Author: Debra Lilley, ACE Director
If you attended Oracle
Open World, the talk was all about Cloud. Now Oracle have published their Q2
figures and analysts
are talking about Oracle’s Cloud strategy being the reason behind the increase
in share prices.
So do we really understand Cloud? When the term first came up, every session on cloud was about‘what is cloud’, thankfully we have moved beyond that. Each vendor has there own subtly different definition but to me it is a disruptive technology that changes the way we consume the IT, not worrying about the infrastructure, and paying for it by use. At a recent Oracle event I heard an even better way of explaining this. Cloud is about having access to software, not owning it.
But do we really understand Cloud? Oracle’s cloud is actually a lot of different moving parts and different components. How do you visualise this? I found this video Cloud Periodic Table: Chemistry of Cloud Computing and it is a fantastic way to understand and see what is in Oracle’s Cloud.
If you look at Cloud.oracle.com there is a comprehensive list of announced cloud modules, some of which are ‘coming soon’. I need to use at least two of these in my day job, Process and Integration Cloud, and need to learn quickly.
I spoke in July about how I find communities the best way to learn. Partners need to learn first, they are the ones who role out this technology to end users. I talked about the Partner SOA community run by Jurgen Kress and I have to give him credit for the video information, it was in his last newsletter. Every year this community holds a Community Forum where they update and teach, two days of presentations and two days of hands on workshops, and this year they have a dedicated AppAdvantage track.
Why is Cloud important to AppAdvantage? Well its very simple - cloud means you can adopt middleware quickly, with fixed costs and get a return on your investment much quicker, which ultimately is what we all want. Better, Quicker, Cheaper. With Cloud availability the components of Oracle Fusion Middleware will be adopted on a much steeper curve. You don’t need to necessarily move your applications to get value from your investments.
If you are a partner I hope you are doing the same as me, and if you are an end user, talk to your implementation partner and make sure they are keeping you up to date with the exciting, fast moving world of Oracle Cloud.
About the Author:
Debra Lilley, VP Certus Cloud Services, Fusion Champion, UKOUG Board Member, Fusion User Experience Advocate and ACE Director.
Lilley has 18 years experience with Oracle Applications, with E Business Suite since 9.4.1, moving to Business Intelligence Team Lead and Oracle Alliance Director. She has spoken at over 100 conferences worldwide and posts at debrasoraclethoughts