HP, Oracle to Enter Competitive Mobile OS Market

Friday, 18 March, 2011

The mobile device operating system space has continued a long, drawn-out explosion of innovation due to the battle of Apple’s iOS and upstart Android from Google.  Especially after Android recently unseated Symbian as the top smartphone OS, that space has seemed entirely taken up by the two combatants who have been pushing the envelope of development and seemingly leaving no breathing space for a newcomer to get a word in edgewise.  Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 has seen delays getting to market and industry pundits are taking a “wait and see” position regarding the ability of the fine people in Redmond to develop meaningful market share.

Move over, says HP and Oracle.

HP recently announced several things they have set their sights on, specifically their intention to become a major cloud computing source and also to enter the mobile device field with their HP webOS which they acquired with their purchase of Palm in 2010.  HP has already introduced two smartphones to release this spring, the HP Veer and HP pre which are to release with HP webOS 2.2.

The bigger deal is the entrance into the tablet arena with the 9.7-inch HP TouchPad which will run on webOS 3.0 and is rumored to release in June for around $499 with a complement of features meant to compete with the iPad 2.  A 7-inch tablet nicknamed the Opal is also rumored for a September release date, in time to hit the holiday season.

Perhaps even more significantly, HP also announced they intend to ship all HP computers with the HP webOS on board starting in 2012.  HP CEO Leo Apotheker has indicated this is a bid to inspire developers to develop apps that will enhance and differentiate HP computers.  Developers have created well over 300,000 applications for Apple devices and over 250,000 for Android. According to HP, their webOS only has a field of 6,000 apps. If you’re an app developers, this is good news.

Oracle’s recent ownership of Java has meant a number of questions coming from the long-lived development community, a few more of which were answered recently.  Java ME is the version built for running devices that languished due to lower priority while under Sun’s wing.  Oracle is interested in turning that around.

Two key overtures occurred recently.  First, Oracle’s now much-publicized lawsuits and threats against Android with claims that the breakaway OS contains illegally copied sets of Oracle code.  In general, software giants only get into legal tussles for two reasons: to protect their IP (very legitimate) and to protect a market position they are working on entering or maintaining.

Second would be comments at the Server Side Symposium in Las Vegas this month.  Adam Messinger, Oracle VP of Development for Fusion Middleware reminds us that Java ME is already installed on many devices which he says ship at a “tremendous rate.”  He says Oracle has recently had discussions about Java showing up on tablet devices and also plans are underway to empower developers more by improving Java ME with capabilities such as library changes, metadata, annotations and more.

Whether Oracle intends to establish Java ME as a branded entrant and competitor in the mobile device space or keep consuming market share from the shadows remains to be seen.  In similar fashion, whether HP is able to replicate the success in computers they’ve had into the software and OS space also remains to be seen.  One thing is certain about both players: they have the resources and vision required to be contenders and they intend to enter the space, and that space is about to get a little more crowded.

Check out GogoTraining’s online IT training course catalog for mobile computing training courses in Android and iOS.

Some Oracle Certification Costs to Rise in August

Tuesday, 15 March, 2011

Starting August 1, 2011, Oracle will introduce a new requirement for those seeking certification for Java Architect, Java Developer, Solaris System Administrator and Solaris Security Administrator.

Under the new qualification criteria, IT professionals will be required to attend hands-on training provided by approved, instructor-led courses.  According to the announcement on the Oracle education website, self-study courses on CD-ROM or recorded web courses do not meet the requirement.

The courses listed on the Oracle education website last from three to five days and cost roughly $2,000 to almost $4,000.  They must be taken through Oracle University Training Center, Oracle Authorized Education Center or Oracle Authorized Education Partner, Oracle Workforce Development, or Oracle Academy and approved programs.

From now through July 31, professionals can still get certified based on the current requirements.

Kabam, GoDaddy, IBM Launch Large Recruiting Drives

Tuesday, 8 March, 2011

Three well-know technology companies have turned up the volume on hiring and are looking for technologists in key fields.

Kabam, a game development company known for their Kingdoms of Camelot title (voted Best Facebook Game in 2010), is looking to hire more take in an additional 600 employees with a focus on skills such as PHP, Ruby on Rails, MySQL, CSS, Java and Flash.  Those involved in data center engineering and maintenance are also needed as they serve their games.

