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Oracle Unveils Application Express 3.1

In its seventh upgrade since March of 2004, yesterday Oracle unveiled version 3.1 of Oracle Application Express, its rapid application development tool for data-driven Web applications. Using only a Web browser and limited programming experience, developers can build and deploy professional applications. Oracle Application Express is integrated with all editions of Oracle Database 11g and Oracle Database 10g.

The key new feature, Mike Hichwa, vice president of software development at Oracle, told 5 Minute Briefing, is an interactive reporting function that allows end-users to customize reports, resulting in reduced development time and effort. This feature, which was previewed at an Oracle developers tools conference has been widely anticipated. “There was such a buzz that we brought it out as fast as possible,” Hichwa said.

The reporting feature means data presented in Application Express applications can be presented with the same flexibility found in spreadsheets, Hichwa noted. “You can hide columns or choose which columns of data to display,” he said. Moreover, charting has been more tightly integrated.

Other key new featured include declarative BLOB (binary large objects) support that enables files to be declaratively uploaded in forms and downloaded or displayed using reports. BLOB display and download can also be authored using PL/SQL. “We have made it simpler,” Hichwa said. “You don’t have to know how to program.”

Report Queries now support multiple reports in a single document and allow the combination of reports and charts based on multiple queries. The output format can be set dynamically at runtime and documents can either be downloaded to the client or shown within the browser window. According to Hichwa, Application Express incorporates a wide range of Web 2.0 technologies, including AJAX and Cascading Style Sheets.

Oracle Application Express Release 3.1 is generally available and is downloadable from the OTN here. The tool is integrated with all editions of Oracle Database 11g, Oracle Database 10g and Oracle9i Database Release 2 at no additional cost.

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EMC Extends Capabilities for VMware Environments Including Oracle
 
EMC Corp., a leader in information infrastructure solutions, has announced extended capabilities for VMware Infrastructure environments with tested storage solutions for key applications, including Oracle, SAP, Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange. “These are the applications that we see quite frequently in VMware environments and so one of the first things we want to do is try to provide comfort for those customers to understand that EMC has already done some of the very significant testing to ensure that the various combinations of software and hardware they might invoke through various configurations for various use cases, are in fact going to work,” Jeff Bernard, director of technology alliances at EMC, told 5 Minute Briefing.

“This is a step in a bit of a journey by EMC to continue to both integrate and provide brand new innovation related to the VMware environment,” noted Bernard. EMC has defined optimized application and storage solution configurations, assured interoperability and fully documented complete deployment best practices for Oracle 10g and 11g, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Exchange 2007, and SAP environments to provide quick and simplified implementation in advanced VMware infrastructures. These application solutions have been tested and documented at broad workloads in VMware Infrastructure 3.5 environments to enable deployments that meet customer expectations for application-level performance, backup and recovery, remote replication, high availability and manageability.

EMC also said that it is supporting the forthcoming VMware Site Recovery Manager by enabling its integration with EMC's portfolio of remote applications products including EMC SRDF, EMC MirrorView, EMC Celerra Replicator and EMC RecoverPoint. For more information, go here.

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ModelRight Unveils ModelRight 3.0

ModelRight has announced the release of ModelRight 3.0, a database design tool, which expands the product's support for Oracle Database users. The 3.0 release introduces several features designed to help database administrators and others control their diagrams and manage their data models, including a diagram navigator that provides a bird's-eye view of a database diagram and enables users to easily zoom, scroll and control their diagrams. The navigator tool is especially useful for anyone who works with large diagrams. “We are very proud of our user interface,” Timothy Guinther, ModelRight founder and veteran developer of database-design software, told 5 Minute Briefing. “It is more up to date and less awkward than existing tools.”

Another key new feature is mode-less database compare, which allows users to compare their models with their databases, and synchronize the two as updates take place to the model. “This is something new and innovative,” Guinther said. Generally, comparing the model to the database involves a lengthy wizard. This feature shows the difference with the database as the modeling takes place. “Without a good framework, you could not do this,” said Guinther, who once headed development for Erwin.

Version 3.0 also has modeling capabilities with Alias Datatypes, Independent Defaults, Check Constraint Domains, Model-level Pre and Post Scripts; greater connectivity and support for databases that are open database connectivity (ODBC) compliant, and improved Database Support for Oracle 11. For more information, go to the product page here.

