Oracle Magazine - March/April 2012

IT Superman
Architect by day, user group leader by night:
IOUG President Andy Flower guides his organization
on a powerful new course.

The growing international membership of the Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG) means that outgoing president Andy Flower sometimes gets mistaken for a famous international cricket player by the same name. But while that Andy Flower might be an expert batsman, he probably can’t manage a database or run a growing global networking and knowledge-sharing group.

IOUG’s Andy Flower is actually a mild-mannered Kansan whose day job has him focusing on strategic information architecture and integration solutions. And he does have an alter ego: this IT Superman has doubled as IOUG president since 2010. He got involved with the group almost by accident: In 1998, his boss at the time asked Flower to take his place on an IOUG conference committee at the last minute. “And 13 years later, here I am: president of IOUG,” he says.

Now Flower, who has been an IOUG board member for six years, is wrapping up his term as president. I caught up with him at Oracle Open World 2011 to discuss the evolving role of IOUG, his experience with the organization, and what’s next.

IOUG President Andy Flower

NE T WORKING AND COMMUNICATION

IOUG’s primary role is as a networking and knowledge-sharing organization. “We want our members to participate, network, and talk about how they can optimize their Oracle products and get the most out of their investments,” Flower says.

The group’s secondary role, which has grown and improved over the years, is communicating with Oracle. “We let Oracle know what our members are thinking and give them direct feedback about products, contracts, licensing, and the pain points of being an Oracle customer,” Flower explains.

IOUG leaders take pride in listening to the
needs of their members and relaying those
needs back to Oracle. The organization regu-
larly surveys its members in targeted ways
to find out what’s important to them. “The
surveys help us see the trends and under-
stand the challenges that our members are
dealing with, such as big data,” Flower says.
Survey results in hand, IOUG leaders meet
with Oracle executives to convey the issues
of importance to their members. Oracle has
been very open to this information, Flower
says, and has responded to requests related
to Oracle Database, virtualization, and secu-
rity, among other topics.

IOUG is creating more Oracle Exadata–related programming and networking opportunities, both in person and online. For example, COLLABORATE 12 (April 22–26, 2012) will feature more than 30 Oracle Exadata–focused sessions that are nearly all customer-led, and an all-day boot camp, Flower says. The group has active Oracle Exadata special interest and LinkedIn groups and also offers monthly Webinars on Oracle Exadata topics.

In addition to Oracle Exadata, other hot
topics include Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud
and Oracle Database Appliance. “I think IOUG
is at an interesting point in its history,” Flower
says. “There was a period of time where the
only thing we had to talk about was the next
big [Oracle Database] release. Not that that
was unimportant, but it wasn’t a massive sea
change. Now, with the ‘Exa’ machines, there’s
a whole lot more to talk about.”
It’s an interesting time for Flower, too. As
he steps back from IOUG, he is planning to
spend more time with his family and at his
day job and to look for new opportunities
to give back. “I have a feeling that I’ll find a
way to continue to contribute to IOUG, but
perhaps I’ll find other outlets for some of my
volunteer time—maybe something more
local and closer to home that has an impact
on my community.” Just don’t look for
Flower to take up cricket any time soon. 

HOT TOPICS

While the group’s core interest has always been Oracle Database, the scope has expanded as Oracle has grown to include a complete Oracle technology stack and more. One of the hottest topics among members these days is Oracle Exadata Database Machine. “It’s still new and not known for those who haven’t had a chance to touch it,” says Flower. “Members are looking for more information about engineered systems and their benefits to organizations.” In response,