GoDaddy, the world’s top hosting provider and domain registrar, continues to experience growth even through the tough economy (wherein it doubled in size in less than four years).  They hope to hire around 350 people.  While most will be in customer service and call center, around one third will focus on skills such as network engineering, quality assurance, .NET engineering, SQL and Linux.

IBM is also looking for a lot of new people, with over 2,200 positions open on Dice.com at the moment.  Regions of particular focus are Washington D.C., Ohio, Los Angeles, San Fransisco and San Diego.  Particular skills being sought include networking, integration, SAP, SAN, Oracle, Java and Unix.

GogoTraining offers the following online training courses to help you get up and running for these and other jobs.  Need something different? Check our online training course catalog.

New Courses: Oracle Grid Control and ITIL Service Operation

Friday, 4 March, 2011

Two more courses just released!

Oracle Grid Control Part 2

This Oracle online training course explains Oracle’s Grid control architecture. You are provided with a detailed look on installing and configuring Oracle’s Grid control. At the end of this course you will have a well rounded knowledge of services, beacons, grip patching and preferences, and reporting.

This course is taught by industry expert Steve Hamilton.  Mr. Hamilton has over 20 years of practical experience with Oracle, Sybase and SQL Server.  He is certified in Oracle version 8 through 11g, along with certifications in numerous other technologies. Steve particularly excels at delivering “real world examples” to the classroom.  He enjoys preparing students so they can immediately be productive when they return to their work environment.

Also check out our Oracle Grid Control Part 1 training course.

ITIL® Service Operation, a Service Lifecycle Course

NOTE: GogoTraining is an APMG ITIL Accredited Training Organization (ATO).

This ITIL® online training course covers the lifecycle aspects of Service Operation from a managerial/supervisory perspective and explores Service Operations principles and activities. You will gain an understanding of Service Operation Processes and Functions as well as the interfaces between Service Operation and the other stages of the ITIL Service Lifecycle. ITIL® Service Operation: A Service Lifecycle Course builds on the general principles covered in the ITIL® Foundation course and covers the management-level concepts and core information of the activities and techniques within Service Operation.

The ITIL® Intermediate Qualification: Service Operation Certificate is a free-standing qualification and is also part of the ITIL Intermediate Lifecycle Stream and one of the modules that leads to the ITIL Expert in IT Service Management Certificate.

This course is taught by industry expert Sue Southern.  Sue is an independent consultant and trainer with exceptional customer focus for business improvement and service excellence.  Ms. Southern is an experienced seminar and conference speaker with an excellent reputation spanning over 25 years.  She specializes in Service Management training, ITIL versions 2 and 3 process implementations/enhancements and business measurement with balanced scorecards for managing performance and transformation.

GogoTraining offers many more ITIL® Intermediate training courses and other training in ITSM.

Survey: Top 4 Key IT Skill Sets Needed, Say CIOs

Tuesday, 1 March, 2011

A gap exists between today’s composition of IT groups and what is needed for enterprises to maximize return on systems investments, so say CIOs in a recent survey.

CIO magazine and the MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) asked 370 CIOs about the makeup and goals of their organizations.  The CIOs indicated a new “value proposition” for IT was to move beyond building and running systems and into a space that contributes more fundamental business value to the enterprise.  This represents at least a partial shift of responsibility away from other departments who are often tasked with providing the ultimate value out of systems created and maintained by the IT department.

Skills such as vendor managers, IT/business experts, data and analytics experts, and application developers top out where it comes to skill sets needed to make that value proposition a reality.

IT/Business experts are the hybrids we discussed recently, people who have depth in both and are able to tie them together in meaningful ways.  One example are IT service managers who are not necessarily technologists but manage technology for the business.  ITIL certification and project management certification are highly advisable for those in such positions and are sure to be hired first in a glut of applicants.

Application developers will have specific skills that vary depending on the chosen technology.  Particular hot spots include Java, Oracle and Android application development.  Pursuing training in any of these areas is very desirable when seeking to build a strong resume.

