Oracle OpenWorld 2014 Recap: PeopleSoft Focus
First, some key figures from this year’s OpenWorld:
- 50,000+ attendees
- 135 PeopleSoft-relevant sessions
- 12 PeopleSoft demonstration stations
It was, in a word, vibrant. We were excited by the energy surrounding PeopleSoft, and Oracle did indeed focus on the two areas we’ve been writing about on this blog for the past few months.
- Continuous Delivery – new PeopleSoft functionality, delivered regularly, at low cost and aimed at easy, frictionless adoption, and
- Fluid User Interface – creating a robust, function-rich user experience that’s responsive across a wide array of client devices (PC, tablet, or mobile phone). Oracle clearly understands that we are indeed in the post-PC age, and considering the desktop or laptop the only ‘real’ client anymore is not the way to go. Fluid User Interface is the real deal, and we talk about it weekly with clients.
Marc Weintraub over at PeopleSoft Apps Strategy has a great recap of the most noteworthy sessions and speakers:
The PeopleSoft content kicked off with the PeopleSoft general session “PeopleSoft Strategy and Roadmap—Modern Solutions Delivered with Ease” [GEN7438]. There Paco Aubrejuan (Oracle’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of PeopleSoft Development) addressed a standing room only crowd of over 550 attendees.
And:
Other key PeopleSoft sessions picked up on the themes laid out in the PeopleSoft general session. Maria Ana Santiago and Robbin Velayedam (two of Oracle’s Directors of PeopleSoft HCM Product Strategy) flawlessly executed a realistic “day-in-the-life” of an HR manager during the “PeopleSoft Human Capital Management—Update and Roadmap” [GEN7666] general session. They easily executed employee and manger self-service tasks such as entering time, requesting leave, and acting on notifications using the new PeopleSoft Fluid User Interface, while seamlessly transitioning between a smart phone, a tablet, and a desktop. Amira Morcos (Oracle’s Senior Director of PeopleSoft Financials Product Strategy) showcased the rich functional capabilities that continue to be added onto PeopleSoft Financials 9.2 during her “Do More with Less: The Value of PeopleSoft Financials 9.2 and the Product Roadmap” [CON7601] session.
Also, expounding on the Continuous Delivery Model, there was a great session by David Bain:
There was also a great deal of PeopleSoft content devoted to the new PeopleSoft Delivery Model. Adding a new slant to this topic, David Bain (one of Oracle’s Director of Product Strategy for PeopleTools) discussed how customers need to adapt to the new PeopleSoft Delivery Model in order to maximize its value to their organization. David covered this in his “What You Need to Do to Take Advantage of the PeopleSoft Delivery Model” [CON7597] session as well as in the recently published white paper on this topic.
But really, if you had to focus on one thing, the Fluid User Interface would probably take top billing. Weintraub thought so, and so do we.
Hands down, the star of the event was the new Fluid User Interface. It was shown in sessions, at the demonstration stations, at one-on-one customer meetings. It was shown on smart phones, tablets, and desktops. The customer response was universal – it looks amazing! Customers told the team that “PeopleSoft Fluid User Interface is exactly what we are looking for.” If you have not seen the new Fluid User Interface yet, check out the PeopleSoft Fluid User Interface playlist of videos on the PeopleSoft YouTube channel.
All told, it was a great OpenWorld for PeopleSoft. We’re dealing with mature, widely-adopted software, so smart, well-executed incremental upgrades are what take the user experience – and customer satisfaction – to the next level. Evolution, not revolution.
