ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2008

denotes Oracle Ace
denotes Oracle Ace Director

Fusion Middleware Best Practices

Sunday, June 15, 2008, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
In Partnership with Dulcian, Inc.
Moderator: Paul Dorsey, PhD

Fusion is emerging as the primary development environment for the Oracle community. Every Oracle customer using any of Oracle's main application products (eBusiness, PeopleSoft, Siebel, JD Edwards) will be using Oracle Fusion Middleware. Non-applications customers are also recognizing the value of Fusion Middleware and are increasingly using it to build custom systems.

At the 2007 ODTUG Fusion Symposium, we provided an overview of the Fusion Middleware technology stack. This year, the symposium will focus on Fusion Middleware best practices. Symposium speakers will provide guidance and case studies to illustrate how to best take advantage of this technology.

Join us for an in-depth analysis of the Fusion Middleware environment. Speakers will discuss design strategy and projects that have been built using Fusion Middleware. Their experiences will show you what you need to know to make your Fusion Middleware-based project a success.

Agenda

Breakfast
7:30 - 8:30 AM

Oracle Fusion Middleware Development: Tales from the Trenches
Paul Dorsey, PhD, Dulcian, Inc.
Introduction 8:30 - 9:15 AM

The Oracle Fusion Technology stack is large and complex, encompassing many components. Some parts are free or nearly so such as JDeveloper, whereas other portions carry large licensing fees (WebCenter). What portions of the Fusion Middleware stack are organizations really using? How have their projects fared so far? This presentation will discuss the results of a number of projects from organizations that are using one or more parts of the Fusion Middleware technology stack

Made from the Same Mold: Template Techniques for Fusion Applications
Peter Koletzke, Quovera
Session 1 9:15 - 9:45 AM

Users will more easily understand your application and will therefore be more productive if all pages of your Web application are designed to look and act the same. The requirement for a common look and feel has traditionally been met by the use of templates. However, the methods for implementing template systems change with each new technology.
This presentation discusses how to work with templates and other common look-and-feel options in JDeveloper 10.1.3 and 11.1.1. It explains and provides code examples for template systems using ADF Faces and JSP tags as well as additional Java frameworks. It also describes the Oracle Browser Look and Feel (BLAF), which is used for the E-Business Suite. The presentation also describes the ADF Faces skinning feature as well as how the JHeadstart plug-in to JDeveloper uses templates.

The Beauty of JSF Component-Based Development
Wilfred van der Deijl, Eurotransplant
Session 2 9:45 - 10:15 AM

JavaServer Faces (JSF) has brought component-based development to the Java world. With JSF, you can drag-and-drop components from a palette onto your developing Web page. Components can hide the complexity of their inner workings from the page/form developer. This is something other development environments (like Oracle Forms) had for years.

This presentation will dismantle a JSF component and will show you what's inside. If you're already developing web pages using JSF, this can be the starting point in creating your own components or extending existing ones. If you're new to JSF this can be a great introduction and it will demonstrate how similar JSF based Web development is to Forms development, but with a few bonuses.

Building Very Rich Portals Using Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g
Eric Marcoux, Université Laval
Session 3 10:30 - 11:00 AM

During this session, you will learn how we have used Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g to build dynamic rich portals based on SOAs that are used by more than 40,000 users. You will discover how you can use Oracle JDeveloper, ADF and WebCenter 11g to build rich Web pages using dynamic portlets that you can customize at runtime, how you can integrate third-party applications together while maintaining context between them, and also how to add collaboration features so your users can communicate with each other in real time. You will also discover how you can store your Web pages in Oracle Stellent UCM and easily manage these documents. You will also learn how you can use the new features of the Oracle SOA Suite 11g to implement business processes and workflows that you can expose through WebCenter 11g in order to give your users a better experience with the system. Finally, a real customer case study will be used throughout the presentation to provide you with a real world scenario.

How Fusion Relates To Oracle Applications (E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JDE, Siebel)
Basheer Khan, Innowave Technology
Session 4 11:00 -11:30 AM

This session covers the Fusion value proposition to existing Oracle Applications users. Learn how you can leverage Fusion Middleware to extend Applications functionality, to integrate with others using the Application Integration Architecture, and to analyze cross-application information. Benefit from this next-generation technology (being incorporated in Fusion Applications) today!

A Simpler Way to Do Java? Well, That's Just Groovy
David Schleis, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene
Session 5 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Java is a remarkable programming language; there is really no arguing that. What can be argued, however, is its overall applicability. The same rigorous structure imposed by Java that aids a team of developers working on a mission-critical application destined to go through many revisions is a burden on the developer creating an intranet Web app to query a single table.

