Shailan - Data for the Masses : Office

Office Live Services

Shailan — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:28:15 GMT

A cousin has just set up a driving school and asked for help setting up a very simple website, so what better way I thought than Office Live!

We set up his new Windows Live ID and decided to go for Office Live Basics, he does not need more than a simple website with contact info and driving services. It took no longer than a couple of hours to set up his website, fantastic as I had nothing better to do on Tuesday evening :)

check it out - don't laugh, I will re-iterate, he wanted to keep it simple

www.jaysdrivingschool.co.uk

More information on Office Live Services

Technorati Tags: Office Live

Oracle Develop 2007, June 26-27 London, Excel

Shailan — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 23:16:13 GMT

I have been at the Oracle Develop 2007 conference for the past two days which was held at Excel London. Last time I visited Excel was for the the motor show which is ideal for it's big warehouse style rooms. Over 200 developers attended the conference.

The keynote Day 1 was presented by Steven G. Harris, Vice President, Java Platform Group in the Server Technologies Division at Oracle Corporation.

Keynote Day 2 was presented by Mark Townsend, Vice President of Database Product Management in Oracle's Server Technology Division. The keynotes covered topics on the new 11g Database, SOA, .NET for Oracle, Grid and performance.

http://www.oracle.com/technology/events/develop2007/keynotes.html

The breakout sessions were grouped into four areas, SOA, .NET, Database and Java.

Valued Sessions

Oracle Database 11g, the next major release of Oracle Database, which extends Oracle's unique ability to deliver the benefits of Grid Computing. Oracle Database 11g includes extensive new features and enhancements in the areas of the Infrastructure Grid, including Manageability, High Availability and Performance capabilities; Information Management, including Content Management, Information Integration, Security, Information Lifecycle Management, and Data Warehousing/Business Intelligence capabilities; and Application Development including PL/SQL, Java, .NET and Windows, PHP, SQL Developer, Application Express and BI Publisher capabilities.

Oracle's offerings for .NET programmers, including Oracle Data Provider for .NET, Oracle's high-performance ADO.NET 2.0 data provider. Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio .NET, and .NET Stored Procedures.

Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET) developers can optimize data access to the Oracle database. It discusses techniques for retrieving data and making updates more efficient comparing different use cases. These techniques include data access features, such as statement caching, batching, and array parameters available to .NET developers using Oracle. In addition, this session discusses best practices and gotchas for mid-tier deployment.

Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle Business Applications, and Oracle Database products with Microsoft .NET, Microsoft Windows, and the 2007 Microsoft Office system. It covers Web services interoperability from basic SOAP/WSDL to keeping up with WS*; Oracle BPEL and interoperability with Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Workflow Foundation; and interoperability with the 2007 Microsoft Office system including Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and the Visual Studio Tools for Office development platform.
The 2007 Microsoft Office system provides a comprehensive set of servers, clients, and development tools to make it easier for enterprises, software vendors and developers to build and deploy a new class of business applications called Office Business Applications (OBAs).
OBAs connect Line of Business (LOB) systems with the people that use them through the familiar user interface of Microsoft Office. OBAs enable businesses to extend the Microsoft Office clients and servers into business processes running in Oracle's line of business applications such as Oracle e-Business Suite, PeopleSoft Enterprise JDE EnterpriseOne and Siebel CRM for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Supply Chain Management (SCM). This enables enterprises to create new value from existing IT investments by combining them in innovative ways.

Oracle WebCenter provides a single framework for building and deploying any type of standards-based application. Using the WebCenter, developers have all the control and power of J2EE MVC development combined with the ability to inject capabilities traditionally associated with portals directly into their application.
In this hands-on session, you have the opportunity to work with Oracle WebCenter Framework, Oracle ADF, and Oracle JDeveloper to:

Create a JavaServer Faces page
Add customization features at the page level
Consume standards-based (JSR 168, WSRP) and Oracle PDK-Java portlets
Publish content from a content repository
Use OmniPortlet, a declarative portlet tool, to build composite applications that are customizable at runtime
Enable interportlet and JSF component-to-portlet communication

Detailed sessions can be found here http://www.oracle.com/technology/events/develop2007/schedule-emea.html

Oracle have a real focus on working with Microsoft for their layered business approach, Database, Middle Ware (Fusion) and Applications. Although offering competing products and technologies.

