If we look at the core elements of big data – volume, variety and velocity - the future looks to be headed in one direction only: more volume, greater variety and increased velocity as more devices come online, more transactions are captured, more personal data provided and more organisations learn to capitalize upon the data created within their business ecosystem. New breakthroughs in technology and the adoption of technologies complementary to big data will drive these increases, not least the ‘internet of things’.

The rise of the machines

There is a lot of talk about the ‘internet of things’– the idea that one day most things will be connected to the internet. From our fridges creating information about replenishment and talking directly to our online shopping accounts and supermarket loyalty schemes, to the anticipated growth in wearable technology such as smart watches and smart glasses which will relay information on location and behaviors. All of this will create valuable data.

The increasingly powerful smartphones in our pockets will have the power to change the world around us, from the offers we see advertised in supermarkets as our past purchasing history and other behaviors stored on the phone – such as the movies we watch, the apps we use and the places we visit – create a near faultless picture of us as a consumer to the ways in which our banks tailor offers specifically to our lifestyles.

Our cars will transmit ever-more information, creating better deals on insurance and reducing instances of expensive repairs, removing cost from maintaining a car. Our home entertainment systems will intuitively learn more about the content we want and when we want it. What we are prepared to pay for now and what we are willing to wait for to get free.

Our world, only better

The world will become tailored towards our wants and needs. Some changes will be imperceptible to the naked eye or the rational mind but much will be driven and governed by big data. It might just feel that things work a little better or more efficiently but behind the scenes the analysis of big data will be working harder than ever to shape all the moving parts of our physical and experiential environment.

Take transport. Anecdotally many Londoners claimed during the 2012 Olympics that public transport, a much feared weak link in London’s Olympic offering, was faultless for the duration of the games. This is not because issues did not arise but because every scenario was catered for and solutions existed ready to be deployed at the moment of need.

That was thanks to many years or planning but with the analysis of big data, from the analysis of passenger flow into transport hubs, via pedestrian routes and terminus points such as major airports, to likely weather conditions and related disruptions, to real-time location based monitoring of replacement bus services and traffic conditions on alternate transport routes, that level of service is replicable, consistently on a daily basis.

Even scenarios around unforeseeable incidents and the indicators they might be about to occur – such as analysis of data from sensors along water pipes pre-empting or forewarning of a burst water main that could close a road – can be modelled into scenario planning or allow for a fix to be applied before the issue occurs. This will require investment but as metropolitan areas around the world compete for inward investment in a global economy it would be a mistake to overlook the long term benefits.

Big data means safer communities

Law enforcement is one area where major change can happen and we are already seeing the seeds of unprecedented transformation being sewn. Big data analysis can play an important role in identifying trends which allow police forces to better anticipate when and where crimes may be committed.

It is possible to model crimes and predict their outcomes and repercussions and to identify what crimes may breed other crimes in the neighbourhood or within specific groups within society. Big data can help predict which crimes become part of an unfolding spree and which are most likely to be isolated incidents. This will enable police forces to plan resources and ensure units are in the right place at the right time.

Structured, relational data may inform us that burglaries tend to happen more during public holidays when many houses are empty as people stay with friends and family and invariably burglaries happen during the night. The relational data may tell us past victims of burglary are more likely to be victims again. But there are layers upon layers of non-relational data which can be factored into predicting when crimes are going to happen – and where – which is obviously preferable to simply developing a better understanding of where and when they have already happened. Similarly if an incident can be isolated and prevented from developing into a crime spree that too is a marked improvement.

Big Data and Privacy

Of course, it is impossible to have a discussion of big data without discussing privacy. It is every individual’s right to withhold personal information and we can elect to switch off location-based services on our phones and we can politely decline the offer of a customer loyalty card from our supermarket. We can choose not to use car insurance based on in-car telematics. But at the heart of this is a point of cultural tension.

People will resist the gifting of data to businesses and organisations unless it is a mutually beneficial transaction. Organisations need to help consumers see the benefits in order to enlist them in a willing development of truly powerful big data-based businesses.

There is undoubtedly gold to be found among big data but it must line the pockets of consumers and businesses alike. We must get better banking products, an improved retail experience, better home entertainment options, an improved commute, cheaper insurance, a better seat on the plane and a better glass of wine. We need to all feel that our lives are about to get a lot better. And if organisations can help us to feel that, there is no limit to what big data can do.

Happy New ... err .. Chinese Year! Yeah, its been a while, its also been danged busy and we're only in February, just! A question came up on one of our internal mailing lists concerning out of memory errors. Pieter, support guru extraordinaire jumped on it with reference to a support note covering the relatively new 'BI Publisher Memory Guard'. Sounds grand eh?

As many a BIP user knows, at BIP's heart lives an XSLT engine. XSLT engines are notoriously memory hungry. Oracle's wee beastie has come a long way in terms of taming its appetite for bits and bytes since we started using it. BIP allows you to take advantage of this 'scalable mode.' Its a check box on the data model which essentially says 'XSLT engine, stop stuffing your face with memory doughnuts and get on with the salad and chicken train for this job' i.e. it gets a limited memory stack within which to work and makes use of disk, if needed, think Windows''virtual memory'.

Now that switch is all well and good, for a known big report that you would typically mark as 'schedule only.' You do not want users sitting in front of their screen waiting for a 10,000 page document to appear, right? How about those reports that are borderline 'big' or you have a potentially big report but expect users to filter the heck out of it and they choose not to? It would be nice to be able to set some limits on reports in case a user kicks off a monster donut binge session. Enter 'BI Publisher Memory Guard'!

It essentially lets you set those limits on memory and report size so that users can not run a report that brings the server to its knees. More information on the support web site, search for 'BI Publisher Memory Guard a New Feature to Prevent out-of-memory Errors (Doc ID 1599935.1)' or you can get Leslie's white paper covering the same here.

