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Training and Upskilling
October 24, 2019
Five Habits to Increase Your Oracle Cloud IQ: Gain the Most Value from Your Oracle Investment
“I just don’t know what I ‘don’t know’” is a common statement I’ve heard many times over the years as I’ve helped Oracle users, from brand new users to seasoned pros, trying to determine the best path to learn about the products they have, or are looking to use.
There is no really one perfect “model” for raising an individual’s product IQ. However over the years, first as a sales consultant and then as Enterprise Learning Strategist, I have discovered a trend of habits or best practices. I often recommend these practices whenever an individual is on their cloud journey to understanding the product and staying current on the product’s capabilities.
Ultimately, everyone wants to ensure they are gaining the most value out of the product they just invested big dollars into and one of the best ways to ensure this is to be informed of what the product can do, as well as keep current on its capabilities.
To accomplish this, I’ve formulated a list of five habits that I recommend recommend in your journey to help increase your own and your team’s Oracle Cloud product IQ.
This blog post offers a list of valuable Oracle Cloud resources for learning, staying up to date and self-support. If you would like get a more in-depth look at how to get the most out of your Oracle Cloud technology, view this webinar that I recently lead on the subject:
Here are the five habits I recommend for becoming more proficient in Oracle Cloud products:
1. Invest in Yourself
The biggest investment is the product itself but to get the most out of it, start investing in yourself – register to webinars, take courses, take training sessions and encourage your teams to do the same, invest in the latest learning technology. Becoming a true scholar of Oracle Cloud products will not only serve productivity here and now, but it is also a long term investment for future prospective roles.
- Attend conferences like Oracle OpenWorld!
- Oracle LaunchPad - Oracle University LaunchPad
- Attend product training sessions from Oracle University - Oracle University
- Use in-application guides using Oracle Guided Learning
- Leverage online documentation - Oracle Documentation Online
- Free online tutorials/demos - Oracle Learning Library – Tutorials/Demos
- Webinars - Events & Webcasts Schedule
2. Remain “In-the-Know”
One of the advantages in using cloud products is the live software updates. Oracle product teams add new features and make improvements every now and then, based (among other things) on customer feedback. The trick is to keep current on product updates so that you can make the most of your cloud product. It is also recommended to stay updated on industry news.
- Oracle Cloud Learning Subscriptions (New Features)
- Newsletters - subscribe to available newsletters
- Blogs - Oracle University Blogs and blogs.oracle.com
- Online Communities and Forums - Oracle Community-wide Resources, My Oracle Support Community
- Cloud Customer Connect
- User groups for sharing the latest best practices in technology, and providing the functional guidance - User Groups
- Social Media - Oracle Podcasts, Twitter Directory
3. Find the Answer FAST
Keep a list of resources you can access fast to try to find the answer. These Oracle Cloud resources and applications will allow you to find answers and familiarize yourself with Oracle Cloud applications quickly and efficiently.
- Oracle Cloud Learning Subscriptions (Search Function)
- My Oracle Support - Knowledgebase
- My Oracle Support - Submit an Service Request (SR) to the oracle customer support team
- Previously mentioned Oracle Guided Learning - accelerate cloud adoption through microlearning and automated learning
4. Get Engaged
Engage with product experts and support professionals – get in touch, schedule a demo, connect to us on social channels and meet us at events.
- Oracle Support
- Customer Success Manager
- Enablement Specialists from Oracle University
- Partners
- Consultants
- Forums
- User Communities
5. Validate and Test
With today's endless flow of information on channels like YouTube, it's hard to identify the real professionals, and to know where to find proven best practices. To gain only the most accurate, relevant knowledge, exercise critical thinking and analytical perception of the sources you select:
- Make sure that you get information from quality sources
- Validate the information by finding it on multiple sources
- Use a trusted resource.
- Make sure to test your knowledge before you implement by using hands-on labs in your Oracle Cloud Learning Subscriptions or your test/dev environments.
- Test your knowledge by getting Certified – Oracle Cloud Certifications
All the habits are recommendations and you can pick and choose which work best for you, and which you will use most or lease often. I hope you find this information helpful on your Journey to a higher Oracle Cloud IQ!
Join the discussion
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Thanks for sharing these habits/pointers to enhancing knowledge in Oracle Cloud. Indeed, very helpful.