Inatech wins Nominee Award

Following Inatech’s entry to the 9th EMEA OPN Innovation Awards in November 2008, the IT services provider has been recognised as a successful Nominee.

The award is for entering a “qualified submission”, and is given for Inatech’s Location Based Mobile Tracking Solution. On 13th November 2008 Oracle announced the winners of its 9th OPN Innovation Awards. Designed to encourage, reward and recognize innovation among Oracle's partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the award's First Place went to First Ondemand (UK) for Authentisec™, its secure identity and authorisation engine, with Sunrise Telecom (Italy) taking Second Place, and Argela (Turkey) receiving Third.

Oracle was keen to recognise successful applicants who were not awarded but had developed innovative and useful products that enhance customer offerings.

The product provides users with the ability to find the geographical location of a mobile device and provide services based on this information. It can used in a number of situations, such as on race courses, and by logistics, distribution and retail firms to track mobile objects. The Location Based Mobile Tracking Solution LBS is positioning, which is leveraged on the Global Positioning System (GPS). Positioning allows a mobile device to identify its location with varying degrees of precision and accuracy.

The solution uses Oracle 10g Application Server, JSP & Oracle Web Services, Thin Client 3-Tier Architecture, Oracle 10g Spatial database, Google Map APIs integration using JSP, Oracle Application Express (APEX), Oracle Wireless Messaging Services for alerts, and Syslog-ng on Linux to receive TCP messages form the GPS device.

Customers now leverage various Oracle technologies to track mobile objects. Inatech’s LBS can provide:

• Accurate and dynamic routing information
• Enhanced and personalized customer service
• Maximizes efficiency of marketing activities
• On demand information for users
• Real-time information delivery by the application

The technology is available worldwide for any business that requires a technology solution to track mobility using GPS devices. Inatech has key experience implementing these systems with the SCM, Manufacturing, Logistics, Distribution, Retail Entertainment industries.

Arun Kumar, Vice President – Information Services at Inatech, who led the project said: “This was our first requirement for a Location Based Service. From the outset, it was very different from what we normally do, but being an Oracle centric solution provider, we just combined Oracle technologies and developed new skills around GPS to frame a solution. We had invested in resources and infrastructure to meet the demands of the customer.

“We spent approximately £20,000 on development, however since it’s first installation in the UK, we have leveraged this solution as a part of several other projects – thereby reducing project implementation time and saving costs for many of our customers in the SCM, Manufacturing and Logistics industries.”

The LBS was the result of a small start-up business in the UK requiring a horse tracking system to track horses used for racing which are insured for high amounts. They wanted to track the movement of horses inside a particular boundary and whenever it crossed the boundary an alert message would be sent as SMS or Mail alert. Inatech’s solution allowed horse/ranch owner to know the location of their horses and keep tabs on their movements.

A web interface was also provided to add or modify the horse details, boundary co-ordinates, alert mobile numbers, control GPRS commands sent via SMS and postcodes.

The product is the only of its kind currently on the market, and is marked out by its innovative approach. It combines distinctive Oracle technologies with GPS devices in a unique way to deliver high-quality results.

Oracle buys Sun: what happens next?

The recent buy-out of Sun by Oracle for $7.4 billion has had tongues wagging in the tech community. The takeover holds many implications for users, and many are speculating about what Oracle will dew with its newest acquisition.

The buy-out allows Oracle to finally complete with all of the other top providers such as HP, IBM and Microsoft. It also means that Sun’s Java language and the Solaris operating system, on which much of Oracle’s work is based, is now under direct Oracle control, providing a direct advantage.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is naturally very optimistic about the deal and makes no attempt to be coy: "Oracle will be the only company that can engineer an integrated system - applications to disc - where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves,"

This highlights one of the concerns of the IT community; monopoly. Consolidation has been an ongoing process in the tech market for years, and, as Richard Holway of TechMarketView says, will only accelerate from here.

The evidence for this is strong. Before Oracle’s Sun acquisition, it bought Cognos for $5 billion whilst HP bought EDS for $13.9 billion last year, and Symantec bought Veritas for $13.5 billion in 2004. In this changing landscape, consumers must more than ever before ensure that they get the best deal from the competing providers on the market.

With this need for more consumer vigilance, the fate of MySLQ becomes all the more relevant. Some users are concerned that Oracle will discard the lower-cost database system and focus on other aspects of Sun’s services.

At Inatech, opinions are very clear on the direction Oracle will take with Sun. Inatech’s Simon Ellis said: "This is Oracle buying into the developer community. They will keep Solaris going but it certainly will not be a key focus for Oracle.”