Installing the latest ADF Mobile patch for JDeveloper 11.1.2.4 prevented deployment of mobile applications with some weird error messages. I concluded that its probably my Android SDK that needed renewal. To go for a clean approach, I deleted my Android SDK and downloaded the latest and greatest from the Web. Since my last SDK installation, Google has changed the Android directory structure quite a bit. For those struggling, here is what I configured in the Android SDK and JDeveloper.

 First observation, to install the gcm.jar file (Google Cloud Messaging) you have to check the "Obsolete" checkbox in the SDK Manager.

=============================================

In the JDeveloper preferences, I provided the following entries

=============================================

Adroid SDK location
--------------------------------------
<drive>:\android-home\sdk

Android Platform Location
--------------------------------------
<drive>:\android-home\sdk\platforms\android-19

Android Build Tools Location
--------------------------------------
<drive>:\android-home\sdk\build-tools\19.0.1  (I installed v. 19 of the SDK)

The "<drive>" in my case was D:\ on Windows (funny that on the Apple Mac, which I use for writing this blog the backslash is shift+alt+7)

Frank

Oracle held CloudWorld last week in San Francisco. While there were many ideas and themes being discussed in the Customer Service track, several stood out as key differentiators for any company interested in a modern approach to delighting customers.

1. Prepare for a culture marathon, not a sprint.Alex Marxer, President of ResortCom International, discussed how his organization had to modernize for the timeshare market. The business model and culture no longer worked in a post-recession economy. That meant making significant changes, including taking a call center outsourced in Mexico City and moving it to Las Vegas. What was so impressive about this move is the fact that ResortCom stuck with it over a multi-year period. It’s easy to recognize that your organization needs fundamental change, but it’s difficult to make that change happen and see it through to success even during the low points. With such perseverance, it probably doesn’t surprise you that ResortCom improved its results with a 27% increase in reservations made and a 58% increase in revenue per call.

2. You can balance quality customer care and profits.Barry Lieberman, Chief Customer Care Officer at Q-See, touched on a topic that challenges many Customer Service executives—how to offer quality customer care and still remain profitable. In its surveillance business, Q-See offers peace of mind to customers, which comes at a cost especially when customers have to call to get an answer. Q-See modernized its customer care with a multi-channel approach. It launched a new high quality customer portal where customers could self-serve using how-to videos, pictures with step-by-step instructions, and wizards and configurators. Q-See also introduced smart human support. It built online communities and facilitated social support, offered interactive email conversations, and provided chat capabilities. By offering help that is just a click away, more customers received quality answers without having to make a phone call. And Q-See was able to find the right balance between quality customer care and profits.

3. Rethink your customer portal design. While user-focused design is a foundational element of most web design, HOSTING moved to a more modern approach for its customer portal. Sean Bruton, VP of Product Management at HOSTING, and Rob Clark, UX Director at Aspenware, shared details on how HOSTING evolved its customer portal to focus on customer activities instead of the user. This approach makes sense for a cloud-hosting provider. Its B2B model requires strong, personal customer relationships. An outdated portal that delivered a large volume of lists and links and disconnected alerts was no longer serving those relationships. HOSTING moved to object-based design where customers now have a dashboard entry into their portal. Simple color-coding using green, yellow and red for the hosted servers alerts customers to any issues with their servers. Customers that see yellow or red know to click through to understand the issue with the server and get answers that turn that server back to green. They no longer have to search through documentation hoping to find the right answer. Answers are provided based on the context of the situation.

4. Account for the impact of employees on customer outcomes. If you have ever spoken to a Customer Service agent, then you know how much a difference one employee can make for better or worse. According to Jon Kaufman, Partner at Bain & Company, many organizations are still missing an opportunity to connect employee engagement with customer outcomes. He recommends moving away from traditional HR-led employee engagement to a modern business-led approach. Engagement leaders do things differently. They are oriented around dialogue and taking action, give supervisors the support they need, give employees an active role in figuring out how to delight customers, and recognize that drivers of engagement vary by different employee groups. While many organizations are using customer Net Promoter Scores (cNPS), it also important to measure employee Net Promoter Scores (eNPS) and correlate eNPS to the overall customer experience. This modern approach to engagement does lead to better results—engagement leaders have stronger customer loyalty and deliver superior financial results.

If you were not able to join us at CloudWorld in San Francisco, there are still several opportunities around the world. Click here to register.

• Melbourne, Australia: March 4

• Moscow, Russia: April 8

• Chicago, United States: April 17

• Beijing, China: July 24

We hope to see you at an upcoming event!

SPARC Portfolio Update for T5 and T4 Servers

Since introduction last year, Oracle's T5 servers have topped performance metrics in virtually all enterprise workloads. The SPARC T5 processor retains the title of world's fastest microprocessor, and the SPARC T5-2 server has just shattered another world record (see the latest SPECjEnterprise2010 benchmark result). To make it easier for customers to adopt our T5 technology, Oracle announces a new configuration for the SPARC T5-2 server with one SPARC T5 processor, providing a new entry point to the T5 line of rackmount servers.

In addition, Oracle announces the End-of-Life (EOL) of the SPARC T4-4, T4-2 and T4-1B servers along with all unique ATO and Xoption parts. Find more information in the Product Bulletins on Oracle HW TRC:

(If you are not registered on Oracle HW TRC, clickhere ... and follow the instructions..)

If you’re looking for an already configured Oracle Database 12c environment with a database already setup and all the software you need to learn database programming, design, and administration concepts, then look no further:

Everything you need to get your 12c on! #FREE

This Stuff is all FREE

The virtualization software is VirtualBox – that’s free. And it runs on any OS, including Windows, Macs, and *NIX. You’ll need to go download and install that first.

Are you ready to get started? Awesome. Then start up VirtualBox. You’ll get the Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager up and running. You’ll want to IMPORT an appliance.

We’ve already built the appliance for you. And by ‘we’ I mean @krisrice – so go thank him.

It’s going to take you awhile to download – it’s about 5GB in size.

Once you have downloaded the file as referenced on this page – you’ll need to agree to the license/terms, and use your Oracle Single-Sign On account (also free!), then do the import and point to the .OVA.

