The Oracle ACE Associate award

16 June 2015

In the beginning of the year, I've been awarded as Oracle ACE Associate. It was the first time I've earned something like that so I'm very proud and happy. It's not a secret I've been working with Oracle Comms since 2007 but it wasn't until last year I started to be more active in social networks, writing articles and attending conferences. I should have started to do it sooner but it's not so easy, and it isn't until now I really know my desired professional path.

Oracle ACE Associate

Let me explain the different reasons because this award is important to me.

Optare Solutions

Optare is a great company full of potential ACEs. I remember RittmanMead (a similar company in the BI space) and how they promote their workers to became Oracle ACE and participate in technical conferences. I know how important is this type of activities. Things like that provide a more clear professional path, increase the visibility of the company (hey! They have 5 Orace ACE and 1 Oracle ACE Director) and, even more important, it helps to identify and retain talented people. I am the first Oracle ACE Associate in Optare. I hope this is only the beginning. There are really good Oracle consultants and developers in the company, so the most important thing (the know-how) is not going to be the problem.

Oracle Communications

Even if Oracle Comms is quite big after the adquisitions of ACME and Tekelec, the OTN community is quite inactive. For example, the last OTN article published here it was in 2005, and not, the solution isn't close the section!. I would like to see a more active community and that was the reason of my Oracle ACE Associate submission. I know it's a big task and it's impossible to achieve it alone but there are some people inside Oracle working in this direction and I am quite positive. A probe of that is the TADHack and the Oracle Sandbox promoted by Douglas Tait, he's doing a great job building a developers community. I am sure we'll see important updates in the following months.

Myself

Everyone likes to receive awards and I am not different. But more important, it's a good sign about how I am doing things right now. In the end of 2012, I left Accenture and my work as Project Manager. I returned to Optare Solutions and it's a decision I don't regret. But I've to paid the fee: stop my career as manager and back to be a technical guy. Being an IT worker in Spain is never more a professional suicide. There are some cool companies as Optare Solutions and Quobis, or you can work remotely for foreign companies. All you have to do is to be a good engineer and speak English well. That's the reason because Oracle ACE Associate is important to me: it probes both.

Other important point, Oracle ACE Associate gives me access to some cool resources and the possibility to speak in technical conferences. I really appreciate that right now. And, of course, I have some cool Oracle stuff now :-)

I can not end this blog post without mention Miguel Garcia. He was the guy who has nominated me for the award. It's an honor to be nominated for someone so good and experienced as Miguel. Thanks!