11g, Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF) 11g, Oracle WebLogic Suite 11g, Oracle SOA Suite 11g and Oracle WebCenter Suite 11g. Click here to read the press release...
October 12th: Oracle previews Oracle Fusion Middleware Java Development Tool for Mobile Applications
Further extending the capabilities of Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF), Oracle has announced a developer preview of Oracle Application Development Framework Mobile Client. The latest addition to Oracle’s Java development toolkit, Oracle ADF Mobile Client, enables developers to extend their enterprise applications onto mobile devices. Oracle ADF Mobile Client is Java-based, enabling developers to build once and deploy to multiple devices, including BlackBerry smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM) and Microsoft Windows Mobile devices. This helps to increase developer productivity while reducing time-to-market for new applications. In addition to enabling developers to use existing Oracle ADF skills and code to build native mobile user interfaces, Oracle ADF Mobile Client provides built-in security and database synchronisation services to manage data distribution and reconciliation with mobile applications. Click here to read the press release...
October 12th: Oracle announces Oracle Application Integration Architecture Release 2.5
Oracle has announced Oracle Application Integration Architecture (AIA) Release 2.5, the most extensive Oracle AIA release to date with 10 new cross-industry Process Integration Packs (PIPs) and six new industry-specific PIPs, together with a growing library of more than 1,000 enterprise services and 100 enterprise objects. With an increased focus on end-to-end industry solutions and pre-built integrations across virtually all major Oracle and non-Oracle applications, like SAP, Oracle AIA Release 2.5 helps organisations reduce business process integration complexity and accelerate delivery of enterprise application solutions with a proven and reliable SOA-based framework. Click here to read the press release...
October 12th: Oracle unveils new Oracle PartnerNetwork Specialised Program
Further enabling partners to grow and profit with Oracle, the company has announced Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialised. The new program represents the most significant evolution of the Oracle PartnerNetwork in over a decade. Built on the foundation of Oracle Enablement 2.0 training and support, the OPN Specialised program will enable partners to establish industry recognition by following a formal process to become specialised in key Oracle solution areas. This allows partners to expand customer sales by differentiating themselves in the solutions and services they offer. The program will become effective on December 1, allowing time for partners to learn about the new program and prepare for the transition. Training is available for all partners on the OPN portal. Partners who migrate early to the new program will receive discounted membership fees. In addition to the new partner levels and specialisations, Oracle has made enhancements across the Oracle PartnerNetwork portal, enabling partners to easily access critical information and resources, while better connecting and communicating with Oracle and its 21,000 strong global partner community. Click here to read the press release...
September 18th: Oracle enhances Oracle Berkeley DB embeddable databases
Oracle has announced new releases of Oracle Berkeley DB and Oracle Berkeley DB XML, two members of the Oracle Berkeley DB family of open source, embeddable databases. Developers, ISVs, OEMs and enterprises can integrate Oracle Berkeley DB products directly into their software applications, devices and equipment to deliver high performance, reliability and availability with virtually no human administration. The new Oracle Berkeley DB 4.8 and Oracle Berkeley DB XML 2.5 releases provide significant performance enhancements, allowing faster processing with less expensive hardware. New APIs simplify application development and help reduce the amount of time, resources and training required to build a new application. New features provide increased flexibility for addressing application scalability and on-disk storage requirements. Click here to read the press release... Grey Matter can assist you in licensing all variants of Berkeley DB using the Embedded Software License option. Please contact them on 01364 655129.
EVENTS
Oracle partner events
Oracle Partner Technology Centre (PTC) events
Events are held regularly at Oracle's PTC facility, Hatfield. For details of the location, please click here...
We are currently awaiting a schedule for events to be held in 2010.
UK Oracle User Group events
These events are generally for UKOUG members only. For the complete schedule, please click here...
January 21st
UNIX SIG meeting
London
January 28th
Supply Chain & Manufacturing SIG meeting
West Midlands
Public Sector HCM Customer Forum
Birmingham
February 9th
Financials / Government Day
London
RAC & HA SIG meeting
Reading
February 10th
Development SIG meeting
West Midlands
February 11th
Scotland Apps SIG Meeting
Edinburgh
Oracle Projects SIG meeting
London
February 23rd
HCM SIG meeting
Slough
February 25th
Business Intelligence & Reporting Tools SIG meeting
London
MANAGED EVALUATIONS PROGRAM
Is your interest in Oracle related to a requirement to complete a formal, managed evaluation or perhaps a development and deployment project? If so, the articles, tutorials and downloads provided by the Resource Centre will assist with this. In addition, we can allocate an 'account manager' to help manage the provision of the resources you need. This could involve answering questions, pointing you in the right direction or helping to enlist assistance from Oracle or third parties. If you have a serious Oracle requirement or would like to find out more, please contact me.
Regards
Graham Keitch