You’ll point to the .OVA file you’ve just downloaded…

Next you’ll be prompted to approve of the VM settings. There are two that I want you to take a look at before just saying ‘Yes’ to everything:

Have lots of memory? It’s OK to be greedy…

The image requires at least 1 GB of RAM to run. Remember, we’re running Oracle Database 12c, on a Linux image, plus you’ll be running a browser, and probably SQL Developer, or the Modeler, or APEX, or all of those. If you have it, bump the memory up to 2GB.

Also, the OS ‘disks’ are by default going to be sitting on your C: drive. Make sure that drive is ‘fast’, has contiguous blocks available (defrag first if necessary), and enough space. I’ve switched mine over to my D: partition.

Then click ‘Ok.’

Say ‘Yes’ to the License Agreement.

Read it!

This will take a few minutes – or however fast you can write out those 2 huge files, ~= 12GB.

Windows lies, but it will take awhile.

Start the VM!

Select the vm in the manager and hit the ‘Start’ button. You’ll know you’re good if you see this screen.

Oracle Enterprise Linux 6 is booting up!

And then you’ll get to a logon screen. You can logon as

• root
• oracle

In either case, the password is ‘oracle’ – I don’t recommend you logon as root unless you know what you’re doing.

And your desktop should come up and look a little something like this – without the annoying arrows and blocky words I added

The DevDay 12c Developer Database Image Desktop for the oracle user

Where to get started?

Well, you could click on the big penguin circle and launch the labs, pick one and follow the instructions. Or, you could fire up SQL Developer and start mucking around.

In either case, you MIGHT want to create a snapshot for the VM first – this will give you a backup of your image you can go back to in case you ever screw it up beyond repair. This would be faster probably than re-downloading the OVA file, importing it, etc.

For SQL Developer, you can create a connection to the CDB or the PDB. Yes, this is a Multitenant installation.

The CDB instance is ‘ORCL’ and the PDB instance is ‘PDB1′. To connect to the database with all the sample data, you’ll want to go in as HR or SYS to the PDB1 ‘service.’ PDBs are accessible via the service, not the SID.

Oh HR, how I have missed thee…

If you want to clone a PDB, then you’ll need to create a SYS-level connection to the CDB and access the DBA – Container Database node.

The container is ORCL, the pluggable is accessed via service ‘PDB1′

Bonus Tips

If you have networking setup correctly, you’ll be able to connect to your database from your host machine – just figure out what your IP is first. You’ll want to confirm your machine can ‘see’ the VM on it’s network.

This can get…complicated…on Windows. Thankfully many people have written up nice dedicated blog posts on the subject. Eddie Awad has this one that seems pretty thorough.

If you’re lazy, can you can setup port forwarding such that talking to port 1521 on your host auto goes to port 1521 on the Linux image.

Data Miner provides Explorer node that produces descriptive statistical data and histogram graph, which allows analyst to analysis input data columns individually.Often time an analyst is interested in analyzing the relationships among the data columns, so that he can choose the columns that are closely correlated to the target column for model build purpose.To examine relationships among data columns, he can create scatter plots using the Graph node.

For example, an analyst may want to build a regression model that predicts the customer LTV (long term value) using the INSUR_CUST_LTV_SAMPLE demo data.Before building the model, he can create the following workflow with the Graph node to examine the relationships between interested data columns and the LTV target column.

In the Graph node editor, create a scatter plot with an interested data column (X Axis) against the LTV target column (Y Axis).For the demo, let’s create three scatter plots using these data columns: HOUSE_OWNERSHIP, N_MORTGAGES, and MORTGAGE_AMOUNT.

Here are the scatter plots generated by the Graph node.As you can see the HOUSE_OWNERSHIP and N_MORTGAGES are quite positively correlated to the LTV target column.However, the MORTGAGE_AMOUNT seems less correlated to the LTV target column.

The problem with the above approach is it is laborious to create scatter plots one by one and you cannot examine relationships among those data columns themselves.To solve the problem, we can create a Scatterplot matrix graph as the following:

This is a 4 x4 scatterplot matrix of data column LTV, HOUSE_OWNERSHIP, N_MORTGAGES, and MORTGAGE_AMOUNT.In the top row, you can examine the relationships between HOUSE_OWNERSHIP, N_MORTGAGES, and MORTGAGE_AMOUNT against the LTV target column.In the second row, you can examine the relationships between LTV, N_MORTGAGES, and MORTGAGE_AMOUNT against the HOUSE_OWNERSHIP column.In the third and forth rows, you can examine the relationships of other columns against the N_MORTGAGES, and MORTGAGE_AMOUNT respectively.

To generate this scatterplot matrix, we need to invoke the readily available R script RQG$pairs (via the SQL Query node) in the Oracle R Enterprise.Please refer to http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/options/advanced-analytics/r-enterprise/index.html?ssSourceSiteId=ocomen for Oracle R Enterprise installation.

Let’s create the following workflow with the SQL Query node to invoke the R script.Note: a Sample node may be needed to sample down the data size (e.g. 1000 rows) for large data set before it is used for charting.

Enter the following SQL statement in the SQL Query editor.The rqTableEval is a R SQL function that allows user to invoke R script from the SQL side.The first SELECT statement within the function specifies the input data (LTV, HOUSE_OWNERSHIP, N_MORTGAGES, and MORTGAGE_AMOUNT).The second SELECT statement specifies the optional parameter to the R script, where we define the graph title “Scatterplot Matrices”.The output of the function is an XML document with the graph data embedded in it.

SELECT VALUE FROM TABLE
(
rqTableEval(
cursor(select "INSUR_CUST_LTV_SAMPLE_N$10001"."LTV",
"INSUR_CUST_LTV_SAMPLE_N$10001"."HOUSE_OWNERSHIP",
"INSUR_CUST_LTV_SAMPLE_N$10001"."N_MORTGAGES",
"INSUR_CUST_LTV_SAMPLE_N$10001"."MORTGAGE_AMOUNT"
from "INSUR_CUST_LTV_SAMPLE_N$10001"), -- Input Cursor
cursor(select 'Scatterplot Matrices' as MAIN from DUAL), -- Param Cursor
'XML', -- Output Definition
'RQG$pairs' -- R Script
)
)

You can see what default R scripts are available in the R Scripts tab.This tab is visible only when the Oracle R Enterprise installation is detected.

