Oracle's Acquisition Strategy Continues Part 5

Oracle Buys Haley - Expands Oracle’s Applications Drive into Social Services; Adds Enterprise Policy Automation for Legislated and Regulated Industries

Oracle Buys Haley (Ruleburst)


Today, Oracle announced it has agreed to acquire RuleBurst Holdings Limited, the parent company of Haley Limited, a leading provider of policy modeling and automation software, to create an end-to-end solution for social services agencies.

Social service agencies are moving to commercial software to automate entitlements. With limited resources to serve a growing constituency, these agencies need to administer and distribute entitlements consistently and accurately as defined by the underlying legislation. Haley's policy automation platform translates legislation and policies into defined, automated rules that are deployed in an application.

Together with Oracle’s ERP and Siebel CRM applications, Oracle expects to create the first packaged software solution for social services agencies with an enhanced case management application utilizing Haley to drive eligibility determinations.

Haley management and employees are expected to join Oracle to form a global business unit focused on enterprise policy automation solutions across multiple industries. Haley’s CEO Dominic O’Hanlon is expected to lead the business unit as Senior Vice President and General Manager.

Australian Computer Society: Presentation Wrap

Last night I presented to the Australian Computer Society in Melbourne and took the chance to talk to people a little bit about Oracle, some of the work that we are doing and how people end up finding jobs with us.






Special thanks go out to Yasas and Daphne from ACS for their support in organising this event, and also to Fiona and Amrit from the Young IT committee for helping out and not to forget Dylan (Swinburne Student Ambassador), who did the poster. Thanks also go to Wayne Moncur, Vic Immediate Past Chair for attending the event.

From what I could see we had approximately 40 people attend and it was good to talk to people before and after the presentation as well. One surprise was that in a room full of IT people only myself and one other person currently uses Twitter (I would have thought there would have been a few more). It is great to see such enthusiasm about Oracle in the IT community and hopefully the session was informative for everyone.

Companies do Recruit in both Booms and Busts

I was reading a blog by Kevin Wheeler a bit earlier on today, the blog was about recruitment, his opening two paragraphs really got me thinking about recruitment in today's environment in what some analysts are calling a potential recession (depending on who you speak to). The quote is:

"When the economic markets look grim, hiring is at a standstill, and budgets are frozen, perspective is what is important. As some have said, “When things are good, they are never as good as they seem. And when things are bad, they are never as bad as they seem.”

We should all use the pause in the hectic pace of the past few years to begin and frame the future we want when we emerge. And we will emerge. I am not sure when, of course, but within a few years we will be back at the global hiring process with renewed vigor and increased challenges."

Over the past few weeks I have had a number of people contact me to see if Oracle is still hiring, if our roles have been put on hold, etc... The answer is YES we are still hiring. While the financial crisis affects us all and will do for some time, from a Recruitment perspective - we still have projects to work on at Oracle or deals to close. We are still busy and still have a lot of work we are doing.

Many of the roles I am recruiting for are for long term projects that are committed to for completion, or for sales positions that have a strong pipeline to follow up on.

In the overall IT industry things may slow down, but companies will still hire people during this time and business still will be conducted. When I was Recruiting for Hewlett Packard in 2002 after the Dotcom Bust we still hired many people into a variety of roles.

As Kevin mentioned things are never as bad as they seem - so if you are interested in Oracle as a potential employer contact us - despite the financial crisis we still have many roles to fill and one of them may be that role you are looking for.

Oracle's Acquisition Strategy Continues Part 3 and Part 4

Oracle's Acquisition Strategy continues:

Oracle Buys Primavera

Creates First, Comprehensive Enterprise Project Portfolio Management Solution for Project-Intensive Industries

Oracle announced it has agreed to acquire Primavera Software, Inc., a leading provider of Project Portfolio Management (PPM) solutions, to accelerate its momentum in delivering mission-critical operational applications.

