Oracle Users Groups Sessions

Many Rampant authors donate their time to share knowledge by presenting at Oracle Users Groups throughout the USA.  To get a presentation for your Oracle Users Group, just call below:

Don Burleson Users Group Topics & sessions

Don Burleson is considered one of the world’s top experts in Oracle. He is very active in the Oracle community and has written 32 books, published more than 100 articles in National Magazines, a popular lecturer and teacher who is a frequent speaker at OracleWorld and other international database conferences. As a corporate database consultant, Don has worked with numerous Fortune 500 corporations creating robust database architectures for mission-critical systems.

Don is also a noted expert on eCommerce systems, and has instrumental in the development of numerous Web-based systems that support thousands of concurrent users.

 

Scaling Oracle Application Express for large systems projects

Oracle has always emphasized how HTML-DB can be used to quickly create working applications, but few Oracle professionals understand how Apex can be used to create large-scale enterprise applications.

This paper will use examples from one of the world’s largest HTML-DB implementations, an ERP system with hundreds of screens and tables. Topics will include ERP planning for Apex, managing end-user security in Apex, cross application communications protocols, interfacing biometric identification (fingerprint readers) and Apex development best practices including migration and quality control.

Key Points:

- See real-world examples from a super large Apex ERP
- Understand how to architect a large system in Apex
- Learn how to partition Apex applications and manage inter-application communications
- Get tips for managing end-user roles and access controls
- See how to implement biometric user identification in HTML-DB

This presentation is unique and very popular as shops struggle to understand how to deploy Apex for large systems.


Insider tips for Oracle Application Express (Apex HTML-DB)

Apex has become a wildly popular system development platform and Oracle has always emphasized how HTML-DB can be used to quickly create working applications. However, Apex can easily be extended into a fully robust tool that can be used to deploy super sophisticated systems.

This presentation will show little-known techniques for performing complex screen interfaces and leveraging Java and special techniques for large scale systems development.

Topics will include cascading menu’s, dynamic included content, updateable repeating display and much more.

Key points:

- See how Apex can be used for large-scale systems development
- Create and embed Java extensions into HTML-DB
- Understand how to embed and re-use static page content
- Learn how to implement sophisticated repeating groups

Apex is a hot technology and this paper will show real examples from a large ERP application, all developed in HTML-DB.


Is Oracle an Art, craft or a Science?

There is a debate in the Oracle community about whether Oracle is a science, a craft, or an art.

Some embrace the Oracle science movement wholeheartedly, while others disagree on the pragmatic value of the Oracle scientific movement. Others say that Oracle is a trade (craft) and does not require an academic or scientific background. There are also “empirical” Oracle professionals who discount the value of artificial test-case proofs and believe that Oracle expertise is an “art” can only be learned by real-world experience.

This exciting and provocative presentation will examine all-sides of the issue and examine the arguments from each perspective.

Oracle DBA predictive modeling

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, and this is especially true for those who use Oracle Discoverer and Oracle data mining for analyzing historical data and identifying significant correlations. Oracle professionals are now applying the techniques of predictive modeling to Oracle performance data and using the gold mine of information in STATSPACK and AWR to develop Oracle tuning models.

This paper will examine the types of data stored inside STATSPACK and AWR and examine techniques for trend identification and predictive modeling. Using these techniques Oracle professionals remove the guesswork from change to the Oracle instance and provide a framework for gathering evidence to justify database changes.

This is an indispensable presentation for any Oracle developer and DBA who assumes responsibility for making system-wide Oracle database changes.

Key points:

- See how AWR data can be used to develop database signatures
- Develop justifications for database maintenance activities
- See hidden trends within your database
- Aggregate average metrics by hour of the data and day of the week


Predicting the benefit from an Oracle maintenance activity

There is a wealth of historical performance data inside the Oracle 10g Automated Workload Repository (and STATSPACK), but special techniques are needed to extract and analyze this valuable information. Some say that AWR data can be used to see “how” a table or index is used, and this information allows the DBA to predict whether a table or index reorganization will save disk space or reduce I/O.

