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Motivation

Nitin Jain — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:12:11 +0000

Just found this vid too good to resist !!

PS. Who would like to see some interesting stuff being done on Siebel 8.1.1 ??

No related posts.

Google PAC-MAN

Nitin Jain — Sun, 23 May 2010 21:13:44 +0000

hi Guys..

Great news!! Google has always been at the forefront of technology. It has many a times defined the things to come. Now, Google has done it again.

Google homepage is probably the most important property on the Internet today. God, if they opened it up for external advertisements, I am just wondering what the winning bid in the auction would be!

Well, another thing that Google homepage has been famous for (except the retouch done to it recently), is the Google Doodle. On many special occassions, Google has been redesigning its logo to suite the occassion, to celebrate it, and to show regards to something that happened in history. This time around, however, I feel what Google did, was totally revolutionary.

Google celebrated 30 years of Pacman by creating a Doodle out of it. See the fantastic still screenshot below.

Google PAC-MAN

The difference between this one, and the previous Google doodles is, this was only the second time that the Doodle was animated. The first instance was an apple falling, and Sir Issac Newton observing it fall.

The revolutionary aspect of this doodle is that it was written in HTML5, the new paradigm on the Web. With this, I see a strong support from Google stable towards HTML5, and an indirect dig at Adobe. Boss, just wondering, does this spell the end of Flash as we know it?

Google has just substantiated what Apple’s Steve Jobs remarked a few weeks ago. Flash has done pretty good service over the years. But now, it’s time. HTML5 is the new way to go. The best part is, the new standard is just as much, if not more powerful than flash in its current form. Though it was taken off air after 22 May, a lot of people over the internet did public service by making it available offline on their websites. I am not sure on the legal aspects of such a move, to be honest.

Well, the good news is, Google has decided to make this game available to everybody, for some more time, albeit not on their homepage. Check out the link, www.google.com/pacman. Thanks Google!

I am getting a little nostalgic now, to be honest. I remember playing for hours and hours continuously on my XT/AT comps, way back when I was a kid. Really used to mess up my dad’s machines because of my love for PACKMAN !! With the advent of the Pentiums, the same game would just run too fast for me to handle, and it lost its charm when my old comps went out of order. Now, I am back at it again!! Thanks, Google..

Boy, would I like to work at Google for a couple of months?! Not because of the free lunches, or the colorful office attire, but J-L-T. You know, and I know, it’s not possible!!

hey.. what’s your best score at Google’s PAC-MAN?? Mine is 40,000+

New Google Chrome Ads

Nitin Jain — Sat, 22 May 2010 19:12:20 +0000

Hi guyz…

All of you must have noticed up till now, as to how big a google fan I am. After all, there has been a fair amount of Google activity on this CRM blog!

But, hey, this is a Technical platform, open to ANY technology, not just CRM..

Following are some of the new advertisements released by Google, for its new Chrome browser. We all talk a lot about keeping it simple in Software Development. And, we also know that Google has produced some of the most complicated softwares in the world till date.

Well, simplicity is easier said than implemented. Google gives the best example of relating to the non-techies in the recently released ads below. I liked them, what’s your take?

In the first one, the music gives the old, rustic feeling. Rudimentary mechanical images at work to explain the new features.

In the second one, Google promotes its Universal Translation feature supported in multiple languages around the world. Google also takes a jab on the phrase, “Something that seems simple, isn’t always so simple”. Check out the one below..

PS. Normal CRM posts from me would revive in about 2 weeks. I have something urgent and critical lined up. In case you wish to write something, you are most welcome. Just drop me a note on admin@geeksbloggingat.com. Cheers!

Siebel – Upgrade Process – Part II

Nitin Jain — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 04:50:59 +0000

This is a continuation from the post, Siebel – Upgrade Process – Part I.

Step 5: Merge Repositories
Use Siebel Tools. In my Siebel Tools, the path is Tools -> Upgrade -> Upgrade Application…
You may need to Prepare a Repository before this.
Follow the suggested steps to merge the Current Repository to the Repository in the new release.

Step 6: Run Post-Merge Utilities
You would be able to leverage the Postmerge Utilities to Upgrade Form Applets, and to verify that Applets and Views are configured correctly, available directly in Siebel Tools. These analyze any Customizations in the existing Installation and apply changes as needed. These would now conform to the new UI in the new Siebel Application.

Step 7: Upgrade Custom Database Schema (upgphys)
Run the DB Configuration Utility in “upgphys” mode this time. It’ll further upgrade the Siebel Database with changes resulting from Repositories Merge. Basically, this takes care of the Customizations and completes the Database Upgrade.

