Great news today! We have been selected as a semi-finalist Entrepreneur of the Year Program. This would be the third year in a row that we are part of this program. We’ll be attending a reception tonight.
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
Today I will be writing about triggers. One of the questions I get fairly often is "what is the difference between a function, a procedure and a trigger?" I already wrote about functions and procedures in <a href="http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/oracle/guide/archives/learn-plsql-procedures-and-functions-13
I will be speaking tomorrow at the Corporate Executive Board Conferences – Customize or Standardize? Making the Right IT Choices with Scarce Resources. I am particularly excited about the speaking engagement as I will be at the same conference — in fact it will be meeting with — Dr. Alan Greenspan. As part of my presentation tomorrow, I’ll be showing the following video about the project from hell. I think this summarizes what I feel about customizing IT projects.
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
Welcome to newbie Monday. Today's topic is choosing your database. Choosing a database for your business has some commonalities with choosing a database as a new developer or DBA. There are also differences though. Here are a few guidelines to getting started. This is not a complete guide but it is meant as a starting place.
If you are already an Oracle shop, or DB2 shop, or w
I guess there are people who don’t know about Oracle or Larry Ellison. Shocking! I guess life down under is just that.
So Dell and HP are offering XP instead of Vista. Even with all the tweaks Microsoft has made to desktop operating system — making it more intuitive, more secure and just generally having cool stuff — means that you need more memory and faster graphics.
Meanwhile, Windows XP users are getting a surprise. Computer makers — including Dell, HP and Lenovo (IBM) — have found a loophole in the HP licensing scheme. Under the Windows Vista licensing terms, XP can be provided for free under the terms of a downgrade license for select versions of the operating system. That means any of the computer makers can install XP professional for free on some machines and in many cases this downgrade licensing option can be kept on as an operating system until 2009 or maybe even extended to 2010 in the case of windows XP home edition on.
Cloud computing — also known as grid computing (or you just call it on-demand computing) has been making headway in the press lately. Aside from publications that stem from security to data privacy, there is a whole host of complex licensing and compliance issues that need to be addressed. For example, in the world of cloud computing, there is one application that might the running on numerous servers. Or, what happens when your software vendor decides to do an audit? Do the vendors have service-level agreements with the software vendor for all the applications up and running OR would you be held accountable in some way? While I believe grid computing is certainly a model that many companies will move towards in the distance future, there are too many complex issues that currently need to be resolved for cloud computing to be acceptable for any enterprise.
If you’re looking for a good, factual Cloud Computing 101 information, I would encourage you to read Paul Reubens’ Cloud Computing: Hot Air or Killer App?
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
The latest release of the EnterpriseDB database, Postgres Plus Advanced Server (AS) 8.3, includes additional Oracle compatibility features. Two of those new features are DBMS_PIPE and DBMS_ALERT. Old Oracle hands will recognize those two packages that are used for interprocess communication. This post is a quick tutorial on using these two features. If you've used them in Oracle, you
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
I just realized my 3 year anniversary on ITToolbox past me by on 3/18/08. I think I noticed and was going to post something about it but then I guess something else caught my attention. This post is #531. I have made 11084 posts of some sort or another. In a way it seems like I've been doing this a lot longer and in another way it seems like I just started.
I don't know how ma
I recently wrote about a post by Infoworld blogger Sean McCown, who argued that the real difference between Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle is the accessible community that Microsoft has built for its users.
But would a newly released tool from the Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG) change McCown’s mind about a supposed lack of community resources for Oracle users?
On April 16, OAUG announced the launch of its Knowledge Factory– “a centralized, dynamic platform for user-submitted content that provides a comprehensive knowledge-sharing resource for the organization’s members,” according to the press release.
The web-based forum is completely community-driven and allows its members to discuss and exchange advice on Oracle-related topics, search a library of articles and submit their own articles, as well. Some of the Knowledge Factory’s other features include a blog and discussion area, enhanced member profiles and an OAUG Conference Paper Database.
We have a similar community-driven forum here at TechTarget called the IT Knowledge Exchange (ITKE). It’s a place where you and your peers can ask and answer questions, get advice and read blogs written by other industry experts. You can also browse information by topic; for example, check out the Oracle-related tags found here.
Where do you go for Oracle information and advice from peers? (If you go anywhere at all?) Do you find community-driven environments like the OAUG’s Knowledge Factory useful? And, if you have used this forum already, what have your experiences been like?
You can see firsthand how complex enterprise software licensing can be!
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
Wavemaker is an Open Source GUI builder that is based on Spring, Hibernate and the Dojo toolkit. The company that produces the software, Wavemaker Software, is a new partner with EnterpriseDB. With that in mind, I decided to start playing with the tool to see how easy it is to use and how far it can go.
