#OUGN2024: AI, APEX, cloud costs and multicloud in focus.
During OUGN 2024, Oracle User Group Norway's annual conference provided insights into the latest trends in the Oracle world. Key themes such as artificial intelligence (AI), APEX, cloud costs and compliance, and multicloud solutions took center stage at the event.
The annual OUGN Spring Conference is a flagship event organized by Oracle User Group Norway, bringing together Oracle users, experts, and vendors to delve into the latest technologies and trends shaping the Oracle landscape. With a lineup of presentations, workshops, and discussions covering database administration, cloud technology, security, and development, the conference serves as a hub for knowledge sharing and networking.
AI in the spotlight: Oracle's continued heavy investment in artificial intelligence (AI) was showcased at OUGN 2024, with Oracle representatives unveiling exciting AI developments on the horizon. Leveraging AI infrastructure powered by industry leader NVIDIA, Oracle showcased its commitment to driving innovation in the AI space.
Quickly Create Apps with APEX
Daniel Ivanescu from Oracle showcased how APEX, Oracle's low-code tool, simplifies the integration of AI services. In upcoming versions of APEX, users will be able to generate applications based on a textual description. Ivanescu emphasized that with APEX, leveraging artificial intelligence services is straightforward; the only decision is whether to be an AI Pioneer, Innovator, or Implementer. Most individuals are likely to fall into the latter category, requiring minimal investments.
Among the AI services available for a while are solutions for Vision, Speech, Language, Document Understanding, and Digital Assistants. The latest development involves opportunities for generative AI. Oracle has made it impressively easy and open to utilize various LLM models (Large Language Models). Additionally, there are options for vector searches in the database, along with Select AI on the Autonomous database enabling queries in natural language.
In future iterations of APEX, users will have the ability to swiftly generate applications based on a textual description. These applications can still be maintained and customized in the usual manner, but the framework is rapidly established.
In Oracle DB, Oracle Database, AI is becoming increasingly prevalent. Hence, the latest version will be named 23ai, deviating from the naming conventions like 23c for cloud and 10g for grid, which were popular at their launch. The database now incorporates machine learning, as demonstrated by Cegal and Oracle in joint workshops. With SELECT AI, users can generate accurate queries based on natural language, without requiring knowledge of the database model or SELECT syntax. This, coupled with vector search capabilities, has led to the naming of the newest version as 23ai. Cegal anticipates successful outcomes for clients in the upcoming year.
Costs and compliance in the cloud
Shishir Acharjee and Øystein Eide from DNV, along with Daniel Ivanescu from Oracle, shared valuable insights on optimizing cloud usage to save costs and ensure compliance. Scaling up and down as needed, shutting down environments overnight and on weekends, cleaning up data, selecting the right storage services, and utilizing serverless options where possible are just a few of their recommendations. By decluttering unnecessary data, opting for cost-optimized storage services, leveraging serverless solutions, and more, significant savings can be achieved. Costs can range from cloud consumption to onboarding expenses for a development environment utilizing five different types of databases instead of one or two.
Learn more about how to succeed with your company's cloud strategy here >
Multicloud: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) often serves as the second or third cloud choice for many businesses. Cegal is actively involved in designing an optimal setup for security and speed, as well as managing costs spread across multiple clouds.
Erik Flatlandsmo from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration presented a session on "Interactive Reports - one report, many reporting levels" in the APEX track, discussing a project where Cegal helped develop tools that replaced various spreadsheets with three different applications all using the same database schema. They also created custom reports tailored to their needs. Erik provided insights into the applications and architecture, emphasizing the reporting capabilities within Oracle APEX. Jørgen Berntsen from Cegal led a session on faceted search in APEX applications, highlighting the value of drill-down searches.
Bærum Municipality, represented by Lars Dyrkorn and Solveig Eriksrud Saugen, shared their journey to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) in the session "Bærum Municipality's journey to IaaS in OCI," where Cegal played a crucial role as one of their partners. Alongside Oracle, Eritec, and Right, they formed a "dream team" and discussed Cegal's valuable contributions in establishing LandingZone, network setup, and licensing guidance, laying a solid foundation for their go-live.
Cegal has been a long-time sponsor of the conference, with around 15 Cegalians participating in OUGN this year. They had their own booth and contributed with presentations and workshops.
Some Cegalians at OUGN 2024 👍