Step 8: Perform the Post-Upgrade Tasks
Install the new Siebel Tools on the Developer Workstations and Extract Developer Databases of the Upgraded Application. Don’t forget to run Database Statistics.
Set up User Access and Visibility of Screens and Views.
Migrate Data and prepare for Testing.

Finally, Test, test and Test !!

Siebel – Upgrade Process – Part I

Nitin Jain — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 04:48:14 +0000

If you have reached here, I assume you have already been through the Siebel Upgrade Assessment, and Planning steps.
Siebel – Why Upgrade? – Part I
Siebel – Why Upgrade? – Part II
Siebel – Upgrade Roadmap – Part I
Siebel – Upgrade Roadmap – Part II

Next step is to run the Upgrade.

Step 1: Upgrade you IT Infrastructure
Your IT Support Partner suggests upgrading to the latest version owing to the plethora of new functionality supported by it. Question: Have you discussed the expected increase on loading of your existing IT Infrastructure correspondingly?

Check out the minimum System Requirements Suggested by Oracle for the new Siebel Version that you are upgrading to. Don’t be afraid to factor in something extra. They are only the MINIMUM set of requirements, not the ideal ones!

After upgrading the Hardware, Upgrade the Siebel Enterprise Server to the new release. In the process, it also generates some files relevant in future steps of the Upgrade.

Step 2: Perform Pre-Upgrade Tasks
Prepare the Siebel Database for upgrade. Includes closing all Database Connections, Clearing pending Workflow Tasks, Disabling Custom Triggers, among others.

Step 3: Prepare Application Data
Prepare some Test Data for Migration. It is always smart to use only a small subset covering all major functionalities rather than the humongous Database that most organizations house today. You would obviously need to run the various tasks many a times over during the Upgrade, trying hit and trial in many of the cases. Time is precious. Save it!

Step 4: Siebel Database Upgrade (Upgrep)
Database Configuration Utility is one of the Best friends a Siebel Admin can have. Run it in the “Upgrep” mode. This performs a basic Upgrade of the Siebel Database Schema. Also, it loads the repositories to prepare for Repository Merge.

Stay tuned for the next part in the series..

Siebel – Upgrade Roadmap – Part II

Nitin Jain — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 03:20:34 +0000

This is a continuation of my previous post, Siebel – Upgrade Roadmap – Part I.

As a part of the planning phase, feel free to:
1) Analyze the Complexity of the Upgrade
2) Be a good estimator of the level of effort needed to upgrade. Don’t mind putting in a few extra days in the plan than to crib later.

3) This is the Best type to deactivate, or phase out obsolete requirements. Make the most of the opportunity. As a Manager, you can always pass it on as something that will improve System Performance by cutting out the crap!
4) Good time to incorporate a few new requirements as well, based on some of the new functionalities supported out of the box
5) Define Team Roles, and set responsibility.
6) Is the application heavily Interfaced with other Applications? Wish you Best of Luck!
7) Check out the links on the Oracle My Oracle Support Portal regarding all the Alerts, etc. beforehand.
Try googling, or getting in touch with Experienced Partners to collate all the proven tools which can help the Upgrade be faster, and more efficient.
9) Data Migration, a point in question.
10) Some of the functionalities may not work EXACTLY the same as they did in the previous version. Plan User Training sessions in advance. Factor in appropriate time and Resources.

Step 3: Upgrade!
Start with the Development Environment. Upgrade and experiment as much as you want.
Practice with the upgrade on the Test Environment.
Okay, so good so far. Let’s now run a flaw-less Upgrade on the Production Environment! Cheers!

Stay tuned for the following posts on the Upgrade Process…

Siebel – Upgrade Roadmap – Part I

Nitin Jain — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:17:23 +0000

You may find my previous posts on “Why to Upgrade?” interesting. As a follow-up to it, here, I would present a typical Process of Siebel CRM Upgrade.

I’ll cover the steps, and the some of the factors you could possibly keep in mind, while planning and executing an Upgrade. This would be the next step after you have taken the decision, “Yes, I have to upgrade!”.

Step 1: Assess and Analyze existing Siebel Installation
If you have already gone through my previous post on, “Why to Upgrade?”, you are already past this step. In case you haven’t yet, feel free to reach out to it. Hey, you can access it for free here!

