As Published In November/December 2006

OSOA, Oracle Partners Report SOA Successes

Oracle is one of 17 technology vendors in the Open Service Oriented Architecture (OSOA) initiative, which is developing service component architecture (SCA) and service data objects (SDO) specifications. The group has developed draft SCA specifications for a declarative policy framework; improved description of connectivity with bindings specifications for JMS, JCA, and Web services; and created new BPEL and PHP authoring models. Draft specifications for SDO and for Service Assembly, Java, and C++ service authoring have been updated. These new specifications can help organizations create reusable services to meet changing business requirements.

Many Oracle system integrator partners have deployed successful service-oriented environments (SOAs) using Oracle Grid Technology. Certified Advantage Partner Capgemini has delivered five large SOA projects with Oracle 10g and determined that the Oracle Grid platform enables access to SOA functionality across large organizations. Certified Advantage Partner EDS is delivering the EDS Agile Enterprise Platform based on Oracle 10g and other technologies; being grid-enabled allows EDS customers to reduce total cost of ownership by up to 50 percent through reduced hardware requirements and related maintenance and staffing costs. And Certified Advantage Partner Inter Access runs an Oracle Grid-based Linux data center with 10 live SOA customers. Inter Access says its SOA-related revenue has increased by hundreds of percentage points year over year.

Oracle-HP Reference Configurations Ease Data Warehouse Planning

Oracle and HP have developed reference configurations that can accelerate implementation of Oracle Database 10g-based data warehouses on HP servers and storage. Choosing a reference configuration, rather than designing and building a custom configuration, can cut weeks from the buying cycle and speed implementation.

The reference configurations range from single HP ProLiant servers running Linux to HP Integrity Superdome servers running HP-UX 11i. Using reference configurations enables IT planners and architects to start from a proven platform—based on the customer's raw data size, database, operating system, processor, and infrastructure architecture preference—when building or upgrading a data warehouse. The Oracle-HP reference configurations can then be customized for specific workloads and requirements. Each reference configuration balances processing power, storage, and throughput.

IBM Offers System i for Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne

IBM is offering a System i 520 Solution Edition specially configured for Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and designed for small and medium businesses. Available at a cost that is competitive with comparably configured Windows-based solutions, the new IBM offering combines hardware and software integration with open standards, and features built-in security, virus resistance, and simplified management of database, storage, and system software.

Partners Use Oracle XML DB to Power Solutions

Oracle has incorporated XML support into its products since Oracle8i, and this leadership continues with important contributions from Oracle partners.

Oracle Partner Nextance creates contract management solutions that help Oracle customers to increase the strategic value of—and realize the full financial return on—contractual relationships with suppliers, customers, and distributors. Nextance supports Oracle XML DB/XQuery, providing visibility into both unstructured and structured data.

Using Oracle XML DB, Certified Advantage Partner TEMENOS supports a variety of incoming XML formats without incurring the time and expense of programming and custom code.

EnergySys, a subsidiary of Oracle Partner Digital Steps, makes extensive use of Oracle XML DB in its GAMMA framework for hydrocarbon allocation and commercial operations. By separating data access, business logic, and presentation, GAMMA supports constantly changing asset acquisition, asset disposal, and company relationships.

Global Partners Support Warehouse Builder 10g Release 2

Oracle Warehouse Builder 10g Release 2 is receiving wide industry support through partnerships with leading technology vendors and systems integrators who are helping their customers turn data into tangible results.

LogicaCMG, an international consultancy specializing in business consulting, systems integration, and IT business process outsourcing, is using Oracle Warehouse Builder to offer its customers a single interface to data quality, extract, transform, and load (ETL), and metadata management. NewFrontiers Consultancy creates data warehousing solutions for companies using SAP transaction processing; with Oracle Warehouse Builder, NewFrontiers can extract data from SAP R/3 systems and integrate it into an enterprise data warehouse or business intelligence (BI) solution. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an IT consulting, services, and business process outsourcing organization, uses its BIDS (Business Intelligence Decision Support) methodology to create and execute BI programs, and maintains a center of excellence dedicated to Oracle BI and data warehouse technologies. And TUSC, a midsize consultancy that helps Fortune 500 companies to implement, manage, and use Oracle solutions, combines functional business experience, expert knowledge of data warehouse architecture, and a proven approach to deliver BI solutions and enterprise-scale data warehouses.