Others say that such a model is invalid and the practice of analyzing historical object usage patterns is not a worthwhile endeavor. This exciting presentation will examine both sides of the issue and examine the “real” predictive value of historical AWR data.

- See how to drill-down and see how your key tables are accessed
- Understand how to measure the storage and performance benefits of index rebuilds and table reorgs
- Learn how to use AWR and STATSPACK to predict future behavior based on historical data


Extending the Power of the Oracle 10g Automated Workload Repository

Oracle’s new Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) component automatically places important Oracle performance data right at your fingertips. The data structures are remarkably similar to the STATSPACK utility and this paper will show you how you can easily write custom AWR reports to gather important time-series performance information.

This presentation will describe how to do custom exception reporting and show powerful predictive modeling and hypothesis testing techniques such as how to compare the behavior of several performance factors and how to compare two time periods together. The presentation will also show how to write custom AWR scripts to examine past performance for “signatures” and use the new dbms_scheduler package to change your Oracle configuration just-in-time to meet an expected stress condition. This presentation will use real-world examples from production 10g database to illustrate the power of AWR for the Oracle professional.

Key Points:

- Understand the AWR table structures
- See the similarities between AWR and STATSPACK
- Learn how to write AWR scripts
- See how to create time-series exception reports



Exception Reporting with the Oracle 10g Enterprise Manager

Oracle10g Enterprise Manager (OEM) now has a complete framework for exception reporting and the Oracle professional can now easily set threshold conditions and get customized e-mails, phone text messages and pager alerts. This paper will describe how to use the new OEM thresholds and show which are important and how to choose the right values that detect serious outages before they cripple your database.

This presentation will also show you how to customize exception alerts and employ logic within the trigger mechanism. Best of all, this presentation will show you how to interface with the dbms_scheduler package to automate the repair of common exception conditions. Far from just theory, this presentation will use real-world examples from production 10g databases in the examples.

Key Points:

- See how to set threshold alerts on 10g OEM
- Learn some of the most important alert metrics
- See how to customize exception alerts
- See how to schedule an automated fix for an exception condition

This has been a top-rated presentation and is very popular at local Oracle user groups.



Creating a self-tuning Oracle10g Database

Oracle started to create the mechanism for a self-tuning database with Oracle9i and has begun the automation of many tuning actions in Oracle10g. This exciting presentation will show the Automated Storage Management (ASM) and Automated Memory Management (AMM) tools and describe their internal mechanisms for re-allocating RAM regions within the Oracle10g SGA.

This presentation also shows how you can extend upon these automation features to make Oracle10g even more self-managing. Using the existing data from the Automated Workload Repository and Automatic Session History tables, this presentation will show you how to create sophisticated scripts to detect anomalies and how to dynamically invoke the dbms_scheduler utility to automatically repair the process. This is an indispensable presentation for any Oracle professional who wants to know how to automate their manual decision rules within the automation framework of Oracle10g. This presentation will show working code from real-world Oracle10g databases.

Key Points:

- Understand how to spot repeating performance problems
- Understand the foundations of AMM and ASM
- See how to extend AWR to create your own self-tuning tasks with the new dbms_scheduler package

Oracle10g Wait Event Tuning with the Automated Session History Tables

Oracle 10g has greatly improved the wait event information in Oracle10g, providing the Oracle professional with an unparalleled opportunity for detecting and correct database bottlenecks. This presentation will show the internal structures of the ASH tables and highlight the important wait events within the tables. The attendee will see simple scripts for identifying the top wait events over time, and see how to quickly drill-down to find the cause of the bottleneck.

Best of all, this presentation will show how to perform time-series wait event analysis. Oracle bottlenecks are very transient and unique combinations of events create unique bottlenecks. This paper shows working scripts that are used in real-world Oracle 10g databases to detect repeating patterns of bottlenecks and show hidden events that are often too transient to see with real-time monitors. This presentation is indispensable for the Oracle professional who wants to know how to use ASH to automate the tedium of manual monitoring and repair of wait event conditions.