Ask yourself the following questions whenever you are pondering over a Software Upgrade:
1) Do I really need an upgrade?
2) What is it in my business that my current implementation is not able to solve?
3) What are the clear Business benefits that the new system brings to the table? Are they relevant to me?
4) If I must upgrade, is my existing IT Infrastructure upto the demands of the new version Installation?
5) How much time do I have before my IT Support for my current version runs out?

Step 2: Plan the Upgrade
An Upgrade is a project in itself. Though most of it is automated, yet, that is no reason to sit cushy assuming things are bight at the other end of the tunnel. As a matter of fact, from my personal point of view, there are more pitfalls in case of an Upgrade, than in the case of a full-fledged implementation. Watch out for my upcoming post, “Siebel – Upgrade or Implement, that is the question!”.

Planning an upgrade is thus, almost as important a consideration than actually carrying it out. Personally I am a big fan of planning and sorting things out, before even hitting the Development Desk, lest you don’t mind messing up things out of ignorance.

But, don’t go by my words. I know quite a big lot of guyz who hit the desk straight away, and produce much better results than what I do..!!

.. to be continued ..

Siebel – Why Upgrade? – Part II

Nitin Jain — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:03:20 +0000

This is a continuation of the post, “Siebel – Why Upgrade? – Part I”.

Here are some more..

3) Talk about Performance and Efficiency. Though I agree that the new software generally runs with a higher efficiency with most of the old bugs closed, the higher performance almost always comes at a cost of higher Hardware Configuration as well.

The new softwares are, however, seen to be efficient to handle larger volumes of data, or to churn out decisions on the basis of the humongous data store. Maybe, the old system didn’t support it in the first place to make it possible, forget about efficiency!

4) With each higher version, I have personally noted that Siebel Data Model becomes more and more complex. This in turn means more and more universally agreed standards now form a part of the Siebel CRM Installation. This helps a Customer become more aware of the global standards that he may introduce in his organization, if not already there, or to align his Business Process accordingly.

Another fall-out of this, is higher Regulatory Compliance. Now, how many times have I heard Customers going in for implementation of packaged Applications owing to requirements to map to the local Regulatory Requirements?!

Plan ahead, to be ahead.

Feel free to add, or suggest. I am leaving the ground open. Cheers!

Siebel – Why Upgrade? – Part I

Nitin Jain — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:13:39 +0000

Hi all,

I am back to Siebel Technical Stuff after a long time. I recently worked as a part of a Siebel Upgrade Project for one of my clients.

Siebel Upgrade is a version update methodology supported by Oracle. The Customer can easily upgrade from an older version of Siebel to a higher version.

There is generally a very wide range of reasons as to why people may decide to upgrade. These may range from the obvious, to the obscure, and to truly blasphemous to some CRM Consultants. But, I guess this is one very important aspect which keeps the IT Industry rolling!!

Well, amongst many others, following are some of the popular reasons for which Organizations may decide to upgrade their existing Siebel, or other IT Software Installations.

1) This particular customer of ours very serious about the system running as smoothly as possible. Following this methodology, he banks on a lot of support from Microsoft and Oracle to avoid any issues in Production going forward. The issue is, Microsoft is phasing out support for Windows Server 2003 soon. To make matters worse, Siebel 7.5 is not certified to run on MS Windows Server 2008, the next logical step.

Solution: Upgrade to nearest higher version of Siebel which is supported on the new MS OS. The one you are using is on fire right now.

2) Generally, there is a whole lot of new functionality that Oracle introduces with each new version of Siebel CRM. The customers may want to make use of some of these new functionalities. The Business Benefit may imply a case strong enough to justify the extra cost of moving up to the new version.

Who knows, a Customer may just be able to eliminate a buggy Custom Module altogether by making use of some new functionality provided OOB in a higher version!

Wait for the remaining part of the post. What do you think could be the other reasons?

Siebel : Security Vulnerability !

Nitin Jain — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:17:46 +0000

This post could have far-reaching implications. I am still at crossroads whether I should be covering this or not..

The baseline is that there has been a Security Vulnerability detected, and announced. It is said to have been detected nearly a year ago, and informed to the Parent Organization. However, despite a year passing by, we are not aware of any remedial action having been taken by the Corporation. Since the vulnerability has already been publicly announced over the internet, we feel it’s safe to cover it here as well. We feel morally responsible to apprise Oracle Corp of the issue by building sufficient public opinion to patch it..

This Security Vulnerability has been detected in some of the older versions of Oracle’s very popular Siebel CRM Softwa=re, aka versions 7.7 and 7.8. It has not been tested on the older versions, but, expectedly it would appear there as well.

This Security Loophole has been detected by “Yaniv Miron”, a Security Researcher from Israel. Click here to reach his LinkedIn profile directly.

