The Feature

Application Blogs I Read and Why You Should Too

July 25, 2007 on 9:40 pm | by Marian Crkon | In Worth Noting | 12 Comments | Print This Post

Here is an updated compilation of application-related blogs I read and know about at this point. I would like to give a special mention to new arrivals Linda Fishman Hoyle, Chris Warticki and a smart bunch at Oracle Contractors Blog.

AppsBI : Applications Business Intelligence By Nilesh Jethwa. Nilesh has worked on various reporting, Data warehousing, Daily Business Intelligence, Discoverer and Enterprise Planning and Budgeting projects and wants to share and write about different BI tools and techniques. He enjoys his job and starting this blog adds a new adventure to his life and career.

Big4Guy

Big4Guy is an online resource by an anonymous author with the latest news, insights, knowledge and experiences as a Big 4 consultant. He discusses some of the important issues which organizations are facing today in the areas of information security, security and controls in SAP R/3, Oracle Applications, J.D.Edwards, Peoplesoft and various other ERP’s. He also provides valuable resources for individuals interested in the CISA, CISM, CISSP, and various other security certifications considered essential for entry in any Big 4 accounting, auditing and consulting firms.

BlogERP: HCM Software Blog

By James Holincheck. James is a Research Vice President in Gartner Research where he covers the human capital management software market.

Deal Architect

By Vinnie Mirchandani. Vinnie is a former technology industry analyst (with Gartner), outsourcing executive and entrepreneur. He has personally helped clients evaluate and negotiate technology contracts worth billions of dollars, and has consistently advised companies on IT risk management, globalization and sourcing issues. A MUST READ!

ERP Channel

By Matt Bowcock who is a software developer/analyst working in the US for a large manufacturing company. Matt has worked with ERP packages from PeopleSoft, Intentia, and Encompix. He has a passion for applying technology to business problems and creating solutions so working with ERP systems is actually interesting (if you can believe that).

ERP Software Blog

By another anonymous author. There are several good links and articles to ERP-related stories.

Grey Sparling PeopleSoft Expert’s Corner

By a group of authors at Grey Sparling Solutions. This is a company website turned into a blog with plentiful resources of information for Peoplesoft and Oracle users and buyers. These guys don’t know it but they were a great inspiration and influence on creating this blog. They do not play the usual blogging game with links and tags to improve their Technorati ranking. Instead, they focus on creating an original, expert content useful to their audience.

FIN-SIG Blog

The OAUG Financial Services Industry Special Industry Group (FIN-SIG) is affiliated to the Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG). The FIN-SIG shall fill a gap for a common forum and support/ resource base for all new and existing Oracle Applications users who operate in the space commonly called Financial Services Industry and also users who have interest in the specific packaged application software provided by Oracle Corporation to meet specific business needs of the Financial Services Industry.

Learn DIscoverer Blog

By Darlene and Michael Armstrong-Smith. They are the authors of the Oracle Discoverer 10g Handbook. Their company Armstrong-Smith Consulting specilaizes in everything Oracle Discoverer.

Learning of an Oracle Apps Consultant

By Krishanu Bose. Krishanu covers Oracle Apps consulting services situation and provides an inside view of Oracle Apps outsource services in India.

Mark Rittman’s Oracle Weblog

Not really an application blog, but one of the original Oracle blogs out there and an excellent production by Mark Rittman. Personally, this is to me a never-ending source of inspiration for how a corporate blog should be done. Read more about Mark and his blog in this story.

Oracle AppsLab

By Paul Pedrazzi, Jake Kuramoto, and Rich Manalang. In their own words, “Oracle AppsLab is a think-tank developed to drive adoption of new web patterns and technologies across Oracle’s business and products. We’re a small group dedicated to living and breathing Web 2.0. This blog is our space for sharing our ideas.”

OracleAppsBlog

By Richard Byrom and a group of authors. OracleAppsBlog is THE ORIGINAL Oracle application blog. If you search the web for anything related to Oracle Applications, the chances are you end up at OracleAppsBlog - a rich resource of Oracle-related links and information. Read 10 questions for Richard to find out more information about him and his blog.