With regards to competition, Ellis highlighted a few possible pitfalls: "Oracle may struggle to differentiate itself from IBM if it sells hardware. This provides Oracle with the opportunity to offer plug-and-play systems, their IT environment will be packaged into a single technology and could in fact send the IT industry into turmoil.”

There is, however, plenty of positivity to the new deal as well. Ellis said that Oracle’s innovative approach may just help to boost the services previous Sun users receive:

”Many may lose their jobs due to the acquisition, as Sun has not been popular for nearly a decade, but Oracle may be able to inject the innovation into the product that it needs.”

Inatech looks forward in Bangalore

The Inatech team met in Bangalore to review last year’s results and to prepare for the coming year as we continue with our expansion and development internationally. We spent the whole day discussing trends and developments in IT, systems, services, softwares and opportunities within outsourcing.

The Review Meeting was followed up by Dinner at Hotel Ramada.

Culture of ignorance threatens IT security

New figures released this week reveal that half of UK security managers are worried about end-users’ lack of security awareness.

A poll conducted by Infosex Europe of 700 security professionals reveals that the biggest concerns of security managers are a lack of security training for end-users, and an unsupportive company culture when it comes to security. Further, 46% of respondents have concerns over the poor understanding of employees over security policy, made worse by a lack of accountability over security.

A survey of security professionals stating that businesses do not have secure enough systems is hardly surprising, but these figures are all the more alarming when taken into account with the paper published by independent security expert group Jericho Forum this week. The paper stated that cloud computing has massive implications for security, and that the expansion of the cloud throws up all sorts of possible security breaches.

In amongst those security threats are loss of data confidentiality and integrity, which presents a major concern for businesses. The Jericho Forum advocates a thorough approach to security in cloud computing that starts from the beginning, rather than ad hoc solutions as and when problems arise.

When it comes to cloud computing, a holistic approach is necessary; there is no point implementing the technology without having networks secured first. Additionally, staff worldwide need to understand the security implications and maximise cloud computing. Perhaps most important of all is the need to continually ensure that, with all data stored in the cloud, it is safe. It is nearly impossible to ensure this without round-the-clock monitoring. Technology can only do so much human beings can ensure security is consistently working. The problem with automatic security alerts is they often come once the threat has entered the system too late to prevent data loss.

Security blogs:

http://www.itsecurity.com/blog/

http://www.itsecurityportal.com/

http://theitsecurityguy.blogspot.com/

http://newsteam.scmagazineblogs.com/

Inatech to tackle Oracle BI Applications at OAUG next month

Ahead of the Oracle Applications User Group in Orlando, Florida next month, Inatech is busy preparing for its presentation on dynamic hierarchies.

The OAUG is set to be one of the most important conferences for businesses working with Oracle applications, and Inatech is to bring its own take on business intelligence to the fore.

The presentation, entitled “Dynamic hierarchies for ‘as is’ and ‘as was’ reporting”, will explore how historical information can be accessed in the right context in order to make the best possible decisions. This, Inatech believes, is what Business Intelligence is all about.

Oracle Pre-Built BI applications access information using built-in hierarchies which do not allow historical data to be viewed by the hierarchy as it existed at that point in time, meaning that a real sense of context is difficult to achieve.

Inatech’s presentation will demonstrate their Dynamic Hierarchies solution, which allows Oracle users to tackle the issue of dynamic hierarchies, and illustrates Inatech’s position as a thought leader in BI consulting and end-to-end implications.

The session will cover the need for Dynamic Hierarchies as businesses change frequently; how customers can implement slowly changing dimensions hierarchies across their pre-built BI applications; and how implementing Dynamic Hierarchies will reflect results more consistently.
The session runs at 3.15pm on 6th May at the AOUG Forum, Orange County Convention Centre, Orlando. To register, please visit http://oaug.collaborate09.com/reg/.

Inatech’s presence at Collaborate 2009 is not restricted to the Dynamic Hierarchies; it will also be exhibiting at the Partner Pavilion, showcasing its serves, solutions and client success stories. On top of that, Inatech will be running a fantastic competition where you can win a Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player.

Bangalore gears up for elections as security heightens

The excitement grows in Bangalore ahead of the elections on 23rd April. As thousands prepare to vote, some inspired to do so for the first time, police tighten security in the region. A national holiday has been declared to allow voters to exercise their right to democracy.

Karnataka state police say that they are ready to face any threat, including Naxal threat, and have geared up to full security.