Click the button in the toolbar to invoke the R script to produce the Scatterplot matrix below.

You can copy the Scatterplot matrix image to a clipboard or save it to an image file (PNG) for reporting purpose.To do so, right click on the graph to bring up the pop-up menu below.

The Scatterplot matrix is also available in the Data Viewer of the SQL Query node.To open the Data Viewer, select the “View Data” item in the pop-up menu of the node.

The returning XML data is shown in the Data Viewer as shown below.To view the Scatterplot matrix embedded in the data, click on the XML data to bring up the icon in the far right of the cell, and then click on the icon to bring up the viewer.

We are pleased to announce that MySQL Enterprise Monitor 3.0.6 is now available for download on the My Oracle Support (MOS) web site. It will also be available via the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud with the February update in about 1 week. This is a maintenance release that includes a few new features and fixes a number of bugs. You can find more information on the contents of this release in thechange log.

You will find binaries for the new release on My Oracle Support. Choose the "Patches & Updates" tab, and then choose the "Product or Family (Advanced Search)" side tab in the "Patch Search" portlet.

You will also find the binaries on the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud in approximately 1 week. Choose "MySQL Database" as the Product Pack and you will find the Enterprise Monitor along with other MySQL products.

Based on feedback from our customers, MySQL Enterprise Monitor (MEM) 3.0 offers many significant improvements over previous releases. Highlights include:

• Policy-based automatic scheduling of rules and event handling (including email notifications) make administration of scale-out easier and automatic
• Enhancements such as automatic discovery of MySQL instances, centralized agent configuration and multi-instance monitoring further improve ease of configuration and management
• The new cloud and virtualization-friendly, "agent-less" design allows remote monitoring of MySQL databases without the need for any remote agents
• Trends, projections and forecasting - Graphs and Event handlers inform you in advance of impending file system capacity problems
• Zero Configuration Query Analyzer - Works "out of the box" with MySQL 5.6 Performance_Schema (supported by 5.6.14 or later)
• False positives from flapping or spikes are avoided using exponential moving averages and other statistical techniques
• Advisors can analyze data across an entire group; for example, the Replication Configuration Advisor can scan an entire topology to find common configuration errors like duplicate server UUIDs or a slave whose version is less than its master's

More information on the contents of this release is available here:

• What's new in MySQL Enterprise Monitor 3.0?
• MySQL Enterprise Edition: Demos
• MySQL Enterprise Monitor Frequently Asked Questions
• MySQL Enterprise Monitor Change History

More information on MySQL Enterprise and the Enterprise Monitor can be found here:

• http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/
• http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/monitor.html
• http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/query.html
• http://forums.mysql.com/list.php?142

If you are not a MySQL Enterprise customer and want to try the Monitor and Query Analyzer using our 30-day free customer trial, go tohttp://www.mysql.com/trials, or contact Sales athttp://www.mysql.com/about/contact.

If you haven't looked at MEM recently, and especially MEM 3.0, please do so now and let us know what you think.

Thanks and Happy Monitoring!

- The MySQL Enterprise Tools Development Team

By Bertrand Dussert

On January 29 at Oracle CloudWorld in San Francisco, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison devoted a majority of his time to discussing the tools executives need to manage talent effectively, and how these needs shaped Oracle’s Human Capital Management solutions, such as Oracle HCM Cloud. 

Indeed, smart HCM solutions must help executives engage with talent – even before candidates become employees. These solutions need to be easy-to-use, and allow for seamless collaboration among team members anywhere on the globe. And they need to provide executives and managers with new insights into how they can best use their talent to drive value in the company. 

As we gear up for HCM World this week in Las Vegas, I want to highlight (and elaborate on) some powerful quotes from Ellison’s Oracle CloudWorld keynote. Hopefully, this will help readers better understand the impact modern talent management strategies can have on an organization, and how to evaluate technology to effectively manage the workforce. To hear Larry’s thoughts live, check out Oracle HCM World, which kicks off on Tuesday, February 4.

Here are Larry’s thoughts on HCM:

"The two most important applications inside of a modern enterprise are HCM and customer service because it's all about taking care of people, taking care of your employees who in turn take care of your customers."

CEOs looking to drive their businesses forward in 2014 are looking for opportunities to improve talent management and to promote a culture that values quality customer experiences. As Larry points out in his quote above, there is a strong connection between these two efforts. 

To have world-class HCM—to recruit effectively and develop talent communities —executives need to employ the same practices they would use to create a great CX environment. The same strategies they use to understand, measure, segment, and listen to their customers are being used to better understand and manage talent. You can learn more about my thoughts on this matter by reading another of my recent blog posts. 

Today’s candidates already know how to apply for a job. What they really want is for employers to know who they are and how to best communicate with them. They don’t want to be blasted with job openings that don’t match their skills or career plans. They want a good match between their preferences and the current inventory of open positions. 

This is very aligned with what customers say they want from the companies they do business with. Part of the reason that Oracle does so well in offering solutions in both HCM and CX areas, is that our management and developers understand that connection – we are in the “experience” headspace. And we can use our acquisitions and leverage some of the same technology and approaches to impact both our HCM and CX offerings.

"The real differentiator...between one HCM system and another is the ability to identify the best talent around, recruit them into your organization, convince them to join your company and then train them so they're able to do their job."

When we talk about talent, we are not just talking about your employees. We’re talking about contractors, partners, previous employees, candidates, and prospects you may want to engage with but aren’t quite ready to recruit (such as college students about to graduate). 

To be able to cherry pick the best talent, and get the most value out of your top performers, you need to provide tools that allow you to treat each of these talent audiences in a way that’s appropriate for the relationship. As I mentioned above, a great CX solution segments your customer base, then delivers the right information and actions to each audience. 