Key Points:

- See the internal structure of the ASH tables
- Understand the wait event collection process
- Learn to write custom ASH scripts
- See scripts to quickly locate database bottlenecks


Inside the Oracle10g Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor

The new Oracle10g the Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM) provides an important step-forward in the automation of well-structured tuning problems. This exciting presentation will show the internal structures of ADDM, how it works and what it does (and does not) detect. The presentation will examine the interface between ADDM and the Automated Workload Repository (AWR) and show how ADDM interprets AWR data to arrive at tuning recommendations.

This real-world presentation will also show how you can write custom ADDM reports to extend upon this powerful new utility and show actual examples from Oracle10g production databases.

Key Points:

- Understand how ADDM collects AWR and ASH data
- See how to invoke an ADDM session
- Understand how ADDM makes recommendations
- Understand the limitations of ADDM


This has been a top-rated presentation and is very popular at local Oracle user groups.


Beyond Oracle10g – A look at the future of Oracle in the 21st Century

Oracle has always been very predictable and this presentation will explore Oracle’s long-term commitment to improving Oracle in the 21st Century. Combining Oracle new features with changes in technology, this dynamic presentation will explore how Oracle will change in the next decade. The presentation will explore the new technology movements such as server consolidation, the death of client-server and the new solid-state storage systems. We will also explore the new Oracle features and examine Oracle’s progress in automation, management and monitoring.

We will examine the use of artificial intelligence inside Oracle from its modest beginnings with Oracle Expert to the new Oracle diagnostic and recommendation engines. We will look at the evolution of Oracle monitoring from bstat-estat to the new 10g kernel-based monitors and speculate about the advances in future releases of Oracle. We will also look at the automated SGA features and show how future releases of Oracle will allow for inter-instance re-assignment of RAM resources. This is an exciting and fun presentation that demonstrates Oracle’s ongoing commitment to the future of database technology.

Key Points:

- See how super-large servers will change Oracle management
- Understand the impact of solid-state disk and large CPU arrays
- See why client-server is dying fast
- Understand how Oracle 10g has changed to meet these hardware advances


The Changing role of the Oracle Professional of the 21st Century

The advances in hardware and Oracle automation features are going to have a huge impact of the job duties of the Oracle professional. This presentation explores the two-day DBA training program, the rapid server consolidation movement and other industry trends to show how the job of the DBA will move beyond compartmentalized duties and into a broader spectrum.

The Oracle Professional of the 21st Century will be relieved of the tedium of monitoring and tuning and be free to concentrate on other important database administration activities. This fun and interesting presentation will give the attendees a look into how their jobs are going to change, sooner than they think.

Key Points:

- Understand Oracle job consolidation
- Prepare for the role changes and save your job
- See how the Oracle Professional jobs will expand into new areas


Tuning Tips for Oracle Application Server 10g

Oracle Application Server 10g has evolved into a complex network of interrelated products. This presentation will focus on managing the interfaces between Portal, OHS, web cache and the infrastructure server. From the author of the Oracle Application Server 10g Administration Handbook by Oracle Press, this presentation will explore the improved management features and show actual examples of using the Oracle Application Server 10g Enterprise Manager console to perform Oracle Application Server 10g tasks.

This session will focus on the techniques used by Oracle professionals to detect and correct performance bottlenecks in Oracle Application Server 10g.

Topics will include monitoring techniques for Oracle Application Server 10g including J2EE, web cache, and the Oracle HTTP server. We will also explore tuning techniques with a focus on tuning the web cache, minimizing network traffic between the Oracle Application Server 10g servers, and infrastructure tuning techniques. This is an indispensable presentation for anyone who must undertake the challenge of managing an Oracle Application Server environment.


Key Points:

- See how to monitor the important 10gAS components
- Learn about emctl and dmctl
- See how to write scripts to capture performance metrics
- Understand how to prevent unnecessary downtime

This has been a top-rated presentation and is very popular at local Oracle user groups.


Oracle 10g SQL Tuning Secrets

This presentation will focus on real-world techniques for improving the speed of SQL queries with a focus on the new Oracle10g features. The topics will include the new Oracle parameters that affect SQL performance, the use of hints to change SQL execution plans, re-writing SQL queries in more efficient forms and the use of advanced techniques such as Materialized Views, replacing SQL with PL/SQL, the new automated CBO statistics collection, and using the new Oracle10g CPU costing approach. Presented by the author of High-Performance SQL Tuning by Oracle Press, this presentation will show actual case studies to illustrate the performance differences with these approaches to SQL tuning.