According to reports from Bangalore, it is the young tech community, such as those working for companies like Inatech, that is driving political change. This new generation of young, relatively affluent workers within IT outsourcing for various global companies will lend weight to the electoral process.

Bangalore’s young workers have been inspired to action following a sudden surge in moral policing in pubs and clubs, as well as political events such as the Mumbai attacks in December.

Before now, voting amongst working and middle class Indians was not a high priority. Despite the fact that 720 million Indians are entitled to vote, apathy was widespread due to the view of all politicians as corrupt.

Now, the new, digital Indian population is engaged in pragmatic political action, using social networking to galvanise others into using their ballots for change.

IPL fever sweeps India & Inatech

The Indian Premier League looks set to provide the hottest cricket action this season. This year’s tournament will take place in South Africa, making the most of the warm weather and the outstanding cricket grounds.

The inaugural match got the fun underway on 18th April, and now teams will compete for a place in the final on 24th May.

The eight teams competing in this year’s tournament are India’s finest, but Inatech will be rooting for their absolute favourites; the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Chennai Super Kings.

Before either of these teams have a chance at becoming champions, they must beat their way through matches against the Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, Deccan Challengers and the Rajasthan Royals.

What those Oracle patches mean for users

Only one day after Microsoft released its monthly Patch Tuesday, Oracle issued for critical patches this week.

Oracle’s patches cover several products, including versions of Oracle Databease 11g, 9i, Oracle E-Business Suite R12, 11i, Oracle WebLogic Server 9.0 8.1 and Oracle JRockit. Oracle recommends that users apply the fixes to their systems immediately. We spoke to Inatech’s Ravindra Krishnappa about the patches, where they came from, and what they mean for users.

This particular patch clash had its origins in an end-user environment. Last month, Adobe released a set of patches that conflicted with Microsoft patches. This means that Oracle’s server side patches may not have such an impact, but not necessarily. Oracle operating level patches may impact users who have installed Oracle products under the Microsoft New Technology base, and so awareness of up-and-coming patches is always important.

Ravindra said: “Inatech recommends that there is a standard patch application and inter-dependency test process established within each of its clients environments.” This kind of approach can help users understand patches as they are released and apply them where necessary.

“Given the multiple software components or stacks, we think that it is going to be more and more difficult for our end customers to internally keep staff to evaluate these patches and their impact.

“Inatech, for a few select managed services customers, help in both establishing this patching process and to also provide this as a service,” Ravindra continued.

Oracle drops mega critical patch bundle : This day highlights

Critical Patch Update for April 2009 Now Available (Oracle E ...

Twitter worm mishap was a schoolboy security error

If security is a buzzword for 2009, and Twitter is the media darling of the social networking newsframe, things did not go quite to plan over the Easter weekend.

Twitter found itself in an embarrassing position. Whilst businesses bend over backwards to find a way to utilise the microblogging tool, Twitter was hit by a series of virus attacks last weekend that caused havoc on user’s pages.

The virus, known as the Mikeyy worm, spreads when users click on an infected page on the Twitter site. This allows the virus to begin posting tweets to other users promoting site StalkDaily.com.

Twitter said no information had been compromised by the virus, and is considering court action against the 17-year-old virus creator, Michael Mooney. Mooney said that he created the worm for various reasons; out of boredom, to promote his own site, and to expose Twitter’s weaknesses.

Co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone was quick to assert that everything was under control:

“Every time we battle an attack, we evaluate our web coding practices to learn how we can do better to prevent them in the future,” he said.

“We will conduct a full review of the weekend activities.”

The damage, however, has been done; Mooney seems to have achieved his aim in exposing Twitter’s weaknesses. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, told the BBC that it would have been remarkably easy, using the worm, to infect users’ computers as well as their Twitter accounts. He also said it would have been simple to use the virus to record the keyboard strokes of infected users, meaning that all sorts of information such as bank details could have been retained.

This highlights all sorts of technical problems with Twitter, which until now has managed to escape criticism behind a smoke screen of innovation and online chic. Barkmak Meftah, senior vice president of products and technology at Fortify Software, said that Twitter must include the code audit and security processes in its software development cycle. In fact, he went on to say that the XXS worm that hit Twitter was hardly a new kind of virus, and implied that Twitter, for all its ingenuity, should have been prepared:

"Media reports have made much about the author of what appears to be the first generation of Twitter worms,” Meftah said, “but they appear to have missed the point that these are actually basic cross-site scripting (XSS) security problems."