There are, of course, simpler alternatives to Java; one language that warrants a closer look is Groovy. What makes Groovy different is that it compiles to Java bytecode, can leverage existing Java objects, was designed to part of the Java environment, and even has a JDeveloper plugin.
Like it or not, it looks like Java is here for the long haul. And, like it or not, many seasoned developers have began using Java. Groovy provides a path to Java proficiency that allows meaningful contribution along the way.

Lunch
12:00 - 1:00 PM

The State of the Fusion Address - Fusion Middleware Project Status Report
Duncan Mills, Clemens Utschig, Oracle Corporation
Session 6 1:00 - 1:30 PM

Oracle Fusion Middleware is not just software, but a method and a blueprint on how to build next generation applications.This session will introduce you to the major components and concepts of the upcoming Oracle FMW 11g. This session will cover the model, and what you can do with it, business processes, business rules, and the human aspects of SOA, as well as Web 2.0 and collaborative features that boost productivity with end users.Based on our learning from building Fusion Applications, we will highlight key aspects when designing for the next generation, and challenges encountered on our way there.

Case Study: Selecting, Installing, and Configuring Universal Content Manager
Patrick Cimolini, Cayman Islands Government
Session 7 1:30 - 2:00 PM

Oracle’s Universal Content Manager (UCM) is a recent addition to Oracle’s Fusion Middleware Stack. In 2007, the Cayman Islands Government selected UCM as its Content Management tool of choice. The product was procured and installed in 2007 with the configuration pilot project scheduled for the first quarter of 2008. First, this case study presents a brief overview of the general issue of Content Management. Second, the reasons for selecting UCM over competing products are reviewed. Third, a summary of the installation, training, and configuration projects is outlined from a lessons learned point of view. Finally, references are listed so that the audience can quickly get more in-depth material.

Practical ADF Application Deployment for Fusion Middleware Administrators
Simon Haslam, Veriton Limited
Session 8 2:00 - 2:30 PM

Oracle’s Application Development Framework (ADF) and Business Intelligence Publisher are expected to become the tools of choice for Oracle-based organisations wishing to replace their tried and trusted Forms/Reports enterprise applications.

This presentation takes a less common view of ADF: how to effectively manage applications running on ADF, rather than just how to build them. It talks the administrator through key ADF components, deployment techniques, behavior under load and suggests numerous best practices. The scope is restricted to ADF BC, ADF Faces and JSF, namely those technologies being used by Oracle Fusion Applications and many custom development projects.

Building Secure ADF Applications
John Rydzy, Dulcian, Inc.
Session 9 2:45- 3:15 PM

Application development frameworks with integrated security modules often provide a false impression that simply by using them, your applications will be secure. In reality, a developer can unknowingly introduce security flaws into the system in spite of the security framework. This presentation will identify some of the pitfalls specifically associated with developing within Oracle’s Application Development Framework (ADF).

SSL, Load Balancers, Rewrite, Redirect, and More Advanced Configuration
Dan Norris, Piocon and Matt Topper, Oracle Corporation
Session 10 3:15-3:45 PM

Oracle Fusion Middleware is a complex product with many individual components that must all work together. Basic installation is relatively straightforward, but few enterprise environments use the basic installation. After many enterprise deployments, some common themes surface in the configuration types that most sites use. This session will offer instructions on configuring some of the more complex deployments available including SSL, load balancers, persistency, mod_rewrite, and logging. With the latest software from Oracle there is no Enterprise Deployment Guide walkthrough. If you need to perform any significant reconfiguration on an Oracle Application Server environment, you'll avoid many common mistakes by attending this session.

Expert Panel of Symposium Presenters
Moderated by Paul Dorsey, PhD, Dulcian
4:00 - 5:00 PM

The Seasoning of Application Express–Must Hear Success Stories

Sunday, June 15, 2008, 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
In partnership with Sumner Technologies
Moderator: Scott Spendolini

Application Express has been around for at least four years and has found its niche in a variety of business environments. Users of this tool applaud its versatility and ease of use. This all-day symposium will begin with a short review of the life of ApEx and a look to future directions. However, the majority of the day will be spent learning tips and techniques via case studies from leading companies. You will hear how and why ApEx projects were initiated, what worked, what didn’t work, and next steps. All the presenters will participate in a question-and-answer panel at the end of the day.

