This blog post is an entry in the ODTUG Kscope16 Cross-Track Blog Hop, an exercise for Kscope expert regulars to take a walk on the wild side, and talk about must-see sessions in a foreign content track. The other Blog Hop entries are:
- APEX sessions not to be missed, as recommended by EPM expert Cameron Lackpour: http://camerons-blog-for-essbase-hackers.blogspot.com/2016/05/kscope16-apex-sessions-im-interested-in.html
- BI and Data Warehousing sessions not to be missed, as recommended by EPM expert Dayalan Punniyamoorthy: http://tinyurl.com/z98npwg
- Big Data and Advanced Analytics sessions not to be missed, as recommended by Database expert Kent Graziano: http://wp.me/p25i8c-Rz
- EPM sessions not to be missed, as recommended by Database expert Danny Bryant: http://dbaontap.com/2016/05/26/kscope16-blog-hop-epm-sessions-not-miss
Can You Trust Me?
So I’m the BI expert recommending Database track sessions. Let’s get something out of the way immediately: one of my sessions at Kscope16 is in the Database track. It’s not that strange… the first few times I spoke at Kscope (called Kaleidoscope back then) I was in the Database track. But those of you that follow me regularly know that now I usually speak on Oracle BI and DI topics, and not so much anymore with the database. So when I received the offer to participate in the Blog Hop, I knew immediately I wanted to do the Database track. But then, we have to consider… can I be trusted as an objective narrator? Am I an unbiased outsider able to give you the real scoop on which Database sessions to catch this year in Chicago? Of course I can.
The first session you should catch is Performance Analytics: Visualizing the Power of the AWR Warehouse, by Stewart Bryson and Kellyn Pot’Vin-Gorman. What… did you think I could really leave it out? Seriously… Kellyn alone is worth the money, so forget that my name’s on it and just come see her. She’ll talk about the AWR Warehouse and why every EM shop should have it… I’ll play clean-up and convince you to use Oracle visualization tools to experience your database performance metrics in a whole new way.
REST Easy and cURL Up… Brilliant!
Next, let’s talk about Danny Bryant’s session REST Easy and cURL up with DBaaS: Building a Private Cloud Database to Increase Organizational Agility. I’m not sure if Danny hired a focus group to come up with that title… but it’s a winner. I’m fascinated with all the “as a Service” offerings, and it looks like Danny will cover a few of them, packaging it all up with Enterprise Manager and a bow. He also had the stones to drop a “private cloud” on us… which takes guts today. A nice pairing with Danny’s talk is Ashley Chen’s presentation RESTful Application Development with the Oracle Cloud Database as a Service (DBaaS). Ashley talks about “autoREST-enabling” your database, a super-powerful feature that’s been in the Database for years, but becomes so much more important when we are working in the Cloud. And closing out this particular cluster of talks is Kris Rice’s ORDS Tips and Tricks, where we will get a whole hour on Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS).
Data Warehousing, BI and Analytics… Sort of
Changing direction a bit, I’d like to focus on some key sessions for those folks thinking about Data Warehousing and BI with the Oracle Database. First up is Bobby Curtis and The Next Generation of Oracle GoldenGate Design: Faster, Smarter, and Scalable. I’ve long contended that GoldenGate could be Oracle’s best product… and the one that isn’t used nearly enough. Bobby will walk us through new advancements with Oracle GoldenGate, and I’m assuming we’ll see the new GoldenGate Studio, which should make the product accessible to a wider audience. I also recommend seeing SQL Developer Data Modeler, the Key to Building a Data Warehouse in Minutes by Holger Friedrich, who is a fantastic presenter, mostly because of the years of real-world experience he has in the field. Holger will show us how to use SDDM to automate the creation and management of our dimensional data models. Rounding out this category is Chris Saxon and SQL for Date Ranges and History Using Temporal Validity and Flashback Data Archive. Though not specifically for data warehousing, Temporal Validity is certainly something all BI and analytics environments using the Oracle Database should be thinking about.
Pass the Red Meat
Next we have some core database sessions… the kind of red meat that gets DBAs out of bed in the morning. First in this list (and arguably any other list about the Oracle Database) is Cary Millsap and his two sessions on Database performance: The Most Important Things You Should Know About Oracle and The Perils of Describing Performance Improvements. Additionally, I’m interested in seeing Alex Nuijten’s description of database instrumentation in Instrumentation for Oracle Database Development, specifically the use of Logger and LoggerUtil. Finally… check out Bjoern Rost’s take on Writing SQL That Sucks Less. I admire a title that gets right to the point.
Potpourri for 1000 Alex
Finally, I wanted to call out a few sessions that look interesting, but don’t necessarily fit neatly in any of the boxes I built above. I don’t personally know William Coulam, but his session Stateful to Stateless: Modernizing with JSON and PL/SQL seems interesting… and has a great title. I’m a practitioner in the arts of DevOps, so I’m keen to hear from Kris Rice on What Is DevOps and Why You Should Care. And of course I’m going to check out Helen Sanders’ PL/SQL and SQL Outtakes: Co-Presented with Chet Justice. It’s right there in the title… Nuff Said.
