I just returned from another amazing JD Edwards InFocus conference in Denver, CO. Once again, I was reminded of just how tight-knit our JD Edwards family is. The InFocus and Collaborate conferences are genuinely my two favorite times of the year. For those of you who were unable to attend, I wanted to fill you in on what you may have missed…
The People
This was another highly attended JD Edwards conference. I’ve been going to JDE conferences for the past 5 years, and InFocus17 felt just a little different this year. With over 500 participants and close to 100 vendors in attendance, it felt like there was a buzz of excitement and collaboration in the air.
Keynote Update
Lyle Ekdahl’s keynote sessions are always the most reliable way to gain insight into Oracle’s strategy and direction for the JD Edwards product. This year, Lyle reaffirmed Oracle’s commitment to continuing to enhance and support the JD Edwards product as long as customers want to use it. The comment that stuck with me the most was Lyle’s remark that Oracle wants to make a product that’s “not just easy to use, but compelling to use.”
Continuous Delivery
Lyle also discussed Oracle’s strategic adoption of a Continuous Delivery model that centers around smaller but more frequent updates to EnterpriseOne 9.2. Oracle’s intention is to make the updates less costly and less disruptive to businesses than traditional upgrades. Since EnterpriseOne 9.2 was made generally available in October of 2015, Oracle has made 7 new releases and 180 enhancements on the 9.2 code line.
Extended Support for EnterpriseOne 9.2
Oracle is also extending support for the EnterpriseOne 9.2 version through at least 2028. This is a breakaway from Oracle’s traditional 8-year support timeline and effectively offers a 13-year support timeline for the 9.2 product.
And speaking of 9.2, Oracle is now including their Orchestrator functionality in the EnterpriseOne 9.2 core tools and infrastructure with no additional fees. That was news to me, and I personally spoke with several customers that are very excited about this announcement!
Update (7/30/18): Oracle recently re-extended support through “at least” 2030. Read more about the latest announcement.
EnterpriseOne “X”?
I thought it was interesting (and exciting) to see that Lyle Ekdahl left the door open for a version of EnterpriseOne beyond 9.2. I think many in attendance were relieved to see that Oracle is open to developing an additional version. That being said, Lyle was up front about the fact that Oracle would need to see a jump in technology that warranted a major change in code line.
Do-It-Yourself Upgrades Explained!
Surety Systems was also fortunate enough to co-present with one of our customers, Gold Eagle, on their upgrade to EntepriseOne 9.2. The session centered on Gold Eagle’s time-tested approach to upgrades, and how Surety assisted with the CNC and Mod-Mapping portions of the upgrade. The presentation was a great success, with over 30 highly engaged attendees. Gold Eagle’s Tim Kapala delivered a highly interactive presentation, with attendees asking several questions along the way.
If you missed the talk, you can get an overview of Gold Eagle’s upgrade in the case study we did on their process by clicking here.