Agenda

Breakfast
7:30 - 8:30 AM

Welcome
Scott Spendolini, Sumner Technologies
8:30 - 9:00 AM

Keynote—APEX Update
Michael Hichwa, Oracle Corporation
9:00 - 9:30 AM

Kick off the APEX Symposium with a quick update from Mike Hichwa, Vice President of Oracle Database Tools Development. Get an update on the status of APEX from a positioning and practical point of view. Also, hear about the future plans for APEX, including a brief demo of what's to come in the next major release.

Managing the Army’s Enterprise Real Property Planning with Oracle APEX
Bharat Pappu and Brian Duffy, VISTA Technology Services
9:30 - 10:30 AM

The Army’s real property planning system supports thousands of users worldwide. The application is a critical component of the Army’s mission in managing its buildings, utilities, and land resources. It is used every day to support planning, budgetary, and spending decisions involving a real property portfolio with a replacement value of $263 billion.

When the time for the move from client-server to Web came, VISTA evaluated different technologies and selected APEX based on its out-of-the-box capabilities consisting of solid UI code, complete support for all of Oracle’s performance capabilities, security, scalability, and hooks into maintainable table-driven business logic. VISTA was particularly impressed with the speed that an interface could be assembled with APEX, it's flexibility to integrate technologies (like AJAX and dynamic HTML and third-party tools), and its rapid response ability to support functional design changes.

VISTA re-engineered and is rebuilding the application in record time. The new system prototype is in place and growing in world-wide use. Full deployment will be completed by December 2008. This presentation will outline the process that VISTA undertook in both selecting APEX and building the actual solution – which took months, not years as the Army had anticipated.

Creating Dynamite Applications that Deliver
Kathy Hunsicker, Washington Mutual
10:45 - 11:45 AM

Oracle's Application Express has enabled WaMu's Card Services group to rapidly deliver robust, low cost, secure, scalable and successful web-based applications. As a key component of their BI and MIS platform, APEX has empowered both technical and business teams to replace legacy processes based on paper, excel and MS Access with simple, yet powerful applications with improved controls and capabilities.

Lunch
11:45 - 12:30 PM

Oracle Application Express: Power to the People
Rich Mutell, Amgen, Dimitri Gielis, APEX Evangelists, John Scott, APEX Evangelists
12:30 - 1:30 PM

This talk will focus on the role of the "power-user", how to look for and interpret business challenges and convert them into powerful solutions with Application Express, and how to assess technical skill-set limitations and when to partner with expert consultants.

The Global Health Economics department built a powerful global tool to manage and plan their extensive portfolio of projects. The tool tracks financial information, goals, and detailed project plans and deliverables. Although small in scale, the value of Application Express is the ability to rapidly prototype concepts, develop, and customize features to meet the needs of the small-scale functional organization. Across industry, functional level needs are often difficult to meet. Due to the organization’s size and limited budget, its solutions are often Excel or Access-based application. APEX offers these types of organizations a viable and scaleable tool at a fraction of the cost and time requirements for a full-blown enterprise application.

This talk will focus on the business challenges of multiple sources of content, the grassroots effort to deploy, and the common business processes and challenges one should consider before deployment, and most important - when to partner with expert consultants and the value they bring to the application.

How IntelliReal Used Oracle Application Express to Rapidly Build their Production Environment
Chris Ostrowski ,Tusc-A Rolta Company
1:30 - 2:30 PM

IntelliReal (www.intellireal.com) is a real property market intelligence company. IntelliReal utilizes advanced technology and data aggregation to provide significantly enhanced data mining, accuracy, speed, and reduced cost delivering valuation solutions. IntelliReal's user interface was developed using Oracle Application Express (APEX). With most any technical presentation that you’ve attended, you’re likely always thinking about how to relate your environment to what the speaker is discussing and building a real world application using the tool. This presentation covers a specific business problem that was solved using APEX: delivering a rich user interface for "show." IntelliReal's primary customer base are businesses. Most of the customers actually access the IntelliReal systems using SOA. The APEX application uses the SOA components too. This presentation will discuss the functional requirements, how the application continues to be extended, the net results, and cost savings. This presentation will include an online demo and discussion of the components.

Mastering Unreasonable Deadlines with Oracle APEX at the German Telecom Shops
Dietmar Aust, Opal Consulting
2:45 - 3:45 PM

The T-Punkt Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (TPG)( http://www.t-punkt.de) is a subsidiary of the largest German telecommunications company, the Deutsche Telekom AG. The main subsidiaries are T-Com, T-Systems and T-Mobile. The TPG has more than 6,000 employees, handling 60 millions customers in 750 shops.