Best of all, the presenter will share his proven SQL tuning secrets that ensure optimal SQL execution.
Oracle SQL tuning is now more complex than ever before. This presentation will focus on real-world techniques for improving the speed of SQL queries with a focus on the new Oracle10g SQL tuning features. The topics will include the new Oracle parameters that affect SQL performance, the use of hints to change SQL execution plans, re-writing SQL queries in more efficient forms and the use of advanced techniques such as Materialized Views, replacing SQL with PL/SQL, the new automated CBO statistics collection, and using the new Oracle10g CPU costing approach.

Presented by the author of High-Performance SQL Tuning by Oracle Press, this presentation will show actual case studies to illustrate the performance differences with these approaches to SQL tuning. Best of all, the presenter will share his proven SQL tuning secrets that ensure optimal SQL execution.

Key Points:

- Learn about CPU costing vs. I/O costing
- Understand the new automated CBO statistics collection
- See how SQL profiles are better than stored outlines
- See the new 10g hints
- Look at the new SQL Tuning Advisor

This has been a top-rated presentation and is very popular at local Oracle user groups.

Inside the Oracle 10g cost based SQL Optimizer

With each new release of Oracle, the cost-based SQL optimizer (CBO) becomes more intelligent and Oracle10g is no exception. This presentation shows the major enhancements to the cost-based SQL optimizer in Oracle10g with a focus on the tuning tools that affect the behavior of the CBO. Topics will include the CBO Oracle parameters, the use of schema statistics by the CBO, and how the CBO evaluates complex queries and derives the optimal execution plan. We will also cover the use of the new 10g SQL profiles and discuss cursor sharing and automatic query re-write.

Presented by the author of High-Performance SQL Tuning by Oracle Press, this presentation is indispensable for all Oracle professionals who must understand how to adjust their CBO for optimal performance in their environment.

Key Points:

- Understand Oracle costing trees
- See the parameters that effect CBO behavior
- Learn about optimizing schema statistics
- See why histograms help the CBO make better decisions
- Understand SQL dynamic sampling

This has been a top-rated presentation and is very popular at local Oracle user groups.

Oracle10g Privacy Security Auditing Techniques

Oracle10g privacy is more important than ever before. Many of the Federal laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) and the Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) change the way that databases are secured and audited and some of these federal regulations impose severe criminal penalties for non-compliance and malfeasance with protected data.

From the author of “Oracle Security Privacy Auditing”, this presentation provides complete details for using Oracle auditing features, including auditing from Oracle redo logs, using system-level triggers, and using Oracle10g fine-grained auditing (FGA) for auditing of the retrieval on sensitive information.

Best of all, this presentation shares dozens of working samples of online code scripts. Examples from all areas of auditing are covered with working scripts and code snippets.


Key Points:

- Understand how Federal Regulations impact Oracle security & privacy
- See the new 10g security and auditing features
- See how the FGA and authentication servers can work together
- Understand how to audit a 10g database for vulnerabilities

This has been a top-rated presentation and is very popular at local Oracle user groups.
 

Janet Burleson Users Groups Presentations

Janet Burleson is an experienced IT manager with extensive experience in personnel management. She has a BS degree in Computer Science from North Carolina State University and has been an IT manager, Web Designer and Webmaster, working with the web since its early inception. As an expert Webmaster consultant, Janet Burleson provides high level web consulting services for Fortune 500 companies on web communities, optimization, and evaluating job interview candidates for technical IT jobs.

Full bio:

Janet Burleson is an experienced IT manager with extensive experience in IT resource and personnel management. She has a BS degree in Computer Science from North Carolina State University and has been an IT manager, Web Designer and Webmaster for many years, working with the web since its early inception. As an expert Webmaster consultant, Janet Burleson provides high level web consulting services that improve the market status of Fortune 500 companies including web search rank positioning, keyword optimization, web content optimization, web community relationships, web site design, web usage tracking and web site configuration. As a management consultant, Janet Burleson also assists IT managers in evaluating and selecting job interview candidates for technical IT jobs.


