O-ZONE NEWS

Welcome to all new members who joined us over the past few weeks.  We look forward to welcoming more members in the months ahead.  Please pass this newsletter and details about the O-Zone portal to any of your colleagues that have an interest in Oracle on Windows.  We would like to hear from  you  if  you are a .NET developer working with Oracle on Windows, especially if you are able to provide articles, a case study or can help in any way.  Please contact me.

We have redesigned the The Oracle on Windows Zone to provide a cleaner interface and hope that you will find it more easy to locate the resources that are now grouped by topic rather than type.  We have also made a greater distinction between resources that deal with .NET development and those that deal with Database 11g technologies.  Based on positive feedback, we have adopted a similar layout to the ISV Resource Centre. This is a portal Grey Matter has put together with Oracle for the ISV community.  If there are any enhancements you would particularly like to see made to O-Zone, please take this opportunity to contact me.

WHAT'S NEW ON O-ZONE?

For further details about the items below, please visit the News page on O-Zone.

Gartner ranks Oracle as leading RDBMS software vendor
According to market research firm Gartner, Oracle is the leading worldwide relational database management system (RDBMS) software vendor based on total software revenue for 2007. 

Oracle Database 11g on Windows new World Record
Oracle has announced a new world record TPC-C benchmark for Oracle Database 11g Standard Edition One running on Windows.  With this result, Oracle now holds the top three record benchmark positions in the Top Ten TPC-C price/performance category. 
 
Oracle SQL Developer - updated Statement of Direction
Oracle has released an updated Statement of Direction for SQL Developer, downloads of which passed the 1 million mark in May, 2008. The next release of Oracle SQL Developer provides complete graphical, logical and physical data modeling delivered as an optional extension to SQL Developer.


EVENTS

For further information and to enroll, please visit the Events page on O-Zone.

Oracle on Windows SIG Meeting, September 17 - POSTPONED
This Special Interest Group meeting for UKOUG members which was scheduled to take place in Leeds has been postponed.

Oracle OpenWorld 2008, September 21-25
Oracle OpenWorld is the world's largest gathering of Oracle customers, partners, developers and technology enthusiasts.  The 2008 event will be held in San Fransisco at the Moscone Cente.  

If you are planning to attend Oracle OpenWorld 2008, be sure to look out for the Oracle Develop events that will take place at the Marriott, San Francisco, September 21-23.  The Oracle Develop sessions are part of Oracle OpenWorld 2008.  They provide an opportunity to hear and learn from world-leading experts and your peers about next-generation development trends and technologies, including .NET.  The expert led in-depth technical sessions, advanced how-tos and hands-on classes will help advance your skills and expand your knowledge.  Thousands of developers attend Oracle Develop and 2008 promises to be the biggest program so far.  Based on popular demand, Oracle has extended the conference by adding an additional day to include more sessions and hands-on labs.   As an Oracle Develop attendee, you will also get access to OTN Night, Oracle OpenWorl and Exhibition Halls and keynotes.

Application Express Advanced 2-day seminar, October 1-2
This two-day seminar covers the most common topics that Apex developers encounter, namely how to streamline your Apex development (best practices) and what options are available to you when things go wrong (debugging).  The seminar will be led by APEX expert and Oracle ACE, John Scott. 

Oracle and .NET SIG Meeting, October 1
This Special Interest Group meeting for UKOUG members will take place at the Microsoft Offices in London.  The agenda and further details will be posted on O-Zone as soon as they become available.

RAC & HA SIG Meeting, October 2
This Special Interest Group meeting for UKOUG members will take place in the Midlands, venue to be confirmed.  The agenda and further details will be posted on O-Zone as soon as they become available.

20th annual UKOUG Conference and Exhibition, December 1-5
Planning ahead, be sure to make a note of the 20th annual UKOUG Conference and Exhibition which will take place on 1-5 December at the ICC in Birmingham.  The UKOUG is planning to celebrate the 20th anniversary by making this conference their biggest and best event to date.

Microsoft Visual Studio Events
Special 1-day workshops are being hosted by Microsoft at their Thames Valley Park, Reading offices.  These are intended for project managers and those embarking on an evaluation program.  The sessions are designed to provide insight into Microsoft’s .NET development framework and the collaboration tools that form part of the Visual Studio Team System environment.  The events occur monthly and allow small groups of customers to get in front of Visual Studio and some of the product specialists at Microsoft.  Please contact me if you require further details or would like me to make arrangements for you to attend one of these free events.


O-ZONE MANAGED EVALUATIONS PROGRAM

Is your interest in Oracle on Windows related to a requirement to complete a formal, managed evaluation or perhaps a .NET development and deployment project?  If so, the articles, tutorials and downloads provided by O-Zone will assist with this.  In addition, we can allocate a technical account manager to help manage the provision of the resources you need.  This could involve answering questions, pointing you in the right direction or helping to enlist assistance from Oracle or third parties.  If you have a serious Oracle on Windows requirement or would like to find out more, please contact me or call me direct on 01364 655129.

Regards,

Graham Keitch