The beauty of Oracle’s solutions is you can use this segmentation to create highly effective engagement. For example, you can turn an ineffective mass marketing program -- like an employee referral program – into a targeted social sourcing capability. That way, employees get alerts only when the job openings are relevant to their own interests or to the people in their networks.  

"If you look at the kind of interfaces we used to build a long time ago, you know, 10 years ago, 20 years ago...they're just not appropriate in the 21st century. They're not appropriate in the age of Facebook and Twitter and shopping at Amazon."

It's so refreshing to hear the CEO of a $37 billion a year revenue company that's the market leader in enterprise apps come out and say something like this. It acknowledges that we’re in a different environment than we were back then—and that stuff we’ve built in the past is not necessarily right for the future. Today, enterprise software needs to take the best ideas from scrappy high-growth companies like Twitter and Facebook and apply them to large global organizations. That’s what people want and that's what we have to deliver.

These days, new talent doesn’t want to take training courses to understand how to operate your internal systems. As soon as they get access, they want to start using it. They want to avoid adoption pain. They want the interaction, the ease of use, and the delivery to the mobile devices to be streamlined. We must be able to deliver intuitive, easy-to-use consumer ready interfaces that are just like Twitter and Facebook.

We’re already offering a simpler user interface, especially with Oracle HCM Cloud. The specialists who work in HR don’t need elaborate training for their interfaces, because they are are becoming more intuitive. And for employees and managers who are self-reliant, they have access to one interface. If they go to their desk, if they use their phone, if they go to their tablet--it works everywhere and it works consistently with zero training required.

"The social network is the paradigm of a modern service application...It enables teamwork. And that's absolutely critical, a critical aspect of what your modern HCM system should do."

The nature of work is changing. More and more work is dependent on collaboration and social is critical to getting work done. That’s why it’s baked into everything we do at Oracle. We make sure you don’t have to leave the application you are working in to collaborate with your project team, whether that’s CX, HCM, or another solution we provide. 

But user adoption is key, when IT leaders choose to bolt social capabilities onto an existing system, employees have to change interfaces for social access to their peers. That adds a barrier to entry that may drive down user adoption. 

I think one of the overlooked HR benefits of social is that it helps employees develop loyalty and affinity for the other people they work with. This has a positive impact on two key metrics HR execs monitor: retention/attrition rates and employee engagement. When employees like and respect the people they work with, and build relationships within the organization, they are less likely to walk away from the company to go somewhere else. Social helps people connect with one another and reinforces the culture of the company. 

"A modern, 21st-century HCM system should...help you identify people that you're at risk of losing and set up a program to incent them to stay."

It’s critical that your HCM solution helps you focus your attention where it is most needed by predicting where your company is going to have issues with your workforce, whether that’s turnover or another issue, such as performance. 

Smart HCM solutions don’t take the thinking out of talent management, but can identify hot spots. This way you focus your attention where it should be, based on some sort of business insight. Then, you can start asking the right questions and figure out where you need to invest to make the biggest impact.  

Bertrand Dussert serves as HR transformation and technology advisor to Oracle's executive clients, primarly at large global companies with complex HR service delivery needs.  When not working directly with clients, Bertrand serves as HR thought leadership speaker and Oracle representative for targeted events, and partners with product strategy to help inform product design.

In his most recent role prior to joining Oracle, Bertrand served in a dual capacity as the global leader for both HR Shared Services and Recruitment Operations at American Express.  Bertrand was responsible for a number of key work streams in the American Express Global Recruitment Transformation, and most recently served as a full member of the Transform HR Project Executive Council.

Prior to American Express, Bertrand was Executive Director in UBS Investment Bank’s HR function, led a 125 person strong Global Field Operations team in the HR software industry, and served as a partner in an HR consulting firm that is now part of Korn/Ferry International.

Jim Lein | Sr. Principal Product Marketing Director | Oracle Midsize Programs |@JimLein

The fifth annual Oracle JD Edwards Partner Summit was held last week in Broomfield CO. I've been to them all but this was the best one yet. I learned a lot and made some great new connections. I caught up with my friend Lyle Ekdahl, SVP in charge of JD Edwards. My boss Steve Cox flew over from England for the event (I see him about once a year). And I finally got to meet our social selling evangelist Jill Rowley in person and pick her brain on social media strategy.

I started my IT career with JD Edwards in 1999 so I saw dozens of people I've known for a very long time. Lots of heartfelt handshakes, plenty of hugs, and here and there a bus on the cheek. I joined JD Edwards when it was a young public company that still acted like a private company. The very first day you learned the company's 7 guiding principles, including # 5, "Respect and Value Each Other", and #6, "Build Strong Customer Partnerships". They weren't hollow phrases. You lived those principles or you didn't last long.

We extended those principles to our relationships with partners. The strength of those relationships was clearly evident at the Summit. I met with many partners, some of whom I've worked with for a long time and some I met for the first time. Denovo. Corning Data. Brij. Terillium. CSS International. Capscient. Syntax. ERA Consulting.

Let me tell you...the Oracle JD Edwards partner community is busy, busy, busy.  Plenty of net new customers. Lots of upgrades. Lots of projects for add-ons products like HCM, Talent Management, Marketing Automation, and Project Portfolio Management.

 And, of course, Cloud was on everyone's mind. The partners shared stories of how many of their net new and upgrading customers are choosing to deploy their JD Edwards footprint in the Cloud and are increasingly taking advantage of managed services. It's all about reducing costs and simplifying IT.

Even though I live just an hour up the hill, I felt like was out of town on a business trip. One of those fun and interesting business trips. A reunion, of sorts. I'm proud to be a part of the Oracle JD Edwards community. And even though I don't commute down to the JD Edwards headquarters in the Denver Tech Center anymore, I'm not "ex-JDE". There's no such thing.

The views expressed on this blog are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle

The 2014 editions of the Exadata, Exalogic & Manageability and of the Servers and Storage Partner Community Forums for EMEA partners will take place in Prague, Czech Republic, on 1-2 and 2-3 April 2014.

