E-Commerce continues to develop, but bricks and mortar haven't gone away, and many of the so-called old economy companies have leveraged their core strengths of market share, brand name, product quality, and customer service to become winners in the e-Commerce arena, too. E-Commerce is one of the ways we all do business now, but it is just one of the ways. I believe that e-Commerce will really have made it when we have all forgotten about it. We will have stopped using the "E," and it will all be commerce again, using every advantage we can find to be competitive and to run our organisations efficiently.

So there is no silver bullet. We all have to work hard to make our investments show a return, and that is where the OAUG comes in.

The OAUG is about sharing knowledge and experience to help us all to get the return on our investment in Oracle Applications. It is an organisation focused on education and networking, and based on the efforts of its volunteer members, who go out of their way to share the knowledge and experience that they have accumulated with fellow users.

How does that work? The conference is a great example.

Papers
We have over 4,000 attendees at the conference, representing about 1,200 companies, and more than 250 presentations where you will be able to hear how others have dealt with some of the business issues that you are facing today. Hear their experiences, and remember that everyone in the room has a similar interest to you. Take the opportunity to meet other users and make contacts which you can use later. Whether you are concerned when to upgrade to Release 11i, or how to use the new CRM modules, you have the opportunity to meet with other people going through the same experiences - or better still, those who have done it already, and can help you avoid some of the risks.

You may have read about quality issues with Release 11i. Here is where you can find out what others are experiencing. Go to the R11i upgrade panel, and pick out the sessions on the new release. This is how your peers--other users--are finding R11i. Its not marketing; you can believe in their experiences. They will share those experiences with you, good and bad, and in making your decision when to upgrade, I think that's something you can bank on.

Exhibit Hall
As well as the presentations, we have an excellent Exhibit Hall. We have over 135 exhibitors, offering complementary products, education, and consulting services across the applications. I encourage all of you to spend some time in the Exhibit Hall throughout the conference. You will very likely find that one of the exhibitors will be able to fulfill a need for your company.

HODA
Once again, we have our Hands-On Demonstration Area where you can practice with the latest Oracle releases. Thanks to the HODA sponsors: Cinap, eJiva, Applied Digital Solutions, Top Team, CSA/Orion Consulting, and KPMG. Make sure you check it out.

Education
We also have ten education stations in room 162 where you can receive training in the use of the applications. A special thanks to Sun Microsystems, who provided the hardware for the education stands, and to BOSS Corporation, for their setup and systems support. Here is where Applied Digital Solutions, Melanie Bock, DARC, Hotsos, IT Convergence, Margaret Coleman, ODK, Rapidigm, Anne Ristau and Solbourne will be providing education sessions. Many thanks to each of them for their support of the conference - I encourage you all to take advantage of the education opportunities here.

The Aberdeen Group continue to partner with the OAUG to carry out surveys on current technology trends. On your seats there is a new Aberdeen survey, and we would appreciate you taking some time this week to complete the survey and return it to the registration desk. At the end of the week there will be a draw for a Palm 7 for those who have participated. So take this opportunity to make your views known.

Networking
And of course, all of these activities, plus the evening events, give you a wealth of networking opportunities. OAUG conferences are all about real life, practical, education and experiences to help each of you to increase the return on the investment that you have made in Oracle Applications. Fellow users who are using the applications to run their business today, are often the best able to assist others on the most effective use of the applications. And there are many of those users here at our conference. Make contacts, make friends, and you can take the benefits of the conference away with you, not just in terms of what you have learned here in Atlanta, but also in terms of the contacts that you have made for the future.

Through OAUG networking opportunities, my company, DHL, the air courier express company, has made many contacts in the Oracle Applications community from whom we have been able to obtain help and advice. We in turn have been happy to assist others, most recently with feedback on our Euro transition and the upgrade to Release 11i.

And, as good as OAUG conferences are, the OAUG means more than just a conference. The OAUG provides a networking and communication resource throughout the year to help all of you keep up-to-date with the latest news and to obtain feedback from fellow users.

Web site
The OAUG website (www.oaug.org) is a great information resource for what is happening with Oracle Applications and with the OAUG. It features the latest news, a Conference Paper Database, members contact information, and much more. You should all visit the site - and you won't be alone. The OAUG site regularly receives over 1.5 million hits a month.

Publications
You can also read all about it in our publications, OAUG Forum and OAUG Insight, provided to all our member contacts, and available here at the conference. The current issue of OAUG Forum features an early adopter's experiences with Release 11i.

OAUG E-News
We also have OAUG E-News, an e-mail newsletter with all the latest information about Oracle Applications and the OAUG. OAUG E-News comes out two times each month - you can check how to subscribe at the OAUG website.