Oracle and Primavera Link


Oracle Buys Advanced Visual Technology

Enhances Oracle's Insight-Driven Retail Solution Suite with 3D Visual Macro Space Planning

Oracle announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Advanced Visual Technology Ltd.(AVT), a leading provider of 3D visual macro space planning software for retailers. AVT enables retailers to collaborate with their stores and supplier partners to design and plan retail floor space in real time with a current photo-realistic view of each store.

Oracle and Advanced Visual Technology Link

Oracle is Hiring in Melbourne: Multiple Roles

Following up from our blog entry in August:

Oracle Wins National Australia Bank Project

Oracle is now at a stage where we are looking to grow our Consulting Team to work on this project. I think this is going to be an exciting project and team to work from all that I have heard to date.

From a Permanent perspective our Financial Services Consulting Practice is growing and as a result we will be looking at hiring people for the following roles:

1) 3x Developers - Primary Skill: Oracle 9i/10G, PL/SQL - Secondary Skill: Solaris / AIX / HP-UX (2-5 yrs experience)

2) 3x Developers - Primary Skill: Core Java, JDBC, JavaBeans - Secondary Skill: RMI, Servlets, JSP, XML, Enterprise Beans, ANT, Oracle SQL & PL/SQL (2-5 years experience)

3) 1 x Developer - Primary Skill: Visual Basic 6.0, C++, MTS/COM+, SQL 2000 - Secondary Skill: IIS, Windows 2003, UNIX, Oracle (10g), Web Services (3-5 years experience)

4) 2x Domain Expert - Primary Skill: Clearing & Settlement Processes, General Banking knowledge, FX Processing, GL, Bank Reporting Requirements (4-8 years experience)

These are permanent positions and could be a great next step in your career - if you are interested in exploring these opportunities mail your resume to david.talamelli@oracle.com or feel free to contact me on +61 3 8616 3364 if you have any questions or would like to discuss further.

Upcoming Oracle Presentation at Australian Computer Society: Melbourne Australia

Over the past few weeks I have been talking to and meeting with the Australian Computer Society (ACS) about having Oracle present to ACS Members about what it is like to work at Oracle and what skills we feel are in demand.



Special thanks to Yasas and Daphne from ACS who helped co-ordinate this. Details of the date and time are below. If you are interested in attending you must register via the ACS link below.


David Talamelli, Principal Recruiter at Oracle Corporation will provide a presentation detailing what its like to work at Oracle, the skills that are in demand and the recruitment process;

Date:
Tuesday 28th October 2008
Time:
5:30PM for a 6:00PM Start


Australian Computer Society: Oracle Recruitment Presentation

Oracle Tops Q1 Forecasts, Gives Upbeat Profit Outlook

Oracle has again reported a strong performance in reporting our Q1 Earnings and have exceeded Analysts expectations.

Analysts who follow Oracle expected the company to turn in a profit of 27 cents a share on sales of $5.417 billion, according to a consensus from Thomson Reuters, while we earned 29 cents a share in the first quarter.

Oracle Tops Forecasts, Gives Upbeat Profit Outlook

This was followed up with a strong forecast for our 2nd quarter with expectations that our New License Revenue will continue to grow.

Safra Catz appeared unfazed about the ongoing turmoil in the financial sector, saying, "We don't believe it should have a material impact on the quarter."

The Hidden Job Market.....How do I Find It??

If you are reading this blog entry you are on the right path.

I read an article today about how a local Australian Job Board - Seek.com.au has expanded in Asia by buying 10% of a Malaysian Job Board - Jobstreet.

Seek buys 10% of Malaysian Job Board Jobstreet

This got me thinking - Open roles posted on Job Boards only make up a small percentage of all the roles that are actually available. I know that I advertise positions on Seek and Jobstreet but the number of people that join Oracle as a result of seeing a job posted on Seek.com.au is relatively small.

So how do people end up getting jobs at Oracle???

1) Call/email us, ask our Recruitment Team if we have any suitable roles, if we don't it doesn't mean that a position like the one you are after will not come up in the future.