The vulnerability comes by the name of, “Oracle Siebel CRM ’start.swe’ Cross Site Scripting Vulnerability”.

It is rated “Low Risk”, and is Remotely Exploitable.

The following is directly from VUPEN :
” ..This vulnerability could be exploited by attackers to execute arbitrary scripting code. This issue is caused by an input validation error in the “htim_enu/start.swe” script when processing user-supplied data, which could be exploited by attackers to cause arbitrary scripting code to be executed by the user’s browser in the security context of an affected site.. “

SECUNIA says..
” ..Input passed via the URL to htim_enu/start.swe is not properly sanitised before being returned to the user. This can be exploited to execute arbitrary HTML and script code in a user’s browser session in context of an affected site.. “

A simple example could be:

http://example.com/htim_enu/start.swe/?>'">

Jan 2009 – Vulnerability found
Jan 2009 – Vendor Notification
Feb 2010 – Public Disclosure

Complete details about the vulnerability can be found at the following URLs where it was first reported:
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2010/0516
http://seclists.org/bugtraq/2010/Mar/6

The original Advisories may be downloaded from the links below:
Siebel Loyalty Advisory
Siebel CRM Advisory

The vulnerability is already popular over Twitter.. try the link below..
Twitter Links for Siebel Advisory

Could there be better reasons to Upgrade to the latest Siebel versions, 8.x ?
Considering Siebel CRM is an expensive product targetted only at the companies with $250K+ revenues, this is all the more important.

Note: This post is for informational purposes only.
The author of this document is not and will not hold any responsibility for any illegal or unauthorized use of the information contained within this document, or that is implied from it.
The author of this document does not encourage in any way whatsoever, attacking any Siebel based System.

10 Reasons to Adopt Salesforce.com

Nitin Jain — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:56:06 +0000

After the post on why NOT to adopt Salesforce.com, here is another one to complement it!

“10 Reasons to Adopt Salesforce.com”…

1. Brand Image
2. Easy Installation
3. Customization
4. Online facilities
5. Third party solutions
6. Pricing
7. Benefits to small business
8. Customer Service
9. User-friendly Interface
10. Innovation

Read the whole story directly from the Parent site…

Salesforce.com not upto the mark?

Nitin Jain — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:32:10 +0000

Salesforce.com is touted as the next big thing in CRM. At times, Analysts have also dared to compare it to Siebel CRM. Some of them have even gone onto believe that Salesforce.com will eventually gain marketshare at Siebel’s expense.

Though this remains to be seen, Salesforce.com with it Cloud Computing prowess and PaaS methodology does present a compelling case.

Till now, we had heard only the good things about it. Recently, I came across a very interesting article, “10 Reasons Not to Adopt Salesforce.com for Customer Relationship Management” by Partho. Following are the reasons he outlines:

1. Integration and extensions
2. Dashboard
2. Functionality (point 2 repeated. Guess it makes 11 reasons in all !)
3. Not apt for sell services
4. System downtime
5. Back office functionality
6. No SLA(service level agreement)
7. Multi-tenant architecture
8. Data Quality
9. Add-ons
10. Lacks website/web store

Barring a couple of points that I don’t agree with, I guess Partho has a very interesting case!

Check out the complete article at its source.

My Oracle Support Non Flash Version

Nitin Jain — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:07:16 +0000

We all need Professional support one time or the other, no matter, what our role is in a Project Implementation.

Professional Support for Siebel from the vendor has gone from..
Siebel Supportweb (god, I loved it!) -> Oracle Metalink3 -> Oracle’s My Oracle Support

My Oracle Support has brought with itself a Pandora’s box of problems, more than the benefits that is offers. The Flash enabled version has a neat UI to look at, and somewhat better navigability. Well, the aesthetics is definitely better.

But, for quite a lot of reasons we may want not to use the Flash enabled version of My Oracle Support. They could range from unfamiliar Interface, to Performance, Flash is not available on my Work Computer!

Flash Enabled Version:
http://support.oracle.com

Non Flash Version:
http://supporthtml.oracle.com

Welcome back, Metalink!

Google Advertising Chrome now?

Nitin Jain — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:01:21 +0000

Well, here it is. After Google advertising its Search, it’s the turn of its Web Browser, Google Chrome to be advertised now!!

Check out the video below:

As a matter of my personal choice, I liked the Search ones better.

Oracle + Sun : New Download Site

Nitin Jain — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:54:44 +0000

This one came through the new Google Buzz. Guess too much buzzing happening all of a sudden..