Twitter’s security problems do not end with its system. The efforts of the administrative staff seem to be a little amateur at times as well. Back in January this year, a teenaged hacker managed to breach Twitter’s security and hijack several high-profile accounts by guessing a member of Twitter support staff’s rather simplistic password.

All of this points to one basic flaw with web 2.0, as highlighted in Meftah in his interview with AjaxWorld. In the rush to create the next hot networking tool, developers have forgotten the basics of security, as Meftah says, in a way reminiscent of the early days of the internet.

Inatech’s latest security offering is designed to counter these kinds of risks. The Inatech iBDA Secure Database Security Assessment Service is available to businesses that rely on the security of information held within their databases, or have concerns about the security of those databases.

IT will be the agent of change for businesses, says EMC report

A new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by the EMC, says that IT will improve business responsiveness during the economic downturn.

The survey of 300 CEOs and CIOs found that 45% wanted real time access to important data in order to drive up business responsiveness. A further 40% wanted better integration of IT systems to improve search functionality.

Despite the recession, Customer Relationship Management is still a high priority for businesses. CRM helps to improve operations, productivity and responsiveness to customers, and having systems that are based in real-time improves the quality of a company. Even during a recession, customers expect more. If a business is forced to cut its headcount do to reduced income and increased overheads, they still need to ensure that there is other service support to maintain the service level. The only way to achieve that in a sustainable and stable way is through technology.

Further, companies have to eliminate waste from their systems in order to provide fast and efficient services to customers. More often than not, there is unidentified waste in businesses’ systems; most of the time, databases are simply not communicating, which loses valuable time. Time is money, especially in during an economic slump, making it all the more important to drive out wasteful practices.

Inatech’s services have a great emphasis on efficiency, both in terms of time and business responsiveness.

Arun Kumar reports on Dubai Connection Point

My first visit to the Oracle-obsessed Middle East region, for the Connection Point event in Dubai hosted by the OAUG group, truly was an experience from many angles.

The Keynote session delivered by one of the prominent personalities within the region, Husam Dajani, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, MEA, Oracle Corporation. The message was in concurrence to the IT users of Oracle products: “We will embrace the Oracle products and make them work for us.”

Inatech had hosted a stall which attracted most of the visitors with a host of solutions and services that can help businesses. We displayed the variety of offerings and project experiences in the form of brochures and case studies. Our rolling presentation on a flat screen was even more appealing to the audience.

The buzz words among the sessions and participants were as expected; R12, SOA, IDM, SSO, Integration, MIS. Conversations with the users made me realise why Inatech stands apart in the region in terms of “pure” consulting. In today’s information-overflow age, users are not shopping for products. They have their agenda of business drivers very clearly chalked out and look for some experienced business and technical consulting experts. With Middle East’s passion for Oracle, one needs to really know Oracle offerings in depth.

I also managed to attend few sessions which were very interesting and inspired me to give back something to the Oracle community. The choice of the topics and speakers were of a high standard. To start with, Dr. Nadia Bendjedou’s session, “Oracle eBiz R12 – Technology Highlights” gave an insight into how much Oracle is investing in ensuring the success of their latest release and to ease the process of upgrading to R11i.

Interestingly, the sessions delivered by end-users who have adopted SOA and AIA. One such session was on “Use of SOA Suite Tools in Public Sectors” wherein City of Las Vegas had used SOA extensively demonstrating the advantages of SOA and getting a quick ROI out of these technologies.

Another interesting session was on “Using Oracle AIA Foundation Pack to Build a Best-of-Breed Landscape” delivered by Michael Rulf, AT&T. This was my first impression on AIA in real world and clarity towards the structuring of the product.

Other sessions on Identity Management, GRC and a demo on SOA with eBiz were enlightening to see the products in action. I had also enjoyed the dinner cruise on Dubai Creek with stunning views of what Dubai holds.

Overall it was a rich experience for the participants with the variety of information offered in a short time. I appreciate the impressive energy of the OAUG team who had organised the event.

Dubai Bank Completes Technology Migration and Oracle Applications Upgrade Milestone on Route to Financial Innovation

Dubai Bank, a premier Shari’a compliant bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has upgraded its entire IT infrastructure to support ambitious improvement plans and innovative customer services technology.

The bank has recently completed the migration of its Oracle Human Resource Management System (HRMS) from Windows operating system to Linux platform and simultaneously upgraded from Oracle E-Business suite release 11i to the latest Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.