2) Have an online presence - are you on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc... with all the social networking tools out there it makes it much easier for us to find you. You would have seen from previous posts my thoughts on Social Networking, if you do not have an online presence - begin today.

3) Keep an open mind - you may not 'actively' be looking for a role, but if we have a role that fits your career plan let's talk about it - sometimes opportunity does knock at your door.

4) Referrals - are you telling people you are looking for work?? We are always asking our 80000+ employees at Oracle who they know who may be interested in work with us - one of those people you tell that you are looking for work may be able to refer your details to our Recruitment Team.

5) Are you part of any organisations, communities, associations, etc... Have you written any articles or blogs. The more visible you are in the IT Industry the more opportunities that will present themselves to you.

This is just a quick snapshot of some things you can do, I may edit this blog entry and create a Top 10 List. We do hire people from Job Boards, but we think outside the square as well.

If you do not see a role posted on Seek.com.au by Oracle does that mean the role does not exist or that we are not hiring??? Opportunities you may want to know about could be passing you by. Contact us and find out what roles we have, your next career step could be with us!!

Other Countries Are Gaining in the War for Talent

I read an interesting blog earlier today titled:

Other Countries Are Gaining in the War for Talent

It is by Raghav Singh and while it is based around the labour shortage that is happening in the US - the article was interesting as it noted: "While a disproportionate number of skilled immigrants still come to the U.S., the numbers that are staying home or are going elsewhere is increasing. Over the last five years, the U.S. attracted an average of 73,000 skilled immigrants annually, down from about 107,000. That may still seem like a lot, but Canada attracted 56,000, Australia 20,000, and even tiny New Zealand managed to get 10,000."

In today's market place when I am recruiting staff here at Oracle, it is no longer about who is available in a city or location - but more so who is the best talent we can identify for a role. In Australia and New Zealand many skilled IT people overseas look to move here for either lifestyle choices or the opportunity to work on new projects, etc... By being able to consider people from outside Australia and New Zealand this increases the potential number of candidates we speak to.

From a candidate perspective moving overseas is a big decision to make. We have hired many people from overseas who have joined us at Oracle in ANZ. I think that before you put you start looking for work overseas you have to go through a thorough thought process and be able to answer:

1)Why do I want to move overseas to a specific location(lifestyle,family,work, etc)?
2)If I have family, is everybody in the family comfortable with this decision?
3)Have I considered salary expectations and cost of living?
4)What Visa requirements must I meet/have to go through?
5)What time frame do I need to be able to relocate?

Moving overseas can be great for your career and also be a great adventure in your life. If you are overseas and would like to think about work with Oracle in ANZ or APAC, have a look at opportunities besides your current location, we may be hiring for that dream job you are looking for now.

Oracle Acquisition Strategy Continues Part 2 + Safra voted 15th most powerful woman

It looks like Oracle's acquisition plan continues to roll along as we have just bought ClearApp:

Oracle buys ClearApp

Two key points I think that this acquisition addresses are:

1) ClearApp addresses the increasingly difficult task of managing composite applications built on SOA platforms by providing visibility of business services across all related application components.

2) ClearApp products and Oracle Enterprise Manager are expected to provide customers with a comprehensive application management solution providing enhanced service levels, reduced system down-time and improved return on SOA investments.

Locally I have seen our SOA based solutions grow from strength to strength and I think technically we are leading the way in the market place.

As a separate comment it is good to see recognition for all of Safra Catz's work in making Oracle as succesful as we are as she has been listed in Forbes magazine recently:

Safra voted 15th most powerful woman in the world

Oracle APAC Graduate Recruitment Program

The Oracle Graduate Recruitment Team has been hard at work since the beginning of the year and has done a fantastic job in identifying and hiring a large number of Graduates in ASEAN and have put in place plans to have Graduates start in Australia and New Zealand in January next year.

I think the Oracle Graduate Program is unique to many of the Graduate Programs available. The difference is that instead of just being a Graduate Developer or Graduate Sales Person, here at Oracle what we do is over the course of 2 years our Grads get to work in numerous business groups like Sales, Consulting, Development, etc... and at the end of two years they can then pick which area best suits them.

I think this is great because it gives people a chance to try a number of different jobs rather than just working in one area without getting to see how the whole business operates and they can see the differences in each group. Many people just starting in their career do not yet know what direction they want to take in their career and I think this program helps give our Graduates the information they need to help them make their individual career choices.

The closing date for this year in Australia and NZ was August 31st, but for Graduates graduating in 2009 you can register your interest at campusrelations_au@oracle.com for Australia campusrelations_nz@oracle.com for New Zealand.

The link to the Oracle Graduate Recruitment Website is: https://campus.oracle.com/HR/Globe.aspx

10 tips to build your network

10 tips to build your network

Posted using ShareThis

I found this great blog entry by Michael Specht about 10 ways to build your network. If someone mentioned the word social networking 10 years ago you would probably think of a room full of sales people passing business cards out. Things have certainly changed.

With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies we are now able to expand our networks exponentially and tailor them to the purpose we need (whether it is fact finding, looking for jobs, looking for candidates, research, personal, etc....).

With networking these days, I find the best way to effectively network is to reach out to both your online and real life communities. So yes - being on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc... is a good way to network but there are still relationships that will be formed and developed only by meeting someone face to face. I think by combining the two and not just relying on your online or real network it will give you the best chance for success.

Employee Retention - Some Thoughts

I came across an article by Rosalie Marshall from the itnews.com.au website earlier today, the link to the article is: Companies Urged to Address Staff Turnover

It was interesting to note that the survey of 71 IT organisations found that those with stronger education and training programmes have lower than average turnover rates, and that staff prefer good training to increased pay.

"IT managers often worry that investments in training will be reaped by other organisations when IT workers shop their new skills around," said John Longwell, director of research for Computer Economics.

"But this study indicates that investing in training is actually the best way to retain employees."

The factors commonly perceived as influencing staff turnover are:

-Education and training opportunities
-Flexible schedules
-Work environment
-Social environment
-Pay
-Insurance benefits
-Employee recognition programmes
-Paid time off
-Retirement programmes
-Telecommuting opportunities

"While offering competitive salaries and benefit packages may be important for recruitment, providing quality-of-life incentives and enhancing working environments are more important for retention," Longwell concluded.

In my role where I am talking to candidates on a daily basis about why they are looking to change jobs, I often find that people change companies because they are looking for new challenges, or looking to develop their career, etc.... When I ask people why are they looking to move the answer is hardly ever "because of lack of pay or benefits".

I enjoy telling people about what it is like to work here at Oracle because I do believe we have some great people and a great culture that makes it enjoyable to be here. I may be a bit biased I know, but I do think we are one of the more progressive companies when it comes to looking after our employees.

Social Networking: The Art of conversation

I have written a few entries on the increased use of Social Networks in the IT and the Recruitment Industry. It seems there are new sites created weekly and the lines can get blurred between which sites provide what services.

The image below from Brian Solis' Blog
I think gives a nice summary of the some of the sites out there and what forum they provide for sharing information, ideas and conversations.

I use many of the sites listed below for different reasons whether its for research, finding great candidates, telling people about Oracle, etc....

I do think there are so many sites available you could spend more hours than there are in a day on them, so you need to work out what message you are trying to broadcast and what audience you are trying to reach to make sites like these really add value to your business.

Oracle wins National Australia Bank Work

Earlier this week we had a great sales win in Melbourne which has been in the local press and IT news.

The link is to an article in from Computerworld.com.au and is:Oracle Wins NAB Work

This is going to be a great opportunity to partner with the NAB and help them put together the technical solutions they are looking for to achieve their business goals. From what I have heard and read about it sounds like it will be an exciting project to be involved with.

We had some great new projects last year that we won and it good to see that we are continuing to lead the way locally in the IT market.