Oracle's fiscal year ends May 31st. Some old-timers told me that is designed to give the employees a busy and interesting Memorial Day weekend...hmmmm.
The new plans and commitments by our Higher Education customers are everywhere. At OpenWorld in September 2005, the theme was presented: "Protect, Extend, Evolve." Many of you are doing just that! The adoption of PeopleSoft Enterprise 8.9 is widespread, upgrades are going well, and the 8.9 redesigned web page screen interfaces are receiving pure flattery.
The biggest surprise to me for the year just ending is the apparent rejuvenation of hot interest in eProcurement. We saw all the "eCommerce" magazine covers in 2000, and not much since. I surmise that many of you, now that the gloss is gone, are finding new solid business processes that make sense to manage indirect spend, while allowing easier online shopping for your end user customers. Oracle's new partnership with SciQuest, a leading provider of catalog and content management services has no doubt helped to complete the picture of a fully integrated eProcurement solution.
The new companion to eProcurement is Enterprise Asset Management. At NACUBO in Honolulu, July 8-11, Oracle and BearingPoint will be demoing our joint "Campus Lifecycle Management" solution. Please stop by to learn more.
Announcement of our partnership with Sakai, open source for academic content, is our entrée into the academic management space. To quote Curtiss Barnes, Oracle's global director for Education Industry Strategy, in our June press release: "When I speak with our customers about the Sakai project, it is increasingly clear that this community can bring about a sea change in the use of IT for academic and research enterprises. Now is the time for an ERP vendor to truly get engaged and help to drive beneficial outcomes for faculty and their students and researchers and their collaborators."
I would only add that it is Oracle leading the way in this arena. Go to this link to read more about the Oracle and Sakai partnership.
This was also a busy week with the new HEUG Board retreat in Seattle where Curtiss Barnes, Jeff Robbins, and Theo Bosnak presented Oracle updates, and continued the important dialogue with the list of key HEUG issues. I hope that all our Higher Education customers appreciate how hard these Board members work on all of our behalf. They are generous with their time. A second version of the Technical Advisory Group's white paper about the road to Oracle Fusion is being worked with vigor, due out soon. Kari Branjord (University of Minnesota and TAG leader) and Jeff Robbins collaborated in Seattle, with the goal being an objective work product that contains solid input from Oracle.
Time to blog off. Allow me to conclude with some interesting inside Oracle folklore. Did you see United 93? That is a documentary movie that will get to your heart. Oracle sponsors an employee award, per this message by our EVP Randy Runk:
On September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer and the other passengers and crew members aboard United Flight 93 proved that everyday people can make extraordinary heroes. Todd will long be remembered as the American hero who said "Let's roll" as he and others attempted to take down their hijacked plane, preventing it from becoming another weapon.
But what many may not realize is that Todd Beamer was a hero even before the terrorist attacks. Every day he made choices to better himself, his family and those whose lives he touched at work and in the community. Todd's colleagues at Oracle recall him as a man of integrity, passion and focus; one who strove for the mutual success of the customer and his Oracle team. It is in this spirit that the Todd Beamer award was created.
I encourage you to nominate an individual within your team who exemplifies the life of Todd Beamer and is deserving of the prestige and honor with which this award is held. The winner will personify the qualities Todd lived on a daily basis including:
Leadership
Teamwork
Integrity
Professionalism
I just thought that you would enjoy some insight into inner workings at Oracle that are quite unlike how the analysts and media usually portray the company.
Talk to you soon...
