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Elevating Hospitality to the Cloud By Dr. Peter Agel, Global Segment Leader Hotels, Oracle - Converting to dynamic, centralized, pay-as-you-go computing is helping hoteliers improve profitability, lower cost, and meet...

The March 28 edition of Yale Daily News includes the following article highlighting that university administrators are currently determining the best approach for upgrading Yale University's aging Oracle computer system - a set of applications that handle finance, budgeting, payroll and other administrative tasks.  The article notes that updating the current system will ensure the software continues to operate efficiently and effectively.  The article also notes that administrators will reach a decision about the upgrade before the fiscal year ends on June 30.

The Aug. 15 edition of GreenTechMedia includes the following article discussing the future of the smart grid. The article highlights smart grid expert Andres Carvallo's presentation from The Soft Grid 2012 conference, and notes his comments regarding utilities' adoption of cloud computing and the utility "big data" challenge. The article mentions that Austin Energy is working on with Oracle on an IT-based project. The article also includes a comment from Oracle Utilities' Linda Jackman noting that utilities have their own reasons to keep as much of their IT work in-house as possible, but investor-owned utilities in particular are under pressure to spend on IT capital expenses, which they can recover in rate cases, rather than on operational expenses like cloud services that do not offer such guaranteed payback.

The Aug. 14 edition of GreenTechMedia includes the following article highlighting the ten predictions and trends for what the utilities industry will see in the software and smart grid market in coming years identified by the keynote speakers at GreenTechMedia's The Soft Grid 2012 conference. The fourth trend sited in the article notes the increasing role of open-source platforms in terms of distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers. The article notes that legacy players in the industry, such as Oracle, are building solutions around new open-source platforms.

Meanwhile, Saks is working with Oracle in an ambitious project called Project Evolution that will deliver new computer systems including merchandising and finance. That will help Saks meld its online business with its physical stores. For example, by fall 2013, the company plans to be able to fulfill online orders from its Saks Fifth Avenue stores.

The August 1 edition of University Business includes the following article highlighting how Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is changing its student orientation protocol from a manual system to a more technologically-friendly advising and registration experience. The article notes that the University uses Oracle's PeopleSoft Campus Solutions to speed up the process of student check-in and to provide more accurate and up-to-date orientation forms on tablet computers.

The October 15 edition of Insider Higher Ed includes an article discussing colleges looking to upgrade administrative computer systems in the coming years. The article notes that Kuali, a nonprofit created by a group of colleges, is trying to get a piece of the action noting that its supporters must convince college officials that they are wasting money when buying software from for-profit companies such as Oracle and other competitors. Additionally, the article discusses how the University of Minnesota, which runs on PeopleSoft, is in the midst of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) program upgrade and decided to embark on a re-implementation if its Oracle software.

Hosted cloud computing is becoming an increasingly hot market. Amazon Web Services (AWS), which recently launched a major Indian initiative in Alibaba's backyard, maintains a dominant position. Oracle has released a slew of more than 24 new additions to the Oracle Cloud Platform. Also Google is entering a new partnership that will base the next generation of JDA Software Group of cloud-based omnichannel and supply chain solutions on the public Google Cloud Platform.

Retail is becoming an increasingly hot market for hosted cloud computing providers. Some of those providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Aliyun cloud division of Alibaba, are operated by retailers.

Highlighting that United Water announced that after two years of planning, development and training, the company is launching a new computer system with Oracle software to store customer information and calculate their bills. The article notes that the investment in Oracle technology will improve the customer experience and help the company adapt to changing customer needs.

Highlights a recent Oracle study of utility executives that found major smart grid implementation concerns include service reliability and consumer reactions to rate hikes.

As Oracle's OpenWorld user conference closes for another year, Computer Weekly reflects on the challenge retailers face in the age of big data