Sharing sales and implementation experiences, customer cases and best-practices among partners constitutes the core of these forums. Through presentations by Oracle solutions experts partners will learn the latest on the different solution areas and the best way to go to market together. One-on-one sessions with Oracle executives can help to boost the relationship between your company and the Oracle organization at local level and facilitate increased sales engagement.

Both forums will be held at the same hotel in the beautiful city of Prague, so that partners interested in both areas can attend the two events while minimizing their travel costs.

Don’t miss the opportunity to participate in these Community Forums. Reserve your place and register before 28th February 2014. (There is no registration fee for Oracle partners).

Review the detailed agendas and register for each of the forums at:

• Exadata, Exalogic and Manageability Forum
• Servers and Storage Forum

• SOA and User Interfaces A cabal of SOA experts addresses the challenges of developing user interfaces in a service oriented architecture, and describes how Thomas Erl's UI Mediator pattern can help. Read the article.
• BPM Auditing Demystified Mark Foster's article illustrates "simple changes to the BPM audit settings which can prove beneficial in certain business situations." Read the article.
• Podcast: Audience Q&A with Cloud Expert Panel This three-part program the live audience at OTN Architect Day in Redwood Shores California (July 9, 2013) peppers Oracle Cloud Computing experts Dr. James Baty, Anbu Krishnaswamy, and Markus Michalewicz with questions about lessons learned in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia project, about recording/reporting usage costs in an IaaS environment, and about why managing a Cloud ecosystem is like playing Sim City. Listen to the podcast.
• Oracle Fusion Middleware at Oracle OpenWorld 2013 This blog post by Oracle Fusion Middleware VP Howard Beader recaps product announcements—including ten new Cloud services - from Oracle OpenWorld 2013, and includes links to relevant press releases. Read the article.
• Facebook Favorites The most popular blogs, articles, and other community content shared via the OTN ArchBeat Facebook Page for the last 30 days.
  1. Industrial SOA: SOA and User Interfaces
     
  2. Case management supporting re-landscaping | Léon Smiers
     
  3. OOW13: Internet of Things… and Big Data | Eric Bezille
     

SOA & BPM Partner Community

For regular information on Oracle SOA Suite become a member in the SOA & BPM Partner Community for registration please visit www.oracle.com/goto/emea/soa (OPN account required) If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center.

BlogTwitterLinkedInFacebookWikiMixForum

この連載は、米国オラクル発刊のOralce Magazine で連載されている「PL/SQL 101」を翻訳したものです。

このシリーズは、2011年3月から始まっていますが、かなり号も重ねてきたので、ここいらで日本語化を始めようと考えた次第です。

Oracle PL/SQLが誕生したのが1989年。その当時からPL/SQLを使い続けている筆者が、初心者向けにPL/SQLの基礎を書き下ろしたものです。また、 PL/SQLを知り尽くす経験者にとっても基本的なことを思い出す上できっと役に立つと思います。

著者のSteven Feuerstein（スティーブン・フォウアスタイン）氏は、現在、DELLに在職するPL/SQLエヴァンジェリストで、Oracle ACE Directorの称号も有しています。



スティーブン氏はこれまで、Oracle PL/SQL ProgrammingやOracle PL/SQL Best Practices（O'Reilly Media）などを含む、Oracleのプログラミング言語に関する著書を10冊ほど発行しています。（オライリーのオレンジのカバー本は日本語版も出ていますね。）

彼が2010年に立ち上げた、”PL/SQL Challenge”というクイズサイトは、米国オラクルのOTN、DELL、オライリー社などのスポンサー支援の下に、約2000人近いアクティブユーザーが賞品･賞金獲得を目指してクイズに挑んでいます。さらに、2011年には、”PL/SQL Channel”というビデオ･トレーニングサイトも立ち上げ、世界中のオラクル･エンジニアのスキルアップのサポートに貢献しています。

ちなみに、英文タイトルの｢PL/SQL 101｣の”101”の意味なんですが、Wikipediaによると、｢アメリカ合衆国の大学では、101は基礎あるいは入門科目の番号になっていることがある。転じて、あるものが入門者向けであることを示す。この用法はアメリカ合衆国以外では一般的でない。｣だそうです。

それでは、PL/SQLの伝道師、スティーブン氏が心血を注ぐ最新のチュートリアルでじっくりPL/SQLを学習してください。
（現在、Vol.9まで掲載中です。彼のOracle Magazineのコラムが続く限り、まだまだ続きます！）

>>"PL/SQL 101" ～ PL/SQLの基礎を学ぶ～　目次

When a web service is secured using basic authentication, the client can access the web service only after providing the appropriate credentials.

In this blog, I take you through the code which will enable the client to access such a service.

Pre-requisites:

Use JDeveloper 12c version or above.

Creating the Service:

Let us start by creating a REST service and securing it with basic authentication. 

For creating the service, please refer the section "Creating the service" in blog.

Basic Authentication setup:

Once the REST service has been created, in order to secure it using basic authentication, follow the below steps:

Open the web.xml file. At the end of the file, add the lines:

<login-config><auth-method>BASIC</auth-method><realm-name>myrealm</realm-name></login-config><security-constraint><web-resource-collection> <web-resource-name>MyResource</web-resource-name> <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern> </web-resource-collection> <auth-constraint> <role-name>MyRole</role-name> </auth-constraint> </security-constraint><security-role> <role-name>MyRole</role-name> </security-role> </web-app>

Next, you need to create a weblogic.xml file. For this, go to New Gallery -> General -> Weblogic Deployment Descriptor.

On clicking Ok, another popup appears. Under Select Descriptor, select weblogic.xml and click Next. Select the deployment descriptor version in accordance with your weblogic version and then click Finish. This will generate a weblogic.xml file under WEB-INF. Open weblogic.xml file and select 'Security' from LHS. Under 'Security Role Assignments', add the Role Name 'MyRole', and add the Principals 'Administrators' as shown.