Oracle Apps Confessions

By Jo Davis, Oracle eBusiness Suite functional consultant. A compilation of quick tips and tricks for Oracle Applications users.

Oracle Apps Epicentrum

Sanjit Anand shares his implementation knowledge and experiences.

Oracle Business Intelligence Blog

By Abhinav Agarwal and Keith Laker. This is a blog for all things Oracle Business Intelligence. Includes musings and postings on Oracle Discoverer, OLAP, and other Oracle BI products, technologies and tools. Way to go guys! Personally, BI is as technical as I ever want to get with Oracle Applications.

Oracle Contractors Network Blog

Oracle eBusiness Suite resources, ideas, white papers, advice and tips from a number of Oracle consultants.

Oracle E-Business Suite Technology

By Steven Chan. An excellent Oracle insider’s take on technology stack-related topics for the Oracle E-Business Suite, with sneak previews of upcoming releases, new product announcements, glimpses into the inner workings of Oracle Development, in-depth discussions of technology-stack architectures, and the occasional desupport notice. Read more about the man behind this blog in my interview with Steven. A MUST READ for Oracle Applications DBAs, system administrators, and other Oracle professionals.

Oracle Financials Strategy

The blog where we talk about what’s on our minds as individual strategists and as a team. It’s where we share articles, ideas and opinions that are relevant to our work here at Oracle. However, we reserve the right to veer off topic occasionally. It wouldn’t be a blog without that - would it?

Oracle iRecruitment Blog

By Martin Millmore, a Director of iRecruitment Development at Oracle.

Oracle Intercompany Blog

By David Haimes. The primary focus of this blog is Intercompany and Oracle Financials. David is a 10 year Veteran of Oracle Financials Development. David is interested in technology both inside and outside of Oracle and is always thinking of how I can incorporate new ideas, technologies, methodologies or innovations into my work here at Oracle. David’s current role is looking after the Intercompany and Legal Entity products in Oracle Financials, he has also worked on EMEA Globalizations, Federal and Public Sector Financials, XML Payments and a variety of projects on other products.

Oracle Support Blog

By Chris Warticki. This site is Oracle Support. Chris has been working for Oracle Support for over 8 years. His team helps Oracle customers, offers free information and training sessions on a variety of Support related topics. Take advantage of his team’s experience and knowledge about our Support processes, policies, tools, tips, and tricks.

ORCLville

By Floyd Teter. Floyd is the System Engineer for Institutional Business Systems at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California. Floyd has been working with Oracle products since 1990 and Oracle applications since 1997, and even spent a few years as a Managing Principal with Oracle Consulting during the dot-com boom.

Parallax: Calculating Technology’s Future

By Neil Robertson, a CTO at Newmerix and a talented writer who became famous in the enterprise bloggosphere for his original analysis of Oracle Fusion in I Pity the Fool. Neil is also very active in establishing the Web 2.0 tools in the enterprise.

PeopleSoft Corner

By Brent Martin. Ideas, Tips, Techniques and information sharing for Oracle and PeopleSoft Enterprise.

Procurement Central

By Dave Stephens. Follow a former Oracle VP in charge of developing Oracle Purchasing applications through his new venture of creating and deploying an open-source purchasing solution.

Project Directions

Produced by an anonymous project strategy manager at Oracle working with the Oracle Projects application. According to his own profile, the author’s focus is on our Project Management and Project Collaboration but he hopes that this blog will encompass some of other [Oracle] modules with the use of guest bloggers, i.e. his colleagues who manage those modules.The author is also interested in how software can help project managers and teams be more successful especially given the proliferation of collaborative tools that we see now.

Project Partners

This is FINALLY a company blog by two authors from Project Partners - Bob Anderson and Neeraj Garg. Project Partners regularly publish great white papers and newsletters for Oracle customers in the project-centric industries. The blogs are an excellent complement to this already fantastic resource.

Software Safari

By Brian Sommer. A “premium blog” by an experienced technology industry analyst.