GogoTraining continues to create new learning opportunities that allow IT professionals of any experience level to build a foundation for reliable job security and employability.

What area could you train for that would really make your resume stand out?

Mobile Development, Cloud and Security Needed ‘aSAP’

Thursday, 17 February, 2011

The latest large employer looking for mobile developers is SAP, one of the leading providers of business software.  Their model of how they meet market demands involves their Global Business Incubator, which essentially is a venture developer that creates nearly autonomous teams of people to act like a start-up company.  These teams are tasked with fulfilling a specific need in the market.

One such new team is the Consumer Mobile Initiative focused on “leveraging consumer’s adoption of smartphones and SAP technology to redefine consumer shopping experience in and around the store” (per many of the current SAP job postings for developers).  The new team has already developed market pilots with a handful of leading retailers and consumer product concerns in the American and European markets.

Specific areas of growth in SAP will be mobile development, cloud computing and security as they continue to pursue development using their Global Business Incubator model.

Those interested in meeting the need of SAP and other enterprise software providers in these growing areas can make use of IT training courses from GogoTraining, such as:

4 Ways to Keep Your IT Job this Year

Wednesday, 16 February, 2011

If there was ever a time to do an awareness check on your situation and make sure your career – and employment – is in the “safe and moving forward” zone, it is now. 

“In this economy” has become the preamble to all sorts of reminders of good advice on how to survive and thrive.  Let this be another one!  With that said, here’s four ways to keep your job and maybe even do a little advancing this year:

Dust off your communication skills.  It’s time to start speaking up in those horrifying status meetings.  A sure sign of being overlooked by management is to glaze over like a donut in the back of the room while they drone on about what features are being pushed to phase two.  Ask questions, make suggestions, and bring new ideas.  It matters less what you say and more that you try.  Trying gets noticed, and the noticed get remembered.

Improve your visibility.  Meet and converse regularly with the key decision makers in your department.  Ask your boss how else you can help.  Keep your ears out for opportunities to pitch in on other projects.  Keep the project manager updated on your status.  Be positive in all interactions while you’re at it.

Ask for feedback – and use it.  Ask your project manager and/or boss how you’re doing.  Ask what can be improved or what skill sets your department needs to sharpen or gain.  If you’re not sure how to obtain those skills, ask for training.  Even if you are sure, ask for training.  If you get feedback of a personal nature, do your best to make the changes suggested (or implied).  Overall, it is important to show that you are acting on feedback instead of just soliciting it.

Continually educate yourself.  Start by making sure you are staying current in you field.  It could be as simple as attending the right conference and taking a few online courses each year to stay up on trends and keep sharp on new industry developments.

Next, look to add to your skills.  A great way to add texture to your skill set is by obtaining project management skills.  The new protocol in IT as of 2011 is to diminish costs and increase efficiency, and producers who are trained in project management are sure bets on how to do that.  Why?  Because chances are high that a project could be taken on by as little as one to three people and there aren’t enough project managers to be had for such small teams.  If you’re a hardware or development geek who was just handed a two-week or two-month project to work on you need to be your own project manager – and you better know how to do it well.

GogoTraining can help with a catalog of over 140 outstanding IT training courses and a free library of podcasts regarding IT topics (with over 500 entries).  Some particularly hot areas include:

U.S. Air Force Turns to SOA for Air and Space Systems Integration

Tuesday, 8 February, 2011

The United States Air Force has turned to Northrop Grumman to conduct technological experiments on how various service-oriented architecture (SOA) implementations spread across command and control domains might be integrated, according to a Northrop Grumman press release on January 31.

“This research will enable coordination and synchronization of information and application services to meet the demands of warfighting missions,” says Mike Twyman, vice president of integrated command, control, communications, and intelligence systems for Northrop Grumman’s Information Systems sector. “By partnering with Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome Research Site, we will jointly recommend and demonstrate novel strategies to manage and orchestrate data flow and content delivery across the realms of air and space command and control.”

Northrop Grumman will also analyze emerging information technology as applied to air and space warfighting domains. The goal of the engage with the USAF is to explore standardization in order to provide better enterprise-wide accessability.

GogoTraining offers the service-oriented architecture (SOA) courses as part of a suite of Cloud Computing training opportunities: