The UKOUG Apps14 Conference December 15, 2014
Posted by Duncan in Cedar, TW, UKOUG.trackback
Cedar had a strong presence at the recent Apps14 conference in the ACC, Liverpool. It is supposed to be the largest applications conference in Europe with over 800 attendees, and we were particularly interested in the PeopleSoft and Apps Innovation streams.
This year we’d decided not to have a stand (as the conference is mixed with the other applications and the database/tech community, it means the exhibition stands are much more expensive than at the PeopleSoft-only Roadshow earlier in the year, while the attendance of the PeopleSoft community is much lower) but we did support the conference with four of our team and three speaking slots.
It was nice to see a different city, although I’m pleased to see that it’s back in Birmingham next year as that is a lot more central for everyone. This is the view from my hotel room out over Albert Docks (the ACC is out to the left).
In terms of our speakers, our GP guru Alex spoke about Global Payroll upgrades to v9.2 (as Cedar has helped several clients either complete their move to v9.2 or with an upgrade in progress at the moment):
Several of us also took part in the Oracle Usability Feedback session. We have <ahem> quite strong opinions on how a UX should be so it was really interesting to be part of the process. We can’t talk about the product that was being tested, but it looks really nice. I can’t wait until it hits GA. Here’s a picture of Simon giving it a thorough test with the lovely Rhonda (the screen has been intentionally blurred):
Cedar’s tech guru Neville also spoke on a couple of topics. He covered PeopleSoft Selective Adoption / PeopleSoft Update Manager in one session (joint with Hays, who are using some of our upgraders at the moment on their massive upgrade – HCM, Fins, CRM, Portal, ELM, all at the same time!). He also spoke about Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (joint with Allen & Overy, who we helped to upgrade to 9.2 earlier in the year).
The evening in between the two PeopleSoft days was pretty fun too. It started off with a familiar looking (for Liverpool, especially) band called ‘The Cheatles’ (pic below) and then many from the PeopleSoft community sat down for ‘off the record’ chat over a decent meal.
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The PeopleSoft Tipster Blog 
I think I saw at least one of Neville’s sessions – and learnt quite a bit from hearing about Hays’ upgrade in a lot of the PeopleSoft sessions I attended!
I liked the venue, it’s as easy to get to for me as Birmingham, so travel isn’t an issue for me! My only disappointment was the lack of PeopleSoft in the exhibition – I guess I should try and make it to the roadshow as well, or perhaps instead of UKOUG in future years.
Thanks John. There’s a lot of 9.2 upgrade activity going on at the moment, so it was definitely the main topic of conversation.
You’re right that the lower turnout and lack of PeopleSoft exhibitors was noticeable, however the roadshow typically gets 3x the attendees and (depending where it’s held), exhibitors too.
Just to let you both know the PeopleSoft Roadshow will be held on 31st March in London, the exact location will be confirmed shortly.
http://www.ukoug.org/events/ukoug-peoplesoft-roadshow-2015/