Blog

I was privileged to attend Oracle OpenWorld 2014 last month in San Francisco, and I have to admit that it was one of the better OOWs in recent years. Even though my presentation on Oracle 12c Database features was scheduled for 08:00 on the very first day of the conference, I was excited to see … Continue reading OOW2014 Is Over … But We’re Just Getting Started. →

I wanted to give a quick shout-out to my new-found friends in LA (Latin America, not Los Angeles!) for their hospitality and professionalism during my two sessions in Bogota, Colombia and Quito, Ecuador. As the first person in my family to ever tread on South American soil, I was thrilled to visit places I'd only … Continue reading Muchisimas Gracias To My LA New Colleagues →

I've spent the last week feverishly preparing a new chapter for our upcoming book on Oracle Database Migration, Transformation and Tuning. The Cross-Platform Transportable Tablespaces (XTTS) feature set is looking to be an awesome tool for migrating tablespaces en masse between platforms ... especially when migrating to Oracle 12c! In the midst of all my XTTS … Continue reading A Sus Ordenes: OTN Latin America North Tour →

The first-ever OTN Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Tour is finished at last, and it was one of the most invigorating conferences I’ve ever attended and participated in. Many of my fellow Oracle ACEs and ACE Directors crossed 12 time zones to spend seven days in five cities on two continents to share our knowledge … Continue reading An Incredible Journey: OTN Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Tour →

At last, it is official: It will be my great honor to participate in Oracle Technology Network's first-ever tour of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) starting this coming Monday, May 25th in Bizerte, Tunisia. I'll be speaking on five topics related to Oracle 12c Database - a reprise of the four presentations I did … Continue reading Seven Days, Five Cities, Two Continents: OTN MENA Tour 2014 →

The OUG Norway 2014 Varseminar concluded this past April 5th as the crowd of 350 motivated Oracle professionals disembarked from the MS Color Magic. The two-day cruise between Oslo, Norway and Kiel, Germany offered me a chance to regain my "sea legs," reconnect with my European colleagues, and transfer additional knowledge on the state of Oracle 12c … Continue reading OUGN2014: Smooth Sailing for Oracle 12c →

My latest Oracle 12c article on is now available in print as well as the IOUG SELECT Journal website: It's all about those pesky frequency distributions that the Oracle optimizer can use to make extremely short work of skewed data. And if you haven't seen my ongoing 12c Database features series at IOUG SELECT, my able … Continue reading Oracle 12c’s Newest Histograms: IOUG SELECT Journal Articles Now Available →

Just in time for the OUGN Varseminar 2014 and IOUG COLLABORATE14, I've learned that Oracle Corporation has awarded me the status of Oracle ACE Director. I'm extremely humbled and honored to receive this acknowledgment of my passion for all things Oracle Database, and I look forward to participating in the ACE Director program to the … Continue reading Ready To Serve: Oracle ACE Director →

You can now view the on-demand session from my February 4, 2014 presentation on Oracle 12c Automatic Data Optimization (ADO) features, thanks to my most excellent colleagues at the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). (Many of the folks that attended the live presentation encountered severe difficulty traversing the whole presentation after the 5-minute mark. I apologize once again … Continue reading A Quick Dive Into Oracle 12c ADO Features, Courtesy of OTN →

As the last day of November wanes and the shadows of winter grow long upon our beautiful snow-covered lake here in Wisconsin, my thoughts naturally turn to the upcoming New Year and what it's bringing: some excellent opportunities to spread the word on Oracle Database 12c's latest elegant, powerful features.For the first time in my Oracle evangelizing … Continue reading Winter Is Coming. But So Is an Oracle 12c Spring →