Solution Beacon

Advise and opinions from employees of Solution Beacon, LLC, a provider of expert-level resources for the most widely used Enterprise Management Systems and Technologies.

Systematic HR

Systematic HR is a human resources blog about the intersection between HR process and HR technology. You can read about how HRMS systems, point solutions such as TAS, TMS, portals, etc, can be utilized to maximize your employee experience and enhance the strategic capabilities of your organization as well as the concerns of the day such as employee engagement, project management, and cost parameters to your strategies.

TalentedApps

Talented Apps is written by a group of Development and Strategy individuals within the Oracle Fusion HCM team. Their focus is on the industry and future of Talent Management…

Triora Group

This company blog is a way to “give back to the Oracle community”. You will find a growing amount of practical information you can use to improve your environment. Triora Group focus primarily on Oracle E-Business Suite 11i and 12, the Fusion Middleware and of course Oracle Database 10g/11g.

Yak About Apps

By Linda Fishman Hoyle, a a Senior Director for Cross Applications Marketing at Oracle and the Editor-in-Chief of a Podcast series called AppCasts. Linda has more than 20 years of experience with Enterprise Software and Services - marketing, strategy and business development. In Linda’s own words, “you want to read her blog if you are interested in the latest and greatest Oracle Application stuff!”

I would also like to mention blogs by Oracle Applications executives Jesper Andersen, Jim McGlothlin, Luke Kowalski [see an interview with Luke] and John Wookey. We all appreciate their intention and effort to share their views and opinions.

Lastly, I would like to mention any hibernating blogs that fell off the list after several months of inactivity. I totally understand what the authors of these blogs are going through. It is a draining emotional roller coaster to keep the blog up and running and I hope you guys get back into it!

Apps In the Box

By Siva Devaki who is an Applications Consultant providing solutions for Oracle Applications implementation and integration.

Building Efficient Sales & Service Ops: The Implementation of Oracle 11i CRM

By Ashwin Pingali. In Ashwin’s words, “a wide variety of experience, from business executive to tech entrepreneur to consultant, has helped him in understanding the standard business flows provided within Oracle Apps CRM”. Follow this blog to learn more about implementing Oracle Sales and Service modules and how to improve the communication process between consultant and management. A MUST READ! I love Ashwin’s writing.

Creating Passionate Users

By Kathy Sierra and other authors. A very interesting and funny perspective on users of all kinds. Kathy has been interested in the brain and artificial intelligence since her days as a game developer (Virgin, Amblin’, MGM). She is the co-creator of the bestselling Head First series (finalist for a Jolt Software Development award in 2003, and named to the Amazon Top Ten Editors Choice Computer Books for 2003 and 2004). She is also the founder of one of the largest community web sites in the world, javaranch.com. Unfortunately, Kathy no longer writes for the CPU after receiving several personal threats. She and her work will be greatly missed!

PeopleSoft Expert Implementing Oracle HRMS

By Patch Adams. A unique perspective of a Peoplesoft professional in his transition to become an Oracle HRMS expert.

Trials & Tribulations of a Business Systems Analyst

By H.M. Winning. Follow one Business Systems Analyst, who has taken on this newly created position after 17 years of exploring various technical roles, as she leads you through the everyday challenges of several projects, including developing a new BI initiative and implementing a new CRM solution, and shares some helpful advice and pearls of wisdom along the way.

Did You Take The OAUG Community Assessment Survey?

July 20, 2007 on 6:55 am | by Marian Crkon | In Oracle Press | Enter Comments | Print This Post

The Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG) is asking for your help to help its members maximize their investment in the growing family of Oracle Applications. Please take a few minutes to participate in an online survey. Your participation will help the OAUG determine:

• its five- and 10-year strategic direction;
• the value of the services currently offered;
• the value of potential future offerings; and
• overall member and community satisfaction with the user group.

This is your chance to let the OAUG know what direction it should take in the months and years to come, and to provide feedback on how the OAUG is meeting your needs. The OAUG exists to serve the Oracle Applications community, and they need to hear from you to know how they are doing.

You may access the survey online. Thank you in advance for your time and participation.