Expert Overview
Rocky Copeland joins us for our next interview! As a Director on the Oracle Consulting Services (OCS) implementation team, Rocky manages the day-to-day activities for our customer implementation projects. He joined Oracle with over 15 years of experience implementing permitting and licensing products for dozens of customers. Living with his family outside of Atlanta, GA, Rocky enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, being outdoors, and coaching his son’s wrestling team.
Q: How did you get your start working to implement Permitting and Licensing software?
A: Shortly after getting my Master of Business Administration, I got hired on as a consultant with Hansen. I was not particularly looking for a job in the licensing and permitting field. I was searching for an IT consulting job that would complement my concentration in IT MBA. Hansen was looking for an Atlanta based consultant. My first few projects were actually in the asset management field, mainly dealing around water and sewer. Eventually, I was brought into Permitting and Licensing projects. I worked with Hansen for three years, through their merger into Infor.
Q: What made you decide to join the Oracle team?
A: After Hansen, I was approached by Accela, Inc. to run the City of Atlanta permitting project. I worked at Accela for 10 years. During my tenure at both companies, I met many people in the industry, including Ean Darbo. Ean approached me with an opportunity with Oracle. I was extremely excited with the idea to be on the ground floor of a new product and to be able to work with the Product team and see the product grow. I felt like this was a fully funded startup with a major corporation backing it up. That was a very exciting thing to me. I also knew many of the individuals on the permitting and licensing team that were now working at Oracle, all of them talented and experienced professionals that I was excited to work with.
Q: Can you describe Oracle’s implementation approach in a nutshell?
A: Yes, Oracle’s True Cloud Method or TCM+ is an agile methodology. With an agile methodology, we conduct our analysis and development in a series of sprints. These sprints are designed to develop incremental product that could be released at the end of each sprint. Many companies in this industry have traditionally used a waterfall implementation approach that typically has a big-bang type of go-live at the end of the project, which inherently has many issues. Oracle’s TCM+ methodology allows our implementation team to be extremely flexible and release product at a faster rate, allowing the client to start using it much faster.
Q: Tell us about a particular challenge a customer presented, and how the Oracle team overcame that challenge?
A: I think that the largest and most prominent issue that comes to mind is COVID. When COVID hit, many agencies had to completely change the way they conduct their business. We have worked with clients that had no online presence: no ability to allow citizens to apply for permits or pay for permits online. Many agencies had to effectively close their doors and shut down. Working with several clients, we allowed them to reopen their virtual doors, implementing Permitting and Licensing online and allowing them to restore business and begin earning revenue again.
Q: And to end our conversation on a fun note: what are you most looking forward over the next year?
A: I am really looking forward to watching my 3 kids grow and experience new things. My son is wrestling for the first time, my daughter is playing flag football, and my second daughter will be playing volleyball. I am also looking forward to travel restrictions lifting so that I can take my family to see their great grandmother in Japan.
Learn More
Modern cloud technology solutions can help public-sector organizations overcome many of the challenges they face. By migrating to the cloud with Oracle Permitting and Licensing, organizations can embrace innovation and push the limits of what their employees and constituents have come to expect from their government. Oracle is excited to be able to partner with government organizations on their journey to the cloud, and you can discover more Permitting and Licensing product here.