Listserver
And we run OAUGnet, a listserver dedicated to providing a forum for everyone in the Oracle Applications field to exchange views and seek resolution for the business issues that they face in their implementation of Oracle Applications.

So anyone who is involved with Oracle Applications will find a wealth of information available through the OAUG and its membership on the web, by e-mail, in print, and in person here at the conferences.

For those organisations here who are not yet members, I encourage all of you to join the OAUG community and share in the experience. Visit the membership booth to get details.

The OAUG community does other things, too. We are an independent, not for profit organisation, that thrives through the enthusiasm, dedication and generosity of the many volunteers that contribute so much to our community. Through them we are able to carry out many of the activities that we all jointly benefit from, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them:

And today, I'd like to make a special mention of Lyle Smith, the coordinator of the Global HRIS SIG. He's a veteran of 22 consecutive SIG meetings, and now he's retiring. That's a great service record. Many thanks, and have a restful retirement.

Through the enthusiasm and effort of these volunteers, the OAUG community continues to grow, representing 2,200 member companies this year. And it continues to be an independent organisation, self-funding, through membership dues and conference revenues, run by our members, for our members, who are predominantly licensed users of the applications.

Many of you will know that this year Oracle have started their own applications conference, seeking to reach a wider audience than that of the OAUG conferences, which are primarily focused on existing users sharing their real-life experiences. As a result, they have felt the need to discontinue their support of the OAUG at this conference.

It is sad that they have decided to move away from the successful formula that had developed over the years, at least from my point of view as a user interested in education and networking. However, we understand the needs that drove them to change the existing model.

This situation has meant some difficult decisions for the OAUG. We have sought to be flexible, reasonable, and accommodating to Oracle's needs. We have kept the door open and sought to find a compromise which is in the best interests of our members and our conference attendees.

But there are some principles that we feel unable to compromise on:

Throughout this process, we have tried to keep all of our members informed and involved. That's why when Oracle first made their proposal, we held a survey to obtain input as to how we should react. That survey indicated an overwhelming response in favour of safeguarding our independence and our independent conferences.

We continue to inform all our members of the current status and to invite feedback. I am happy to be able to say that the majority of the feedback that we receive strongly supports the need to maintain independence and our role of advocacy with Oracle.

But we also realise that having these new conferences provides our members with some issues, and a number of respondents have indicated a desire for us to work with Oracle to reach a compromise to the benefit of conference attendees.

We are doing that. I have had several discussions with senior Oracle executives on this topic over the past months. Next week, we will fly to Redwood Shores to meet with Oracle to try to identify a solution that meets the needs of our members and those of Oracle.

You can mail the OAUG with your views, or simply walk up to a Board member here and let us know what you would like to see happen. Each Board member will be wearing a board shirt, so we are easy to find. And you can also attend the Ask OAUG session on Thursday at 4:30pm to provide that feedback, or to ask the board any additional questions that you may have, on this, or any other issue of concern.

We need and welcome your feedback. But please, if you give the OAUG feedback on how this situation should be resolved, then give Oracle feedback as well. Let them know what their customers want. Let them know, as you have let me know, that you want them to work toward a compromise with OAUG, as well as OAUG working toward a compromise with them. We will send an e-mail tomorrow morning, providing the opportunity to give feedback. If you have comments for Oracle, we will put them together and forward them to Oracle. And we will continue to work on your behalf to resolve this issue.

Meanwhile, we have acted to ensure that the features that you value at our conference have been maintained. Many of our members have stepped up to provide the Hands-On Demonstration Area and education content that you are accustomed too, and I thank them again. I believe that this simply emphasises the power of the OAUG community: the skills and experience available, and the willingness and enthusiasm which enabled us to bring together another first-class conference. We continue to provide a value for money, educational experience, to help you and your business. Each and every one of you will learn something here this week which you will be able to put to immediate use on your return to work. That's the power of the independent user community.

The OAUG will continue to provide users with a channel which is, and can be seen to be, independent of the supplier's own message, and which provides a reference point by which that message may be measured. We will continue to provide independent feedback to Oracle as to how well they are meeting the users, and the marketplace's expectations, in terms of support, quality, and service.

We believe that it is in the best interests of our members, all applications users, and Oracle Corporation, that we remain focused on education and independent advocacy. We believe that these principles will survive many changes in markets and technologies, and we will continue to uphold them. We fundamentally believe that this process strengthens both users of Oracle Applications, and Oracle itself. As such, the OAUG and its members are Oracle's biggest supporters. All of us have made a significant investment in Oracle's software, and it is our fundamental objective to work with each other, and with Oracle to improve the effective use of the applications, for the long-term benefit of both Oracle Applications users, and of Oracle itself.

That is the strength of us as customers, who share knowledge, and who share influence. And that is the strength of the OAUG.