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Oracle Inks Deal with Teradata

Co-opetition has reared its head at the high end of the data warehouse market, as Teradata has announced an expanded worldwide relationship with Oracle designed to promote enhanced enterprise-wide analytics. Teradata has expanded its channel relationship to now include Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus and Oracle Business Intelligence Analytic Applications. This is in addition to Teradata’s current offering of Oracle Data Integrator and Oracle Essbase worldwide. Teradata can offer integrated Oracle software and solutions running on Teradata to address customer requirements. According to one analyst, the deal demonstrates Oracle’s determination to extend the reach of its business intelligence and data warehouse technologies.

Perhaps, though, the deal is not that unusual. Over the years, Teradata has established relationships with companies such as Siebel, Sunopsis and Hyperion, whose products are now part of Oracle Fusion Middleware. As part of the expanded agreement, Teradata and Oracle are investing resources into product integration to ensure continued optimization of the products and solutions offered to current joint customers as well as prospects. The new agreement is designed to help advance the interoperability of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus, Oracle Data Integrator, Oracle Essbase and Oracle Business Intelligence Analytic Applications with the Teradata Warehouse and solutions.

“Teradata and Oracle share a vision that business intelligence and data warehousing together must provide just-in-time insight from vast quantities of detailed customer and enterprise data to drive fact-based actions and interactions, helping leading companies achieve competitive advantage and operational excellence,” said Darryl McDonald, chief marketing officer of Teradata. Teradata is a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork and Oracle is a strategic partner within Teradata’s alliance and Finance and Performance Management programs.

For more about the Oracle partner network, go here. For more about Teradata, go here.

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SOA Adoption and Spending Picks Up

China, Germany, and the United States all showed service-oriented architecture (SOA) adoption growth rates of over 100 percent and companies adopting SOA spent $1.4 million on software and services in 2007, according to a report released recently by AMR Research. Moreover, 45 percent of SOA adopters reported spending over $500,000 on SOA software and services in 2007. Survey respondents represented a cross-section of companies with 500-10,000-plus employees in the process and discrete manufacturing, retail, wholesale/distribution, telecom, and financial services industries.  According to the survey, SOA adoption and spending largely varied across vertical industry, location, and size of company.

Unisphere Research, our research arm, conducts proprietary studies of IT trends. To read abstracts of these studies, go here. Are you interested in having proprietary research conducted for your company about issues of concern to you? For more information, send an email to Tom@dbta.com.

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Getting Ready for 11g and COLLABORATE 08

Oracle unveiled Oracle Database 11g last summer with a great deal of hoopla and fanfare. Of course, many industry observers thought it would take awhile before companies actually started the migration process. According to polling of online Webinar participants by Mike Ault, an Oracle expert at Quest Software, nearly half the participants are running Oracle 9i or older versions. He anticipates that the move to 11g will begin in earnest this summer with the release of 2.0. If that is the case, the upcoming COLLABORATE 08 conference could be the place you need to be to find out exactly what is going on with your peers. There is more information below. To read Ault’s column and to follow trends in the industry, read the e-edition of Database Trends and Applications magazine here.

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COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum: Training, Oracle Executives, Networking and More!

If you haven’t registered for COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum, April 13-17 in Denver, CO, yet, make sure you do so, so you can take advantage of all the great opportunities available at this premier conference for Oracle users. Registering with the IOUG ensures:

EDUCATION: More than 425 sessions with user-driven education covering the hottest topics like database administration, architecture, development, Hyperion, Stellent and more. Also choose from more than 20 in-depth University Seminar* sessions offered before and during the conference.

INSIGHTS: Hear from Oracle President, Charles E. Phillips, Jr., and from key Oracle executives during the Oracle Executive Sessions covering the various product lines and technologies.

NETWORKING: Network with your peers at daily panel discussions, Unconference Sessions - PowerPoint Free Zone (open forums for peer-to-peer discussion), Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings and several social events.

COMMUNITY: Access the education offered by both the Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG) and Quest International Users Group (Quest), in addition to the IOUG Forum sessions. You have access to three conferences for the price of one!

SOLUTIONS: Find more than 250 top IT solution providers in one open forum in the COLLABORATE 08 Exhibitor Showcase.

Register with the IOUG before arriving onsite to save $200! Choose priority code EM10 during the Demographic section (step 4) of conference registration.

*University Seminars are not included within conference registration. They are available for an additional fee.

