Like it or not, Primavera’s new era has begun, and there is no turning back. Is this the start of something great or something not so great? I asked many attendees and Oracle employees atOracle’s OpenWorld annual convention this week in San Francisco. No two answers were completely alike. If I were to blend the comments of Primavera founders Dick Faris and Joel Koppelman, some formal and some off the cuff, the future is bright. Primavera is quite independent from Oracle when it comes to development, as long as the Oracle “rules” are followed, they said. R&D personnel appear elated at their new resources.
The overall opinion is not so bright, according to other attendees, some new to the conference. More than half of those I spoke with are still undecided.
The opening session, presented by Koppelman, was more of a sales pitch than a product review. The speech was filled with generalized and washed-down statistics. Even though the room was not large enough to hold all registered attendees, it was not full.
The primary theme was Oracle’s adage or formula to success -- “Complete.Open.Integrate” -- in other words, complete industry specific systems using open architecture, complete with integration. Koppelman, along with developers, touted that Oracle has opened new avenues to Primavera that were not available before.
Koppelman proudly pointed out that Oracle is using Primavera Portfolio Management to manage its development processes as projects. And, Primavera has implemented Oracle’s 3D Viewer and Spatial products to enhance Primavera products.
The newly updated Contract Management 13 is improved for usability and now has a document versioning method. Other than that, there were no improvements to processes.
The Partner Pavilion was quite small. The “booths” were all just about three-foot-wide kiosks with two chairs. Many partners complained about the space and limited access. Setup for Primavera attendees was obviously not a high importance for Oracle.
Stay tuned for more to come!
Editor’s note: Gordon Aronson is currently at Oracle’s OpenWorld annual convention in San Francisco this week. This is his report on the activities and observations from the first day.
Gordon Aronson is a registered Professional Engineer and has been involved in the engineering/construction industry over 40 years. He has been responsible for all levels of engineering and construction project management on various projects ranging from $300M in 1975 dollars to under $4M around the world. Gordon is President of Vision Consultants, Inc., an Arizona consulting firm providing a wide range of Primavera services and construction claims management services. Gordon is an Primavera solutions providers and certified trainer, a long time Construction industry arbitrator/mediator and provides complete Primavera installation, implementation and training services. Gordon's insight can be found on:Construction Project Controls & BIM Report.