After completing the acquisition of Sun last week, all of Sun’s Downloads are available with a new ORACLE branding. Check out the link below:

http://www.sun.com/download/

woooh!! m still trying to get used to Oracle logo on a Sun website!

Thanks for the tip, @lex..

Oracle buys Convergin

Nitin Jain — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:24:29 +0000

Oracle has announced buying out of Convergin. The never ending hunger of the giant that Oracle is, just doesn’t show any signs of tiring down.

Convergin is an Israeli based start-up. They are leading providers of real-time service brokering solutions. A service brokering solution is a software that lets telcos deliver services across multiple networks and platforms.

I took the following off Ericsson’s website:
“.. In recent years, costly and slow integration has created an unnecessary gap between the telephone companies (or telco) and IT worlds. However, collaboration between Internet and telecom standards is essential for future development. The service broker concept has been developed to fill this gap. Indeed, the service broker provides a flexible layer in the telecom architecture to bridge these two worlds. Such a concept is essential to coordinate the diverse future services and provide mash-up opportunities through a single point of entry ..”

Wanna know more? Check out this link, and feel free to read at your leisure about the Service Brokering Solution.

Pre-paid charging of mobile phones is just as important as billing for the Post Paid Customers. Convergin provides a J2EE based Service Broker Platform enabling the Service Providers to manage services for a wide range of networks and applications.

As Oracle says, combination of Oralce and Convergin is expected to provide a single carrier grade, standards based IT platform allowing CSPs to effectively evolve their service delivery capabilities at a lower total cost of ownership.

Oracle already has a handsone Communications’ integrated Product Suite. It includes Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management, Oracle Communications Converged Application Server and Oracle Communications service fulfillment applications.

Convergin’s products are expected to complement Oracle’s existing arsenal in the domain, and thus improve the Customer Experience for Oracle’s Customers. Convergin’s customers include T-Mobile and SaskTel. Its competitors include Apptrigger, Aepona and OpenCloud.

Though the financial details of the deal were not disclosed, it is expected to close in the first half of this year.

This is Oracle’s second acquisition in the week. Oracle had previously announced its plans to buy SOA Management Vendor, AmberPoint.

Google goes down??

Nitin Jain — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:30:30 +0000

whoa.. just couldn’t resist posting this…

just tried to log onto Google.com.. look what I found..

Google Down

Google is supposedly the most stable web address on the internet.. remember the secret sauce by Mr Page???

Just once in a while .. this happens too I guess..
Just thinking.. now that Google has loads of money in its bank.. doesn’t this call for a redesign?

Regular columns coming back soon.

Cloud Computing : Plain and Simple

Nitin Jain — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:27:46 +0000

The following video on YouTube, says it all:

Google Advertising Chrome now?

Google advertising its Search??

Nitin Jain — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:53:51 +0000

Is the Bing competition really heating up enough to give Google the jitters? That is the question that you may ask on the basis of Bing’s rising popularity, and Bing fast becoming the engine of choice for many.

Yet, this seems premature since at least one of the reports has shown Google Search still occupying the apex position with more than 72% of Search Market share. Search has been one of the biggest cash cows for Google, which it continues to milk. Whether it is happening today or not, Google probably cannot risk it.

Somebody has said, “The best mode of Defence, is Offence”.

Now, the question, how often do you use Google Search?
What all do you use it for? Which all sections of the society could potentially be using Google Search?

Check out some interesting Google Search Advertisements that I ran across on YouTube last night. They definitely make an interesting watch.

Who else?
Do you think Batman would have a use for Google Search somewhere? Think again..

Seems quite some use for Google in everybody’s life, eh?? As if we don’t know!!

Fastest Web Application yet??

Nitin Jain — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:26:48 +0000

I just had to share this!

How fast do you think can you build a fully functional Web Application? A little bit of twist here. The Web Application must have the Session Handling facility through Java Session Beans. It can optionally make use of Java Service Facades (I am still wondering what in the world that is!!).

A month, 10 days, 5 days??

How about 10 minutes?
Shay Shmelter from Oracle is back with a miracle for us. He has created a fully functional Web Application using Oracle JDeveloper (part of the Oracle SOA Suite) and ADF bindings. Check out the video here. It really is a visual treat.

Is Oracle throwing out a challenge to everybody here?
Just a thought. What prevents this exact scenario to be simulated in other IDEs or RAD Tools? With a little background preparation and practice, a pro may just be able to simulate it in NetBeans as well.

Did I hear NO?? Be a little louder please. You are not audible yet!