All in all the event served the purpose but did not quite hit the mark in terms of attendees or location, just as well I attended FOC!

Anyway I like my new rucksack :)

Technorati Tags: oracle, fusion, Office 2007, Sql Server

Office Performance Point Server CTP Available!

Shailan — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:57:49 GMT

Hope you are now ready to download the latest CTP.

https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=181

http://office.microsoft.com/performancepoint

If you have not seen PPS definitely download and try.

Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 brings together next generation scorecarding, analytics and planning capabilities in a complete performance management solution. This release combines Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005, recently acquired ProClarity technologies and new innovations in business modeling and planning, budgeting, and forecasting.

Technorati Tags: Performance Point Server, Office 2007

Visualisation Just Got Better with Fractal Edge

Shailan — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 19:07:33 GMT

Just been on the phone with the guys from Fractal Edge who explained their technology and product offerings. A trawl through their website and I was in awe, fantastic visualisation, especially as I like bubble diagrams.

I will have a play and download the free trial before our meeting in July.

I don't have an iPod can you create some fancy graphics for the Zune?

http://www.fractaledge.com/

Technorati Tags: Fractal Edge, Business Intelligence

Get Ready for Performance Point Server CTP 3

Shailan — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:51:30 GMT

Get Ready!

The next Community Technology Preview for Performance Point Server will be available to download next week.

https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=181

Technorati Tags: Performance Point, Business Intelligence

Directions on Microsoft - Business Intelligence Report

Shailan — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 19:28:26 GMT

Directions on Microsoft Research have released a report on Microsoft Business Intelligence. The full report is available http://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Business Intelligence, Analysis Services, Reporting Services, SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Office

IceRocket Tags: Microsoft Business Intelligence, Analysis Services, Reporting Services, SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Office

Making Ecma Open XML an ISO international standard

Shailan — Thu, 10 May 2007 17:25:00 GMT

In today’s connected world, interoperability is as important as security and reliability for IT professionals.

To aid interoperability, XML-based file formats can unlock data in documents and help integrate front- and back-office processes. Recognising these benefits, Microsoft has implemented XML-based formats in successive releases of Office.

Both public and private sector customers have expressed their preference for making Open XML an open standard so that they have broad rights to use, without cost, any Microsoft patents necessary to implement all or part of the format.

Responding to this, Microsoft and others called for the standardisation of Open XML. On 7 Dec 2006 Ecma International, a highly respected standardisation body, approved the adoption of Open XML as an international open standard.

The strengths of Ecma Open XML are clear:

•	Ecma Open XML was developed through the collaborative efforts of leading companies such as Apple, Barclays Capital, BP, The British Library, Essilor, Intel, Microsoft, NextPage, Novell, Statoil, Toshiba and the US Library of Congress.
•	Ecma Open XML is backward compatible with billions of archived documents held by the private and public sectors.

•	Any company can freely implement and develop innovative products using Ecma Open XML
•	Ecma Open XML enables interoperability, accommodates multiple languages and cultures, and supports technologies that enable people with disabilities to use computing devices.

Customers want choice, interoperability and innovation. We and others believe that Open XML achieves all these goals. We look forward to supporting Ecma as it works closely with national standards bodies throughout the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) / International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) process.

If you agree that Open XML should be approved as an ISO standard please sign this petition, which we will send to the Chairman of the British Standards Institution to demonstrate broad support for this initiative in the UK.

http://www.microsoft.co.uk/openxml/