Accessing the service through REST Client:

First, to create the REST Client, create a new Custom Project.Let us name it ClientProj. Right click on the Project and invoke the New Gallery window. Under Business Tier -> Web services category, select REST Client and Proxy. Provide the generated WADL URL and click Next.

A prompt will appear asking for username/password.

Provide the Administrator username and password that you would use to log into the WLS Console.On providing the correct credentials and clicking on Finish, the client class gets generated with some in-built code. Within the class 'Localhost_EmployeeServiceEmployeeProjContextRootResourcesClient.java' auto generated for you, write the following lines:

public class Localhost_EmployeeServiceEmployeeProjContextRootResourcesClient {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Client client = Localhost_EmployeeServiceEmployeeProjContextRootResources.createClient();

        Localhost_EmployeeServiceEmployeeProjContextRootResources.Employeeproj localhost_employeeserviceemployeeprojcontextrootresourcesemployeeproj =
            Localhost_EmployeeServiceEmployeeProjContextRootResources.employeeproj(client);
        
        // add your code here
        client.addFilter(new HTTPBasicAuthFilter("weblogic","weblogic1"));
        System.out.println(localhost_employeeserviceemployeeprojcontextrootresourcesemployeeproj.getAsXml(String.class));
    } 
} 

Use the import as below:

import com.sun.jersey.api.client.filter.HTTPBasicAuthFilter;

We use the HTTPBasicAuthFilter provided by Jersey to pass the basic auth credentials. Refer link for more details.

Alternate method:

Alternately, within the public class Localhost_EmployeeServiceEmployeeProjContextRootResourcesClient.java auto generated for you, write the following lines:

public class Localhost_EmployeeServiceEmployeeProjContextRootResourcesClient {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Client client = Localhost_EmployeeServiceEmployeeProjContextRootResources.createClient();

        Localhost_EmployeeServiceEmployeeProjContextRootResources.Employeeproj localhost_employeeserviceemployeeprojcontextrootresourcesemployeeproj =
            Localhost_EmployeeServiceEmployeeProjContextRootResources.employeeproj(client);
        
        // add your code here
        Authenticator.setDefault(new MyAuthenticator());
        System.out.println(localhost_employeeserviceemployeeprojcontextrootresourcesemployeeproj.getAsXml(String.class));
    }
    
    static class MyAuthenticator extends Authenticator {    
        public PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() {
                
        return (new PasswordAuthentication("weblogic", "weblogic1".toCharArray()));
            }
        } 
} 

Use the imports:

import java.net.Authenticator;

import java.net.PasswordAuthentication;

Here, in the code block above, we basically extend the Authenticator class, and override the getPasswordAuthentication method, in which we pass the username and password. (Replace username and password above with the credentials you provided to create the client class)

In the main method, we then invoke the setDefault method of the Authenticator class and pass our Authenticator class name. This method will set the credentials whenever a proxy or HTTP server asks for authentication. The next two lines are for invoking a method of the service.

If you run the client code by supplying incorrect credentials, you will get a 401 Unauthorized error.

Refer BasicAuthInREST.zip for the complete app.

Jobinesh Purushothaman, author of the Oracle ADF Real World Developer's Guide, will be delivering a free ADF Architecture and Best Pratices course in Bangalore, India.  The course is not for ADF newbies, instead it will focus on real world implementation patterns and best practices including security, advanced task flows, application module design, building scalable business components and much much more.  This will be an must-not-miss event for those who are committed to implementing ADF applications.

This course is for employees and Oracle partners and you get register here: http://eventreg.oracle.com/profile/web/index.cfm?PKWebId=0x51719d89f

There was a buzz in the air at Oracle CloudWorld in San Francisco last week at the Westin on Market Street.  It was a great opportunity to hear Oracle's strategy for the Cloud across Applications such as ERP, HCM, Eloqua and other as well as Oracle's strategy for Mobile.  There was something for everyone with a floor dedicated to demos and numerous sessions for all interested.  CloudWorld in San Francisco is just one of several locations worldwide where this event is being held.  CloudWorld is slated to take place in Melbourne, Moscow, Beijing and Chicago - so if you missed last week, not to worry, it's coming to a city near you!

CEO, Larry Ellison delivered an energizing keynote in the afternoon to a packed audience.  He focused on Oracle's investment in HCM and why it sees this is an important initiative and one that requires additional staff resources and greater innovation in order for us to maintain our leadership position in the market.  Following his keynote, there was a good amount of time set aside for Q & A from the audience.  Among the many sessions, the one not to be missed was delivered by Ray Wang, Principal atConstellation Research. He had a very well attended session that covered what a sales cloud-related product should entail (feature, function and address which business needs) . 

Still want to attend CloudWorld?  To register for a CloudWorld near you, click here.

Was für ein Tag – wie soll man den kurz zusammenfassen? Die Partner erwartete in München ein volles Programm: Updates zu den neuesten Oracle Strategien, zum Produktportfolio und den Partner-Netzwerken auf lokaler sowie auf EMEA-Ebene und vieles mehr. Hier eine Auswahl persönlicher Highlights:

Zum Auftakt machte Helene Lengler, Vice President Sales Fusion Middleware & Engineered Systems, in ihrer Einführung zur Oracle Strategie klar, dass Big Data, integrierte mobile Anwendungen und Cloud Services im Fokus von Oracle bleiben.

Einen hochspannenden Blick in die Zukunft wagte Andreas Zilch von der Experton Group in seiner Keynote über die IT-Trends des Jahres 2014: „Womit können Partner Geld verdienen?“, war seine Ausgangsfrage und und viele der Antworten hatten mit „Industrie 4.0“ zu tun – einem Schlagwort aus der Hightech-Strategie der Bundesregierung, das auf die Informatisierung der klassischen Industrien abzielt, auf die „Smart Factory“ also. Eine tragende Rolle bei dieser vierten industriellen Revolution könnte das „Internet of Things“ spielen, die direkte Vernetzung von Gegenständen via eingebetteter Minicomputer.