Dubai Bank worked with global IT solutions specialist, Inatech, for the migration project which lays the foundations for a robust platform for its future growth. After a successful proof of concept, Inatech worked alongside the Dubai Bank’s team to upgrade applications and ensure the smooth running on a Linux platform.

Inatech’s implementation of Oracle E-Business Suite 12 is part of Dubai Bank’s plan for an integrated, enterprise-wide view of Financials, HRMS and Reportin. The focus of this project is not simply on current requirements, but also on ensuring that the system has the capability to cater to scalable, long-term information management and financial reporting requirements across all entities of the bank. The move is designed to help the bank to enhance and constantly improve upon timeliness of financial information and analytics available. The implementation aims to allow transparency at a granular level and automatic service level alerts across the business.

Faizal Eledath, Chief Information Officer of Dubai Bank, said the bank chose Inatech after a lengthy selection process because of their consultative approach, local UAE presence for implementation, support activities and its commitment to the success of the project. The project was implemented by Inatech on time and to budget and will improve the performance and sustainability of its long-term IT strategy. The new systems improve usability, reporting, performance analysis, and provide a platform for the business to remain flexible to changes in operations while adapting to the implementation of innovative customer and corporate services.

“One of the main drivers for this project was to improve performance. Together with Inatech’s consultative approach, our aim was to successfully automate associated business processes and important tasks related to procurement, expense processing, payables and multi-GL consolidation,” says Faizal. “Migrating to Linux enables us to scale up our operations as and when we need to and, working alongside technical specialists like Inatech, has enabled us to draw on their experience to shorten implementation time without disrupting the business.”

“Using Inatech’s fixed-price project approach has provided us with a solution to optimise performance and improve efficiencies while allowing the business to remain competitive.”

Inatech also managed key enhancements to Dubai Bank’s architecture incorporating High availability, migrating the production environment from a single node to a two node configuration, in order to increase the robustness of the entire architecture.

Faizal continued, “In the first few weeks of upgrading to Linux operating system, the system’s performance has been greatly enhanced. The time for processing payroll has been halved and user feedback on improved performance and speed has been extremely positive.”

“We believe this may be one of the first instances of Oracle Enterprise Linux implementation for Oracle Applications Release 12 in the Middle East,” said Ravindra Krishnappa Director, Inatech. "We are extremely pleased to be working with the Dubai Bank team on this project. The fact that our customer has already experienced significant performance improvements substantiates our recommendations and technical expertise.”

The next phase of the project strategy is to complete the implementation of a transparent Procure-to-Pay process and on track to be completed by April 2009.

Ravi continued: "In the current financial market condition, it is imperative for organizations to extract and offer the best value possible to its customers. This deployment marks a significant step forward for the Banking and IT industries. Harnessing innovative IT technology has to be in conjunction with streamlined business processes to maximize benefits of implementation."

Dubai Bank is continuously challenging traditional banking practices by placing service, transparency and convenience at the forefront of its operations and introducing unique products and services to the market. The financial institution, established in 2002, positions itself as a ‘catalyst for change’ and has already won IT Department of the Year in the Arabian Computer Network Magazine Awards 2007 for its efforts.

Are UK SMEs forsaking security?

A new study carried out by Redshift Research reveals that small businesses in the UK are not prioritising security.

Over one-third of the respondents said that security was an area of minimal investment or one that could be cut when necessary, and many instead are investing in IT infrastructure. Whilst almost all companies surveyed used basic measures such as anti-virus software, relatively few used protection against portable memory device access or web filtering.

It is important to note, however, that this survey does not seem to take into account that investment into IT infrastructure may include a mix of updates, or which security is part. The danger there, of course, is that the particular mix available from a managed services provider does not include the security measures suitable for businesses on an individual level. This would explain the lack of appropriate protection for some SMEs.

The key is to find a managed services provider that gives businesses a range of options in the mixture of services available, in order to provide the best services for each individual organisation. Taking a managed service approach will help to keep requirements flexible, meaning that cost efficiency is paramount.

Businesses need to utilize business data better

A new study from Quocirca suggests that businesses are failing to use business data to their most competitive advantage.

The Oracle EPM Index study showed that only around 30% of businesses rate their own ability to assess the potential success of a new product or service investment at 6 out of 10 or above.

12% of businesses perceived themselves to be well-placed to maximise on business data, scoring themselves seven out of 10 or higher. The study found that whilst many businesses were good at visualising historic data, but fell down when it came to forecasting and planning based on that data.