This talk will discuss two separate applications that were developed for the TPG. Although they both have different requirements and different challenges they both do share a common issue: The lack of time!

The first application is an order entry system used by over 5,000 employees on a daily basis. Using this system, the employees enter 25,000 orders per day resulting in 400,000 page views. The system uses a HA architecture with redundant application servers and a two node RAC. The biggest challenges where the system performance and the constantly changing requirements.

The second application is a workflow application to support relevant business processes for opening, closing, and managing shops. We have integrated third-party technology to display maps enriched with relevant market information. Also, all addresses are geo-coded and typos are eliminated. A challenging part was the migration of the existing MS Access application which had to continue to support the existing front-end applications.

How Iron Mountain Has Used APEX to Improve Operational Abilities Within the Enterprise
Chris Veenstra, Iron Mountain
3:45 - 4:45 PM

Iron Mountain has been able to realize significant gains in its operational abilities thanks to Oracle APEX. Using Oracle APEX, Iron Mountain has created a suite of applications that have enabled them to run their business more efficiently and effectively.

One application allows Iron Mountain to intelligently plan capacity for over 12,000 tablespaces on a daily and weekly basis. Other reports can monitor the health of database partitions and proactively notify the DBA when a partition is nearing its capacity. Another application is an enterprise-wide RMAN backup reporting capability which tracks the most recent backup data and status of more than 200 instances.

The largest of these applications allows Iron Mountain to monitor the status of their Digital Archive business, which averages approximately 2.5 to 5 million e-mail messages per day. Each one of these messages is dispatched to one of 25 production instances and then indexed with Oracle Text. An Oracle APEX interface allows Iron Mountain to query and manage this massive collection of data.

Perhaps the most amazing feat of all is that all of these projects were achieved with no additional staff while at the same time, increasing the number of databases!

APEX Roundtable With Panel of Presenters
Moderated by Scott Spendolini, Sumner Technologies
4:45 - 5:45 PM

Oracle Essbase Developer's Symposium
In Partnership With Oracle Corporation
Moderated by Al Marciante, Oracle Corporation

Welcome and Kickoff for the Week
Tim Tow, Applied OLAP, Edward Roske, interRel Consulting, Al Marciante, Oracle Corporation
8:30 - 9:00 AM

Keynote, The Future of Essbase: Code Name Kennedy and Beyond
Vaishnavi Sashikanth, Oracle Corporation
9:00 - 10:00 AM

Kennedy: Essbase Block Storage Changes
Al Marciante, Oracle Corporation
10:00 - 11:00 AM

This session will highlight key enhancements to the Block Storage kernel for Essbase. These include features such as textual measures, backup/recovery, new calc functions, and time intelligence updates. It will also include a general overview of key initiatives and features as part of the overall Kennedy release of Essbase.

Kennedy: Essbase Aggregate Storage Changes
Al Marciante, Oracle Corporation
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

This session will highlight key enhancements to the Aggregate Storage kernel for Essbase. These include features such as text/date measures, XOLAP, partial data clearing, and partitioning features. It will also include a general overview of key initiatives and features as part of the overall Kennedy release of Essbase.

Lunch
12:15 - 1:00 PM

Kennedy: Essbase Studio
Subhash Gaur, Oracle Corporation
1:00 - 2:00 PM

This presentation will demonstrate the capabilities of new cube building tool, Essbase Studio. It will include modeling of data sources, creation of hierarchies, design, and construction of the cube. It brings ease of use of EIS and performance of load rules. Dynamic association of Drill Through reports with cubes will also be demonstrated. New features such as XOLAP, slowly changing attributes, and derived text measure of Essbase are exposed through Studio.

First Look Beyond Kennedy: An Alpha Preview
David Mellor, Oracle Corporation
2:00 - 3:00 PM

The First Look Preview session will introduce new capabilities for Essbase to utilize the Application Development Framework via an extension for Oracle JDeveloper. JDeveloper is a complete IDE for Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Java. An Essbase Developer is no longer constrained to use a specific browser front end to build Essbase Applications. The developer can now use the full power of JDeveloper to develop components such as member selectors, pivot tables as well as building predefined dashboards with a variety of visualizations. The session will provide an interactive demonstration by building a sample application in JDeveloper which highlights the Essbase integration.

Developer's Roundtable (panel)
3:30 - 4:30 PM

Feedback for the Development Team (panel)
4:30 - 5:30 PM