Janet Burleson’s books include:

1. Conducting the Programmer Job Interview, Rampant TechPress (May 2004), ISBN 0-9745993-2-8

2. Conducting the Web Master Job Interview, Rampant TechPress (May 2004), ISBN 0-9745993-1-X

3. Conducting the Web Designer Job Interview, Rampant TechPress (May 2004), ISBN 0-9745993-0-1

4. Helping Hooves, Rampant TechPress (October 2004), ISBN 0-9744486-0-5

5. Cuddles the Guide Horse, Preschool, Rampant TechPress (October 2004), ISBN 0-9744486-1-3

6. Conducting the IT Job Interview - Rampant TechPress, May 2005

7. Miniature Horses in the Neighborhood - Rampant TechPress, May 2005


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Ergonomics best practices for Oracle Developers

Most Oracle professionals understand the technical mechanisms of Oracle tools such as SQL*Forms, HTML-DB and JDeveloper to write applications but many are not aware of the rules of ergonomics. When online screens are used by thousands of people everyday, the Oracle application must optimize the interaction and allow the end-user to complete their task with a minimum amount of work.

This presentation will show real-world examples of Oracle ergonomic design and illustrate techniques for improving end-user satisfaction and improving productivity for any Oracle online system. We will example time-saving techniques such as auto-fill vs. drop-down fill, examine best practices for screen design and show how to minimize typing and maximize throughput. This session is ideal for system development managers and Oracle developers who want to understand how to deliver robust, easy-to-use applications.


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Oracle Quality Assurance Techniques

Oracle developers must ensure that they have adequately tested their system components before they are placed into a production environment. Oracle system testing and QA tasks are often complex, especially when there are interfaces with other application components.

This fun presentation will examine Oracle best practice QA assurance techniques and show Oracle developers and managers how to identify all system functions and thoroughly test all possible end-user actions.

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For Managers Only – Secrets for hiring the best Oracle Professional

As a working IT manager, Janet Burleson shares her secrets for hiring the best IT professionals. When screening hundreds of resumes you must be able to quickly pare-down the list and focus on those applicants who have the right combination of technical and interpersonal skills. Using proven interview and screening techniques, this presentation will show secrets for resume evaluation, telephone screening and the top job interview questions. By using a method of unobtrusive measures you can quickly and accurately access important non-technical factors such as personality and the applicant’s ability to work as a team player.

This is an indispensable presentation for all IT managers who want to hire the right Oracle professional the first time and avoid costly hiring mistakes.

- Learn how to quickly identify resume puffing
- See how to evaluate personality of an Oracle professional
- Learn how to ask important personal questions without violating the law


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Ace your Oracle Job Interview

If you are one of several hundred qualified job applicants, what can you do to set yourself apart from the competition? An expert hiring manager knows secrets for quickly spotting fakers and “posers” and looks for important keywords in your resume. They also employ special techniques to quickly access your strengths and weaknesses.

You must also pass a tough telephone screening before you even get a chance to come on-site for the real interview. Learn from the manager what to expect and what managers are looking for in a telephone interview.

The on-site interview is also challenging and the interviewer will use tools to quickly access you demeanor, technical skills and personality. Learn what unobtrusive questions you might be asked, what the manager is “really” asking, and the most appropriate response.

- Learn to “read between the lines” of innocent job interview questions and write a bullet-proof resume
- Understand how to set yourself apart from the competition
- Hear the questions asked during Oracle telephone interviews


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Understanding Interpersonal Relations in Oracle Technology

There is no doubt that Oracle technology attracts some identifiable personality types and that effective interpersonal skills are critical for successfully managing Oracle professionals.

As a manager or co-worker it’s important to have insights into the personality of your co-workers, understanding how to get what you want and avoid conflict.

The speaker leverages her skill as one of the world’s leading animal trainers and her experience as an Oracle manager into this fun and entertaining session. You will see tips for identifying different Oracle personality types and learn their motivators and interests.