With access to so much business data in today’s market, it is essential to the success of any organisation to use that data to the best advantage possible. In order to get the best from business data, it is necessary to utilise the skills of experts who understand how new Oracle products can be useful, and how to integrate them into existing systems. This will ensure that data is constantly used for its maximum potential.

When choosing consultants to help maximise on business data, choosing an Oracle Certified Advantage Partner will help enormously, as it provides direct links to Oracle product managers.

Inatech at the Benelux OUG conference

Inatech’s appearance at the Benelux conference was a resounding success, with the managed services provider achieving fantastic market penetration.

At the conference, which attracted around 700 attendees, Inatech gave a presentation that was well received and drew in around 20 participants.

Inatech’s Ravindra Krishnappa, director presented on eBS Supply Chain and Manufacturing. The session provided insight to Real World Experiences of Oracle Release 12 Supply Chain and Manufacturing. The session, entitled "Living (again) in the Material World", assessed how far the Oracle Supply Chain and Manufacturing products have progressed since Release 10.6.

Ravindra said: "A significant number of visitors talked about standalone Peoplesoft and again, the majority had PS requirements. This was a great opportunity to show Oracle we are 'real' players in the market."

Several other interesting presentations were given by various providers.

Inatech relocates of HSC server

Inatech has announced the successful relocation of Hugh Symons Communications’ production and test server from their old location to their new office premises.

Faced with the challenge of moving the server whilst minimising the disruption of HSC business, Inatech split the task into three weekly stages: In the first week, the server was cloned to a test server, configuring all components of the production server such as printers, I-Store and the mail server, to the test server. The test server was then tested thoroughly to ensure it would work as a production server in the interim period.

The next stage was to refresh the database of the test server to synchronise with the production server over the weekend, and then switch off the production server whilst the test server went live on the Sunday. As a result of this, HSC could use the server during the week over the next week without losing any business.

Finally, the production server and the test server were moved over the third weekend to the new location. The production server was cloned back from the test server, followed by more in-depth testing of the production server in the new location. By Monday morning, the new server was live and ready to use in the new premises.

All in all, the task was an exercise in efficient, secure and non disruptive work; all specialities of Inatech.

Dhow Palace Hotel – Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Today, April 1^st 2009 saw the opening of the first Oracle User Group show in the Middle East Region, OAUG Connection Point 2009. Inatech is proud to be an inaugural sponsor and exhibitor of this event.

The Inatech team arrived early to prepare. The event kicked off sharply at 8.30am, with an internal team of presenters gathered from the strongest Oracle teams across the world.

The Inatech team enjoyed the Keynote Session which was given by Oracle's most senior executive in the Middle East & African (MEA) region, Husam Dajani, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, MEA, Oracle Corporation. Husam was extremely enthusiastic in his opening address as this is the first time the OUG event has been held in the region, over the 22 years that Oracle has been present driving and pioneering Enterprise IT applications in this part of the world.

Husam Dajani has been with Oracle for more than 20 years, during which time the company has become the number one provider of technology and e-business solutions in the Middle East and Africa. Oracle's industry-leading technology solutions are so ingrained into the region's technology infrastructure that it is not possible to spend a day without interacting with an Oracle system in some way or other, whether it is a bank system, the immigration system at the airport or an electricity and water bill.

With a customer count in the thousands, Oracle caters to almost every government in the region, as well as industries from oil and gas to aviation to banking and businesses from auto dealers to department stores. It is hard to find an industry or business that is not using Oracle applications, database or technology. Inatech is delighted to be supporting many customers representing a large number of industries in this region. Inatech is particularly pleased to announce the successful completion of a complex Oracle E-Business Suite upgrade project at Dubai Bank.

Inatech has a strong representation at this first OUG event which is represented by some of the most prestigious names in Oracles 2500 E-Business Suite customers in the region. International Key speakers for Day one include from Oracle, Cliff Godwin, Dr. Nadia Bendjedou,

Brian O’Neil & Roopa Dhanalal. The final speech of the day will be delivered by Cliff Godwin the Senior Vice President of Applications Technology at Oracle Corporation who will be providing an insight and road map into the future of oracle E-Business Suite. Cliff Godwin runs the Applications Technology Group and is responsible for ensuring that Oracle Applications effectively leverage Oracle's systems technologies, and for building the common objects and services used throughout Oracle Applications. Specific areas of responsibility include applications architecture, standards, performance, installation, and the Oracle Application Object Library, Oracle Workflow, Oracle XML Gateway and Oracle Alert products.

The Inatech Team are looking forward to the Dinner Cruise on Dubai Creek at the end of what will be a long day.............