To
The publisher of my book, EnterpriseDB: The Definitive Reference, recently made the book available on the web in PDF format. You can also download
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
ITToolbox.com has introduced a new community for EnterpriseDB users. It's an email group for asking questions and posting comments. I've joined the group and will be keeping an eye for messages. It wouldn't surprise me if others at EnterpriseDB also keep an eye on the forum.
You can get there by going to <a href="http://database.ittoolbox.com/groups/technical-functional/enterp
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
My previous list of tips seems to be popular so I thought I would add a few more database specific tips. I'm keeping this list database agnostic. These 10 should apply to any database you might want to learn.
Increasingly, open source has become a mantra within IT. Their two trains of thought on open source and commercial licensing. The first, of course, is that developers should have an opening community and share in share alike. The other school of thought is that we need to keep our processes proprietary.
Oracle offers a dual licensing model to customers. Companies have a choice of either an open source OSI-certified license that allows you use open-source software like Berkeley DB or other applications OR a closed source license distribution to third parties. What are the benefits?
With a commercial license, you have a single vendor source, which means you have a dedicated team that you can go back. You have ongoing maintenance and development on your product. In open-source license, you’re free to use multiple vendors and have a huge user community. The issue will always be the debugging integration into third-party applications. Downloads of all open-source products can be found on the Oracle Technology Network. The open-source product can be used without charge as long as you free leave redistribute it under reasonable conditions. If you don’t release the source code, you must purchase a license from Oracle.
So what does redistribution mean? It means that your application is distributed to third parties. Even giving a parent organization, subsidiaries, business partners, vendors and the like are generally considered part of redistribution in an open source licensing environment.
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
I think the concept of cloud computing and cloud storage has been bandied about long enough that most people get it and they get the business case. I'm not sure people get the use for databases in the cloud.
If you are completely unfamiliar with the term "cloud computing", check out the Wikipedia cloud entry. As you ca
Jerome Wendt’s opinion piece in today’s ComputerWorld is a short, sweet and to-the-point summary of the downsides of consolidating on vertical servers – The downsides to server virtualization. Wendt’s first (and I think the most important point) is licensing.
“Software Licensing. Larger servers include more CPUs that each has more processing power. However, this can translate into increased software licensing costs. I just spoke to one company that found out too late that their software licensing costs were tied to the number of CPUs and their increased processing power in their new hardware. This surprise offset many of the financial benefits that consolidation was supposed to provide and may even negate them.”
While software licensing and server complexity are both typical in any environment, both are items that should have special consideration in a virtualized environment. In terms of single point of failure, I would say that you have a single server holding everything together. And, that’s not likely to happen.
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
I love this. Is Oracle the official sponsor of...Ironman? Check out this site: Oracle Presents Two Worlds
I have to admit, I haven't had time to read the last couple of Oracle Magazines. Did I miss something?
I plan to take my son to see the movie as soon as the crowds mellow out a bit. Every time Ironman shows up i
When dealing with a vendor like Oracle, a simple way to get off on the right foot with your licensing agreement is to develop an RFP or a Request for Quotation that outlines your specific business needs. Any changes made in terms of your needs should be identified by the vendor and they should also provide cost differentials for each set of terms based on individual scenarios.
Getting the terms out of the way before you even choose a vendor or begin to draft an agreement can make the process much smoother and have you come out better in the end. Knowing your needs is the key – additionally, when the software licensing agreement is drafted, it should include a statement of your business objectives, creating a touchstone for future negotiations. Licensing — whether Oracle licensing or Microsoft licensing — can be complex. Added to the complexity is the nuances of your business. So, include a statement of your business objectives for the acquisition in the agreement. This creates a touchstone for negotiating other terms and for implementing and interpreting the agreement later on.
RFPs and SLAs are not easy language to develop or understand – for major purchases its best to use the help of a consultant that has experience with the terms and can guide you through the process.
The RDBMS market grew about 12% in 2007, with Oracle once again emerging as the market’s top vendor.
According to the “Worldwide RDBMS 2007 Vendor Shares” report that IDC released last week, Oracle not only increased its share of the market to 44%, but this 13% growth outpaced that of the overall market. A fact Charles Philips was eager to point out recently at Collaborate.
What factors influenced these increases, both for Oracle and the market as a whole?
According to IDC, much of Oracle’s growth was due to these reasons: the sale of options for Oracle database (i.e. RAC, Audit Vault and Database Vault), and the “unusually high early adoption rates” for the recently released Oracle 11g.
Four vendors besides Oracle dominate the market: Microsoft (who lost share this year), IBM, Teradata and Sybase. IDC attributes their overall growth to increasing competition for the midmarket segment and increased emphasis on security, data compression, and features that “offer greater flexibility and manageability in deployment.”
