Thinking Ahead to The Future

A few weeks back I was asked by one of our SIGs to give a Fusion Applications update. I said yes, but as I started to think about it I thought, I spoke to this group in October and then we had a lot of very successful Fusion Apps content in our annual conference, so did they want just a repeat of that?

Then the Scottish SIG committee asked me if I could talk about Fusion and EBS in 5 years time, and I thought yes that is what I can do for both groups. I spoke to a friend who is also a customer and she agreed, presentations just on Fusion Apps seem quite distant from the EBS we have today.

Looking forward, is a great exercise, what might change? What do we know will happen and what based on what has happened in the past may happen in the future? What other potential risks are there?

The UKOUG board is about the strategy to keep the organisation viable, financially healthy and providing what the member needs. We have regular strategy planning sessions and we too need to take the long term view. It is early days but recently Ronan and I have been looking at how we think UKOUG may look in 5 - 10 years time, and how do we plan to get there? We have a planning day with the board soon and between us we will agree a strategy. However it is not a once off exercise and must continuously be revisited. This is why the board is so important, it is not just about the next event.

I have been on the board for 8 years and deputy chair for the last 6 but every two years when it is time for board elections I get really nervous. So if you think I am doing a good job, or other members of the board up for re-election, then vote for us, or tell your main contact to do so. I really want to carry on supporting you.

Back to my presentation on Fusion Apps and EBS the next 5 years. A lot of people attended the session and I got very good feedback. I will present this a few more times around UKOUG where invited and in several overseas conferences over the next few months, but just like for UKOUG I need to constantly revise.

The presentation should be in the library soon and I could do a posting on it, when I find some time for this blog if people are interested.