Wie immer ist der Partner Day auch ein Gradmesser dafür, wie wichtig das Channel Business für Oracle geworden ist. Heute ist, wie Christian Werner, Senior Director Alliances & Channels ORACLE Deutschland, auf dem Partner Day und in einem sehr lesenswerten Interview mit der „IT Business“ ausführte, der Anteil im Broad Market in Deutschland auf 94 Prozent gestiegen. Das erklärte Ziel lautet: 100 Prozent! Vor allem bei den Engineered Systems ist diese Entwicklung überdeutlich. Die Komplettlösungen aus aufeinander abgestimmter Soft- und Hardware verkaufte Oracle noch bis Ende 2011 weitgehend direkt. Heute werden schon 60 Prozent der integrierten Systeme über Partner vertrieben, ein Wachstum um 200 Prozent.

Neben Einblicken in die Entwicklung des deutschen Partnergeschäfts machte Christian Werner in seinem Vortrag zur Partner-Strategie auch deutlich, dass das Engagement mit den bestehenden Partnern vertieft werden soll. Ein Ziel sei zudem, die Zahl der Reseller zu steigern, die mindestens 15 Prozent ihres Umsatzes mit Oracle machen. Zentral ist auch das Thema Spezialisierung, denn Partner, die bereits erfolgreich Oracle Produkte vertreiben, können mit einer Qualifizierung für weitere Teile des Red Stack neue Kunden und Absatzmärkte gewinnen.

Bei einem Blick auf die Highlights des Partner Days darf ein Ereignis nicht fehlen: Die Verleihung der Deutschen Oracle Excellence Awards 2014.

Ausgezeichnet wurden:

Database Partner of the Year: Atos

Oracle-on-Oracle Partner of the Year: Best Systeme

Systems and Storage Partner of the Year: Fujitsu

Applications Partner of the Year: Igepa

Red Stack Partner of the Year: Inforsacom

Engineered Systems Partner of the Year: Information Systems Engineering (ISE)

ISV Partner of the Year: Klug

Middleware Partner of the Year: Materna


Wir gratulieren herzlich! Ausführliche Informationen zu den Gewinnern und Fotos von den Awards demnächst hier im Blog!

Hier die Links zu Presseartikeln:
http://www.it-business.de/hersteller/marketing-vertrieb/messen-events/articles/431124/
http://www.crn.de/software/artikel-101851.html

Was für ein Tag – wie soll man den kurz zusammenfassen? Die Partner erwartete in München ein volles Programm: Updates zu den neuesten Oracle Strategien, zum Produktportfolio und den Partner-Netzwerken auf lokaler sowie auf EMEA-Ebene und vieles mehr. Hier eine Auswahl persönlicher Highlights:

Zum Auftakt machte Helene Lengler, Vice President Sales Fusion Middleware & Engineered Systems, in ihrer Einführung zur Oracle Strategie klar, dass Big Data, integrierte mobile Anwendungen und Cloud Services im Fokus von Oracle bleiben.

Einen hochspannenden Blick in die Zukunft wagte Andreas Zilch von der Experton Group in seiner Keynote über die IT-Trends des Jahres 2014: „Womit können Partner Geld verdienen?“, war seine Ausgangsfrage und und viele der Antworten hatten mit „Industrie 4.0“ zu tun – einem Schlagwort aus der Hightech-Strategie der Bundesregierung, das auf die Informatisierung der klassischen Industrien abzielt, auf die „Smart Factory“ also. Eine tragende Rolle bei dieser vierten industriellen Revolution könnte das „Internet of Things“ spielen, die direkte Vernetzung von Gegenständen via eingebetteter Minicomputer.

Wie immer ist der Partner Day auch ein Gradmesser dafür, wie wichtig das Channel Business für Oracle geworden ist. Heute ist, wie Christian Werner, Senior Director Alliances & Channels ORACLE Deutschland, auf dem Partner Day und in einem sehr lesenswerten Interview mit der „IT Business“ ausführte, der Anteil im Broad Market in Deutschland auf 94 Prozent gestiegen. Das erklärte Ziel lautet: 100 Prozent! Vor allem bei den Engineered Systems ist diese Entwicklung überdeutlich. Die Komplettlösungen aus aufeinander abgestimmter Soft- und Hardware verkaufte Oracle noch bis Ende 2011 weitgehend direkt. Heute werden schon 60 Prozent der integrierten Systeme über Partner vertrieben, ein Wachstum um 200 Prozent.

Neben Einblicken in die Entwicklung des deutschen Partnergeschäfts machte Christian Werner in seinem Vortrag zur Partner-Strategie auch deutlich, dass das Engagement mit den bestehenden Partnern vertieft werden soll. Ein Ziel sei zudem, die Zahl der Reseller zu steigern, die mindestens 15 Prozent ihres Umsatzes mit Oracle machen. Zentral ist auch das Thema Spezialisierung, denn Partner, die bereits erfolgreich Oracle Produkte vertreiben, können mit einer Qualifizierung für weitere Teile des Red Stack neue Kunden und Absatzmärkte gewinnen.

Bei einem Blick auf die Highlights des Partner Days darf ein Ereignis nicht fehlen: Die Verleihung der Deutschen Oracle Excellence Awards 2014.

Ausgezeichnet wurden:

Database Partner of the Year: Atos

Oracle-on-Oracle Partner of the Year: Best Systeme

Systems and Storage Partner of the Year: Fujitsu

Applications Partner of the Year: Igepa

Red Stack Partner of the Year: Inforsacom

Engineered Systems Partner of the Year: Information Systems Engineering (ISE)

ISV Partner of the Year: Klug

Middleware Partner of the Year: Materna


Wir gratulieren herzlich! Ausführliche Informationen zu den Gewinnern und Fotos von den Awards demnächst hier im Blog!

Hier die Links zu Presseartikeln:
http://www.it-business.de/hersteller/marketing-vertrieb/messen-events/articles/431124/
http://www.crn.de/software/artikel-101851.html