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Add a University Seminar onto Your COLLABORATE 08 Registration

Already registered for the conference of the year for Oracle users – COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum, April 13-17 in Denver, CO? Why not enhance your Oracle knowledge on a particular subject by adding a full- or half-day IOUG University Seminar* onto your conference registration? The IOUG is offering in-depth training on more than 20 topics, including:

• Database Tuning
  
• Java
  
• Oracle Database 11g
  
• PeopleSoft
  
• Real Applications Cluster (RAC)
  
• And much more!

To add a University Seminar onto your conference registration, simply e-mail IOUG@showcare.com with your name and payment information. And, if you haven’t registered for COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum yet, you can add one on during the process.

*University Seminars are not included within your conference registration. They are available for an additional fee.

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Stellent Education at COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum

If you are an Oracle Content Management customer, you can’t afford to miss – COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum, April 13-17 in Denver, CO. This year, the IOUG Forum will feature a "Conference Within a Conference" dedicated to Oracle Content Management. You can attend more than 30 Stellent sessions throughout the week, interact with the familiar faces of Oracle and Stellent content management experts, network with your peers and attend the Stellent hands-on lab. Register with the IOUG to attend sessions like:

• Introduction to DAM and Oracle Content Conversion
  
• Overview of Universal Content Management Security Models
  
• New Site Studio Web Editor (Hands-on Lab)
  
• Upgrading to Oracle UCM 10gR3 – Benefits, Tips and Best Practices

Click here to view all the Stellent sessions available at the IOUG Forum.

Then, register before arriving onsite, so you can save $200! Choose priority code EM10 during the Demographic section (step 4) of the registration process.

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Meet COLLABORATE 08 - IOUG Forum Attendees via IOUG's Collaboration Tool

Are you an IOUG member who will be attending COLLABORATE 08 - IOUG Forum, April 13-17 in Denver, CO? Meet other Oracle professionals who will also be attending the conference by logging into the IOUG's new online collaboration tool: Oracle Professionals Exchange Network (OPEN).

This social networking tool will allow you to search for members by using the “Collaborator,” as well as join Wikis/Discussion Forums, allowing you to make valuable contacts with other attendees before the conference.

Login to OPEN today to meet and interact with other IOUG Forum attendees, who have similar interests as you.

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Submit Your Technical Tips for the IOUG’s Best Practices Booklet

The IOUG is currently accepting submissions for its third annual Best Practices Booklet of technical tips for Oracle professionals. If you have any best practices and tips for managing an Oracle Database, geared toward developers and DBAs, consider submitting today!

Share the tips and best practices you use in your work all the time—the code snippets and favorite queries you keep within easy reach. “Best practices” include acknowledged and sensible ways of carrying out an activity; “tips” illustrate how some activity could be done in a better way or reveal some undocumented or not-so-well-known feature.

Submissions should be 500-1,000 words long; due to space constraints, we ask that your submission have a specific focus, opposed to any overarching database principles. Submissions can range from beginning to advanced-level skills and should include the actual code and queries used (screenshots and other small graphics are also acceptable).

The submission deadline is May 15, 2008. This ever-popular booklet will mail with the Quarter 4 issue of SELECT Journal and will be distributed at Oracle OpenWorld in September 2008.

If you have any questions about submitting, please feel free to contact our Best Practices Booklet Coordinator, Theresa Rubinas, at select@ioug.org.

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Founded in 1993, the Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG) (formerly International Oracle Users Group) is a user-driven membership organization for Oracle technology and database professionals serving more than 15,000 database administrators, developers, architects, technical managers and other Oracle professionals throughout North America and worldwide. The IOUG empowers its members and the broader Oracle community through their technical publication, SELECT Journal, Web site resources including more than 3000 papers, tips and articles and networking with other users through online discussion forums, Special Interest Groups and a network of regional Oracle user groups. For more information about the IOUG, please visit the IOUG Web site.

Database Trends and Applications, published by Unisphere Media, provides timely coverage of the technology and intelligence needed to conceptualize, plan, initiate, implement and manage large-scale integrated information projects. Unisphere Media also publishes 5 Minute Briefing: Data Integration, a summary of news, trends, and insights addressing crucial data integration challenges and 5 Minute Briefing: MultiValue, a review of news, technical tips and insights for the MultiValue database community. Visit our Web site here.

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