Highlights from Oracle OpenWorld Europe 2020

Oracle OpenWorld Europe took place at the ExCeL, London on the 12th and 13th February, bringing together a range of keynotes and sessions from thought leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, and shapers of the future. Taking place over 2 days, this year’s OpenWorld Europe aimed to enable visitors to immerse themselves in the infinite possibilities of a data-driven world.

Version 1 representatives were invited to Oracle OpenWorld Europe to attend exclusive Oracle briefings and have been participating in talks and sessions throughout the event. These representatives were on hand at Stand 22 to provide expert advice around all things Oracle. The following article covers our highlights and key takeaways from the event to date.

Oracle and Microsoft further develop Strategic Cloud Partnership

Following on from the announcement that Oracle and Microsoft are to interconnect Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud in June 2019, Oracle is now expanding its strategic partnership with Microsoft through a new interconnect facility based in Amsterdam. The new facility in Amsterdam will help companies who use Oracle and Azure to be able to “seamlessly” share cross-application data and move on-premise workloads “properly” to the Cloud. This interconnect extension originally started in the US, before being expanded to London and now Amsterdam.

By connecting Oracle and Azure, we’re able to rapidly introduce innovative technologies into our solution, ultimately resulting in a better, smarter solution for our customers enabling them to make dramatic improvements in manufacturing performance. – Mark Carleton

Find out more about Oracle and Microsoft interoperability here.

The 7 Principles of Successful Cloud Transformation

Version 1’s Colm Gillard, Head of Strategic Advisory Consulting, presented a lightning talk at this year’s OpenWorld Europe, focusing on the “7Ps” strategy for successful Cloud enablement. This was an essential presentation for business decision-makers focused on enabling their digital transformation through Cloud, with the “7Ps” consisting of:

• Picture
• Problems
• People
• Passengers
• Preparation
• Price
• Partner

Colm highlighted the important questions that IT decision-makers need to ask themselves when embarking on the digital journey to Cloud, such as “What is our destination?”, “What do I need to bring?” and “How much will it cost me to get there?”. These questions allow organisations to know exactly where they are at every step of their Cloud journey,  interlinking with the “7Ps” strategy to ensure sufficient considerations are taken. A lot of people starting their Cloud journey end up with customisation instead of configuration, which should be avoided at all costs.

Cloud transformation is a marathon and not a sprint. Make sure you look at the full picture! – Colm Gillard

PeopleSoft Customer Discussion Panel

Graham Smith, Managing Consultant at Version 1, shared the stage with Robbin Velayedam, Oracle Product Director, and two Version 1 customers, David Lewis, Hays and Kevin Gavaghan, Allen & Overy, for a PeopleSoft Customer Discussion Panel. There was a focus on 6 common areas, in which PeopleSoft customers regularly have questions about. These were:

• Selective Adoption
• Artificial Intelligence
• Configuration vs Customisation
• Cloud Deployment
• Evaluating Oracle Cloud
• Fluid

For each topic area, Robbin opened with common queried questions, and then opened up to the customer floor. The panel was a great opportunity for attendees to interact and engage with PeopleSoft Experts, and hear directly from Version 1 customers.

Find out about the ERP services offered at Version 1 here.

Applications Unlimited Keynote

During this keynote session, Paul McCartan, VP Applications Unlimited Sales delivered his view on the trends influencing the future; from emerging technologies that can be used to gain a competitive advantage, to building your business its digital twin in the digital economy. Paul highlighted the support Oracle has for the whole Applications Unlimited product line, as a lot of Oracle users didn’t understand what the Applications Unlimited team was.

The Applications Unlimited team is there to support everyone that is using their products, with a dedicated team and heads of development and sales for each product area. Since the team started, they have doubled in size and are continuing to grow. No matter where users are looking to go, i.e. staying on-premises or to Cloud, the team is there to listen to and assist customers and partners. Paul announced that Oracle is sticking to their mission of having Oracle Premier Support through to at least 2030, and are reviewing their offering continuously to ensure that they’re providing the right support to all customers.

Paul also highlighted the award winners during an Oracle networking event on Tuesday, the evening before Oracle OpenWorld Europe began. Version 1 was shortlisted for the PeopleSoft Partner of the Year Awards and were announced the winners of the Applications Unlimited PeopleSoft Partner of the Year Award, with Simon Wragg from Version 1 collecting the award.

Best Practices for Developing Advanced Blockchain Solutions

This panel session consisted of Circulor, SIAE, Oracle, and ICBF, with the latter an important business partner for Version 1. Karl O’Connell from ICBF spoke about how Version 1 Innovation Labs helped ICBF utilise Blockchain on Oracle platforms to enable full traceability from Farm to Fork. Blockchain for Supply Chain helps consumers identify the most sustainable agricultural products, with attendees also learning how Ireland is becoming a global leader in the Agtech Big Data evolution by combining the power of the Oracle Database, Oracle Blockchain, and genomics.

Find out more about how we worked with ICBF to explore Blockchain here.

Life in the Cloud

During this session, a panel consisting of speakers from Version 1 customer University of Birmingham, London Borough of Croydon and the Government Finance Function revealed how the Cloud is transforming working practices across all areas of their organisations. Cloud has been a key topic of conversation over the last couple of years and customers are trying to understand the process of moving to Cloud and the blockers they may come across.

Having an open discussion with customers that are in the Cloud, sharing the stories of the problems they have faced, how they overcame them and the benefits reaped from being in the Cloud allowed attendees to walk away from this session with real-life examples of what they could be doing. One of the key points discussed was around upgrades – when you’re in the Cloud, you receive updates every 90 days, in comparison to receiving updates every few years. This allows customers to have more capabilities on a regular basis.

Find out more about the New Core Programme with the University of Birmingham.

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