Green Is Good
Peers use performance optimization, e-readers, and mobile solutions to do their part.
KELLYN POT’VIN
GIUSEPPE MAXIA
ROLANDO CARRASCO
Company: Enkitec, a tech consulting firm
focused on Oracle solutions
Job title/description: Senior technical
consultant, responsible for performance tuning,
Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c installations and
configurations, and systems management
Location: Westminster, Colorado
Length of time using Oracle products:
15 years
How did you get started in IT? After recovering from strokes in my 20s, I was unable to
return to my previous career. I started selling
computers at a national electronics store and
found I had a knack with software. I took a
position with a telecommunications company
as desktop support and became known as an
expert in Oracle application configuration.
Which new features in Oracle technologies are you finding most valuable?
Enhancements in Oracle Enterprise Manager
12c such as metric extensions, which allow
administrators to create their own specific
metrics to monitor by, and service tests and
beacons, which allow them to record a Web
transaction and then set the test up on an
interval to verify that service is accessible.
What green practices do you use in your
work? By eliminating CPU, I/O, and memory
resource waste, I try to extend the life of
existing hardware—which in turn keeps older
hardware out of landfills. Rarely do we hear
about performance-enhancing procedures
as a greener option for our environment, but
I strive to show my company the savings and
environmental value of having optimization
exercises performed on a regular basis.
Company: Continuent, a provider of database
clustering and replication management software
Job title/description: Quality assurance
director, leading QA operations for the
development and release of software products
Location: Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
Oracle credentials: Oracle Certified
Professional (MySQL 5.0 Developer, MySQL 5.0
Database Administrator), with 12 years of
experience using Oracle products
What advice do you have about getting into
software development? The current trend is
being cloud-ready. Many tools and applications that work well in traditional infrastructures may have trouble when deployed in the
cloud. Understanding the differences and
being able to adapt to this trend is vital for
survival in I T.
How are you using social media in your
work? I use it to get informed on my work-related and personal interests, and to
interact quickly with friends, colleagues,
and acquaintances. Tools such as Twitter
are also extremely useful while on the road
and attending conferences—to organize
impromptu meetings, stay up to date on
the action, and spread the news. I also use
specialized social tools for personal matters
such as book reviews and fitness.
What green practices do you use in your
development work? We all work from home.
No need for office space and commuting.
We can hire the best talent without requiring
relocation, and our virtual work arrangement
also reduces the need for—and the usefulness of—printed paper.
Company: S&P Solutions, a firm specializing in
service-oriented architecture (SOA) and business
process management (BPM) architecture
Job title/description: Oracle Fusion Middleware
director, creating business opportunities in the
Latin American market and delivering successful
projects to clients, with a focus on Oracle Fusion
Middleware, SOA, and BPM solutions
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Oracle credentials: Oracle Unified Business
Process Management Suite 11g Certified
Implementation Specialist, Oracle Service
Oriented Architecture Infrastructure
Implementation Certified Expert, and Oracle
Application Grid Implementation Specialist
What’s your favorite tool on the job? I’ve
been working with Oracle WebCenter Sites
for the last few months, and it’s a great
product for Web content delivery that should
be considered for any company with needs
around Web presence and content publishing. It really creates a whole new Web
management experience.
How are you using social media in your work?
I use Twitter to share my work, and I also
blog at oracleradio.blogspot.com. My blog
is targeted to the Spanish-speaking Oracle
community. I’ve been doing it since 2007,
and I normally write about the SOA and
BPM stack.
What’s your go-to Oracle reference book
these days? I normally rely on the books from
Packt Publishing. The authors are people who
have implemented the products, so what they
write comes from experience. In Mexico, I
can’t easily get the print books from Packt, so
I generally read them on my Kindle.
