Quick thoughts from Oracle OpenWorld

Just come back from Oracle Open World 2009, where the atmosphere was very different from last year: the key focus was on making things works with a lot less hype. Most of the Oracle keynotes I attended insisted, demo after demo, on the progress made in integrating different applications from the portfolio with fusion middleware. The CRM team did a great job in demonstrating new features and functionality delivered in the latest releases. Fusion Apps were announced but remained relatively low key. One key differentiation from the existing apps seem the clear focus on user experience. Early analyst feedback seem to confirm the success achieved there ( see Ray Wang or Paul Hammerman)

The feedback from customers was also focused on integration and innovation to take costs out. One key theme was "instant gratification": looking for technology and projects that would deliver very short term benefits at low risks but without building new legacy. Retiring legacy applications seem high on the agenda as well.

In walking the Exhibition Floor, it seemed less product companies were exhibiting than last year with SIs and other specialist consulting firms having replaced them. One exception was the presence of salesforce.com with a large booth and keynote to boot. Talk about extreme coopetition! The scale of OOW was as impressive as last year and the organization flawless which was no small achievement considering that more than 40,000 people attended. The power of OOW remained in the great potential for networking and meeting customers, partners and analysts. We had many very productive conversations in a few packed days which made the trip more than worthwhile.

Many good reviews were written about OOW. I have selected a few below that I thought were particularly worthwhile reading:

- Paul Greenberg
- Denis Pombriant
- Esteban Ekolski
- Michael Fauscette

Labels: #oow09, CIO, CRM application, Enterprise applications, ERP application, IT strategy, Oracle, social CRM