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Quest Oracle Community (formerly Quest International Users Group) just rebranded and launched a fully redesigned digital experience to better meet customer needs amidst the rapidly changing landscape of business technology and Oracle solutions.
Quest offers Oracle users a wealth of resources through webinars, blogs, customer stories and more, along with support from a community of users with similar interests.
As the organization prepares for Oracle OpenWorld 2018, Jon Vaughn, CEO of Quest Oracle Community, shared plans about what Quest will bring to this year’s conference.
What sessions or workshops are planned this year?
Jon Vaughn: Quest Oracle Community is excited to present 12 sessions featuring multiple stories from real Oracle customers about their journeys to the Oracle Cloud, with a special focus on HCM Cloud, EPM Cloud and ERP Cloud.
Attendees can hear from companies like Sinclair Broadcasting, Yum! Brands, Ohio National, Harbison Walker International, Wagstaff and Intermountain Health Systems. These organizations bring a great depth of experience from their own Oracle Cloud journeys. We believe other customers can benefit from learning these companies’ experiences and the ability to benchmark their own companies’ progress with Oracle Cloud adoption.
Quest will also be presenting two unique sessions where we will share findings from our recent Oracle Cloud, JD Edwards and PeopleSoft community surveys. These are annual surveys of our entire community base that help Quest understand pain points that other users are experiencing and help customers see what others are doing to optimize their Oracle product.
What is Quest planning that is new for the 2018 Oracle OpenWorld conference?
JV: Quest looks forward to meeting face-to-face with customers during Oracle Open World and will be hosting two receptions this year.
Along with the sessions we’ll present, we also prioritize connecting, sharing experiences and getting to know others in the community.
Customers can learn all about what Quest is delivering at OpenWorld this year at our website, QuestOracleCommunity.org.
What are the issues that you will address at Oracle OpenWorld?
JV: Overwhelmingly, our members are interested in hearing real stories from real customers about product implementation and usage, from others who have already experienced the process. This is the main reason Quest is presenting 12 sessions that are specifically focused on customer viewpoints at OpenWorld.
Cloud continues its rise in importance and popularity. How are customers dealing with the technology?
JV: Quest members who are interested in using Oracle Cloud products are looking for best practices and post-implementation resources from those who are already on Oracle Cloud. Members evaluating the Oracle Cloud are really interested in hearing from current Oracle Cloud users about what life looks like once Oracle Cloud is implemented - and what benefits can be quickly realized.
The largest challenges our PeopleSoft community faces involve staying current, testing and managing customizations. PeopleSoft community members also strongly desire real-world experiences and stories about how other companies have solved common issues. Fluid User Interface remains a hot topic of interest for PeopleSoft users, especially concerning ways to achieve high rates of end-user adoption after implementation.
JD Edwards users in our community want to learn more about new JD Edwards EnterpriseOne features, notably UX One Features like E1 Pages, Watchlists and UDOs. Most users also want to understand how the Oracle Cloud can supplement, enhance or extend their JD Edwards environment through various services. They especially want how-to’s and tips from other JD Edwards users about how to best use the product.
What trends do you think attendees will be interested in this year?
JV: Attendees are always looking for ways to optimize their Oracle product.
We are also observing significant community interest in emerging technologies like autonomous technologies, artificial intelligence, chatbots and machine learning and how they will affect existing products and technology.
The announcements at OpenWorld often signal the direction for Oracle for the coming year. How will Quest follow up with members on what is introduced at the conference?
JV: The insight gathered at OpenWorld influences our strategic direction and education focus for the year.
Quest is committed to following up with our user community on insights gained at OpenWorld. We’ll be producing and launching custom blog content on our new digital platform, QuestOracleCommunity.org, working with Oracle OpenWorld presenters to schedule related presentations for our user community and integrating hot topics and themes into our virtual and face-to-face events including Quest Experience Week and COLLABORATE 19.