The Content Management Cook–Off—Who's Top Chef?
Donning aprons and chef's hats, three Oracle product experts wowed the audience at November's Oracle OpenWorld conference as they battled head-to-head for the coveted Silver Ladle, awarded to the product demo garnering the most enthusiastic response as measured by the tournament's official Applause-o-Meter.
The tournament included Simon Thorpe, senior sales consultant, who demonstrated Oracle Information Rights Management (IRM); Billy Cripe, product management director, who showed off Oracle Universal Content Management, focusing on ways to resolve issues related to back-end integration with Siebel; and Sancho Pinto, principal product manager, who demonstrated Oracle Imaging and Process Management (IPM).
According to Thorpe, audience members, made up largely of die-hard content management experts willing to stick around for one final demo at the end of an action-packed conference, were both enthusiastic and well qualified to judge the contest.
"One guy got so excited," says Thorpe, "that he jumped up onto the stage and declared, 'This is the content management solution we've been waiting for!'"
And the Winner Is ...
In the end, Thorpe's demo of Oracle IRM won the day.
Oracle IRM secures content beyond the firewall by encrypting sensitive documents, emails, and other data; associating each with a set of policies; and providing a digital signature to defend against tampering and unauthorized viewing.
Thorpe chalked up his victory to the fact that Oracle IRM is the "most visually exciting" of the three. And it's "right at the cutting edge" of Oracle's drive to expand and integrate its content management offerings, Thorpe added.
Still, Thorpe took his victory in stride.
"It was the grinder," he told reporters, "not the monkey."