Partner Spotlight Accenture Opens Innovation Center for Oracle Accenture has opened the Accenture Innovation Center for Oracle, dedicated to the development of solutions based on Oracle's Server Technologies and Applications. The Innovation Center, located at Oracle headquarters in Redwood Shores, California, provides a direct link between Oracle's research and development teams and Accenture's global network of delivery centers and technology labs. Its efforts will initially focus on the development of reference architectures for service-oriented architecture (SOA) and reference applications based on Oracle Fusion Middleware. The center is the first of its kind to be located on the Oracle campus, according to Jim Hayes, managing director of Accenture's global Oracle practice, who calls it "an important step forward in our ongoing efforts to help clients derive maximum value from their Oracle solutions." The center "conveys Accenture's and Oracle's commitment to providing our joint customers with solutions to take advantage of service-oriented architectures," says Thomas Kurian, senior vice president of Server Technologies at Oracle. "With more than 31,000 global customers using Oracle Fusion Middleware as the foundation for their SOA infrastructures, it is critical that we work with Accenture to help ensure that deployments are quick and seamless." The center will enable Accenture and Oracle to develop and deliver first-to-market, Oracle-based solutions using Accenture processes, methodologies, and tools. It will also serve to demonstrate new Accenture service offerings that leverage Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle Applications, and Oracle industry solutions. The new Innovation Center, together with Accenture's recently opened Center of Excellence for Oracle in Bangalore, India, will allow Accenture and Oracle to develop a portfolio of products and services that will lead to more-rapid and cost-effective Oracle-based implementations around the world. Accenture has committed to invest US$450 million in SOA and has already developed a first version of an SOA reference architecture consisting of definitions, frameworks, best practices, decision trees, and code—all based on Oracle Fusion Middleware. Development of the second version of the reference architecture is underway at the new Innovation Center; it will become the foundation for future joint Accenture-Oracle solution development and customer engagements.

Book Beat Oracle JDeveloper for Forms & PL/SQL Developers: A Guide to Web Development with Oracle ADF By Peter Koletzke and Duncan Mills Oracle Press ISBN: 0-07-225960-4 Looking for an efficient way to learn Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) programming techniques? Peter Koletzke, Oracle Certified Master, and Duncan Mills, senior principal product manager of application development tools at Oracle, demonstrate techniques for working within Java EE and Oracle JDeveloper for the thousands of developers currently using Oracle Forms and PL/SQL. Throughout the book, high- and low-level Oracle Forms concepts are related to Java concepts to help readers become more comfortable with the new terminology, and special mentions in the text describe how Oracle JDeveloper techniques translate to PL/SQL or Oracle Forms. The book delves into new components required when developing and deploying a Java EE application and covers Oracle Application Development Framework (Oracle ADF), Oracle ADF Faces, and Oracle JDeveloper Release 10.1.3. Oracle Performance Tuning for 10g R2, Second Edition By Gavin Powell Elsevier ISBN: 1-55-558345-8 Oracle Certified Professional Gavin Powell delves into four central themes of Oracle9i Database and Oracle Database 10g Release 2 performance tuning. These include: denormalizing data models to fit applications; tuning SQL code according to both the data model and the application in relation to scalability; creating a well-proportioned physical architecture at the time of initial Oracle installation; and, most important, mixing skill sets to obtain the best results. The book includes all three aspects of Oracle database tuning: data model tuning, SQL and PL/SQL code tuning, and physical and configuration tuning. It contains real-world examples using large data sets and emphasizes a development perspective as opposed to an operating system perspective. Powell also discusses how building an appropriate data model and writing properly performing SQL code can give 100 percent performance improvement. Browse for Oracle books at oracle.com/technology/books/10g_books.html.