COLLABORATE 09, the annual Oracle users conference sponsored by the Independent Oracle Users Group, the Oracle Applications Users Group and the Quest International Users Group, wrapped up successfully in Orlando, Fla. earlier this month. "I think COLLABORATE was a great success," Ian Abramson, president of the IOUG, tells 5 Minute Briefing, adding that it emphasized the unique value of a live in-person event.
Although Oracle announced plans to acquire Sun Microsystems just prior to the event, Oracle executives were quiet on any specifics and did not offer details beyond information provided through the FAQ on the Oracle website, Abramson observes. But, he says, the buzz was about the acquisition of Java. "They are very excited. The thing they talked most about was the acquisition of Java. When anybody would talk about anything the focus was on that Java component."
Shortly after the event, Oracle also announced the acquisition of Virtual Iron (see article on the purchase below). For Oracle, virtualization and lowering cost of ownership is an important message, Abramson notes, pointing out that all the acquisitions and especially the Virtual Iron announcement show that this is the direction the company is going in. For the IOUG, he adds, as a result of the Oracle acquisitions there will be new communities coming in and the acquisitions also offer opportunities to provide more education on new technologies to members. As a user group, the IOUG is always there from technology perspective to provide that kind of support, he notes.
For the first time, this year the IOUG also offered virtual access to the COLLABORATE 09 - IOUG Forum for IOUG members who were not able to take advantage of the in-person event, says Abramson. The IOUG streamed the sessions from actual presentation rooms. Each session had a Q&A facilitated by the speaker, enabling virtual attendees to participate in this portion of the session. Additionally, although the IOUG is not archiving these particular sessions, it did capture all audio and the conference papers from these sessions. This is a benefit to all the IOUG members. The IOUG will also allow non-member access for an additional fee.
Abramson estimates that there were at least several hundred people that took advantage of the virtual access to sessions. Registering for a one-seat license allowed unlimited employee access to virtual sessions, and the IOUG was aware that there were companies setting up conference rooms to allow their employees to participate.
For more information, go to the IOUG's COLLABORATE 09 main page.