The IDC also predicts long-term market growth for the future. They see an increase in competition between medium-sized businesses and say that “capabilities such as Web service support, XML data support, and support for blended management of unstructured and structured data should give vendors of such capabilities a competitive advantage.”
Does Oracle deserve the top spot? Does it even matter anymore or are the database wars over?
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
ApEx
Are you still using Oracle Forms as an application platform? Is Oracle going to dump Forms in place of ApEx? I don't know how soon, but if you have followed Forms for any amount of time, you can see the sunset on the horizon.
Oracle has had the Java for Forms developer bug for a while now. You can see that in the <span align="center" class="topsto
Work plan? What’s that? Two common questions that you’ll often find whenever companies are dealing with software licensing.
Before entering into any contract with a software vendor it’s important to have a generic work plan that will guarantee that deliverables are met once your license agreement goes into effect.
It’s important to have the immediate deliverables in writing as well as a schedule of items that need to be completed even after the contract is signed. The work plan will take time on both yours and the vendor’s part, but it’s a way to insure that you are getting what you need for your business at the contracted price, in addition to having it implemented in a timely fashion.
At the very least, be sure to have an agreement on an installation completion date and key deliverables with the option of termination, should the terms not be met.
In any negotiation it’s always a good idea to consult a professional to insure you get the best deal and your needs are met.
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
The question I am most frequently asked is a variation of "How can I become a DBA or developer?" or "How can I learn x database?". There are so many places to start and so many options when you do start that it can be very confusing. I got a couple of questions this weekend that made me stop and think. Some things that I take for granted are not obvious to those who are just beginning
An upgrade to Oracle 11g (or any database upgrade for that matter) requires careful attention to planning and documentation, as Maria Anderson pointed out in her session on upgrading to 11g at Collaborate.
Maria strongly recommended keeping a document with all the contact information of people working on the upgrade, commands and stop and start times. It serves as an audit trail for compliance purposes, helps with change management and lets you easily retrace your steps if something goes wrong.
Well, Maria was kind enough to share the template she used for her 11g upgrade. You can download it here for your own use.
And, if you have any suggestions for other useful information to include or comments about how documentation helped (or saved!) your upgrade project, please share them.
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
I wrote some time ago that I had bought a new laptop. My old one had died. I didn't need to transfer any files (couldn't actually, the hard drive was toast) but I had my backups so I didn't lose any data.
The one downside to the new laptop (which otherwise had awesome specs) was a 2
Software Licensing Agreements, be it Oracle, Microsoft or Adobe, can at times read like a foreign language. We thought we would pass along some tips that can help when making a large software purchase. First and foremost, it’s almost always a mistake to accept the vendor’s standard agreement.
The SLA should be specified to your business needs and as specific as possible – the standard agreement lacks a lot of this information – make the vendor work for your business by specializing the agreement. This will also help you plan for the future.
The standard agreement is meant to protect and benefit the vendor, your agreement needs to fit your needs and protect your business.
I recently posted about working from home(which I meant to be humorous) and JJ had a question about my work space. I decided to post some pictures.
Oracle yesterday added 33 new applications to Oracle Accelerate, its partner program, bringing the total number of available solutions to 123. Accelerate allows Oracle to work with its partners to develop applications for small and medium-sized businesses.
So how does Oracle’s partner program measure up to rival SAP?
Warren Wilson, research director at Ovum, compares similar referral programs recently launched by each company. According to Wilson, while SAP’s goal is building long-lasting relationships with its channel partners, Oracle has its eye on mainly one thing: money.
“Oracle’s lead message is the money,” he said, although he couldn’t determine which company’s method (focus on money vs. relationships) is more effective.
Technology Business Research, Inc. (TBR) said recently that it sees channel management as Oracle’s greatest challenge. They say that Oracle “intends to drive 50 % of license revenue through partners; however, it still relies on its direct sales team to drive most of the revenue, and the indirect channel only contributes 44 % of new license revenue.”
Another partner-related problem they see is a shift in management, with the recent departure of several key Oracle executives managing alliances and the channel.
TBR concludes by saying that in order to reach their target of 50 % partner-generated software license revenue, “Oracle would need to shift nearly $550 million from direct sales to indirect channels to balance the contribution percentages.” TBR believes the challenge is made more difficult as Oracle attempts to restart growth in software license sales in the current difficult [financial] climate.
What do you think — will Oracle be able to change things around? Or are its partnerships fine as is? Do you think there are actually bigger (and more important) challenges?
LewisC's An Expert's Guide To Oracle Technology
Ok, I know you you've heard of them. Heck, in some cases, you've been beaten over the head with them. So why aren't you using them?
I've heard some people saying that it's easier to code without bind variables. Really? Concatenating strings, potentially with embedded quotes and/or varying formats, is easier than using bind variables?
I got a