Oracle Developer Builds His Own Twitter, On The Fly
Oracle’s Application Express helps bring new microblogging platform to the enterprise
by Alison Weiss, September 2009
Good communication across a large enterprise is critical to business success—and it’s frequently a challenge. But often the simplest solutions can yield the greatest results. Noel Portugal, Oracle Senior Technical Analyst for CRM On Demand Operations, saw an opportunity to address this challenge, and used the Oracle Application Express web development platform to create OraTweet, an internal micro-blogging tool to encourage broad communication among Oracle employees. Think of it as Twitter, but operating only inside the company, allowing workers to post valuable information, ask questions, and debate issues with co-workers around the world who they may have never met. Now boasting more than 10,000 users, OraTweet has become a valuable tool within Oracle—and was built by one person using free Oracle software.
Profit Online: How has OraTweet benefitted Oracle?
Noel Portugal: There is a misconception that micro-blogging is just to share mundane and unimportant things. But when using this tool in the enterprise context it can be really useful. Thousands of employees have joined and see the benefits of micro-blogging. OraTweet helps users to communicate and collaborate within their teams while reducing email overload. The results have been amazing. For example, there is a Fusion group on OraTweet, with developers located around the globe. If developers have a question, they can’t just stand up and ask their next door neighbor in the next cubicle. Instead, they can post a question on OraTweet and send it out to the whole Fusion group.
It’s a direct benefit to Oracle customers because developers can get customer questions answered very quickly. In addition, users have started to develop stand-alone clients to consume OraTweet’s timeline. Overall information is flowing faster in a lightweight format.
Profit Online: What role did Application Express play in the development of OraTweet?
Noel Portugal: Application Express helped me to rapidly design, develop and deploy a fully functional micro-blogging application. Back in May 2008, I joined Twitter and realized the potential it could have in the enterprise field. At that time there was no real enterprise offerings so I decided to use Application Express to build a free distributable package. I have been using Application Express since 2004. I first learned of it when I attended a free class provided by the Utah Oracle Users Group (UTOUG). At the time I was a software developer building applications with c|net and realized how much time I could save by using Application Express instead.
Profit Online: Describe how the OraTweet development process unfolded. How did Application Express enter into the plan?
Noel Portugal: It all started with a simple database table and an input form to send tweets or messages, but then I was able to quickly add more robustness and capabilities to the application. I added the feature of having groups, a feature that Twitter lacks and is commonly requested. Then I integrated Oracle Beehive (Email and IM) as a way to send and receive tweets as well. This has been a very popular feature. OraTweet has been used by approximately 10, 217 Oracle employees since launching in June 2008. Users have sent 95,000 tweets through IM and e-mail and 25,000 tweets using the web interface.
Profit Online: From a developer's perspective, what are the benefits of using a platform like Application Express?
Noel Portugal: Since Application Express sits on top of the Oracle Database, it is really easy for database developers to create applications using PL/SQL. Using Application Express allowed me to make changes to my application instantly without needing to compile and deploy to a server. This is one of my favorite features about Application Express. Although I have a development instance, it’s really easy to troubleshoot and fix bugs in real-time.
Profit Online: Can apps developed with Application Express integrate/sync with a greater Oracle Enterprise?
Noel Portugal: Yes. Application Express data can be linked with other databases on the back end or you can easily create custom packages that allow retrieving and updating data in a RESTful [Note: using representational state transfer protocols, an approach common to web-based applications] style. Application Express can also be used for reporting: you can create simple table queries or full complex table joins.
Profit Online: What other applications are you planning to develop using Application Express?
Noel Portugal: I’m looking into using Application Express to create a library where customers can easily find information on Oracle CRM On Demand. It will be an add-on to Oracle CRM On Demand using web services.
