JDE Work while based in Oz 2001 - 2008

In July 2001, my family an I moved back to Australia.

I still had a load of clients I was working with and so started direct contracting to them. I also had associations with specific partners for their technology work i.e Delloites, Coronel, Exiom Technolgoies etc.

I maintain my own lab where all versions are tested/upgraded on behalf of clients. In this time I got to work on the later versions of JDE (Enterprise One). This was a lifestyle choice as I no longer wished to work full time. I was basically doing 3 weeks on (overseas), then 3 weeks off (in Australia), and not working any Australian school holidays or my kids Birthdays.

in 2003, JD Edwards released an alpha version of their next generation of software which they named ERP9 (Note this is not the same ERP9 as released the end of 2008). I was able to assist with the installation of this due to my close relationship with Cabot in the US (I have provided all their technology support since 2001 with many weeks onsite in Atlanta).

Later when Peoplesoft took over JDE, they renamed it 8.9 for go live. Peoplesoft did not like the fact that ERP9 sounds like it is more advanced that their own version 8 product.

General :
Database ported Neumann's from DB2/UDB to Intel/Oracle
CNC Audits and Services for wide number of clients
Hardware Upgrades and platform porting
CNC Support Contracts
Upgrade planning sessions

Upgrades :
Upgraded Cabot to ERP9 (Alpha) (Intel/SQL) - This was proved too expensive to roll out due to development retrofitting
Upgraded Cabot to 8.9 (Intel/SQL) - This was proved too expensive to roll out due to development retrofitting
Upgraded Cabot to 8.10 (Intel/SQL) - This was proved too expensive to roll out due to development retrofitting
Upgraded Arup to 8.10 (HP9000/Oracle)
Upgraded Westminster City Council to 8.10 (HP9000/Oracle)
Upgraded Stonegate Farmers to 8.10
Upgraded Cope Allman to 8.10 from B733.2 (Later not rolled out)
Upgraded Norgren to 8.11 (AS400)
Upgraded Spirax Sarco to 8.11SP1 (Intel SQL)
Upgraded Cabot to 8.11SP1 (Intel/SQL) - This was proved too expensive to roll out due to development retrofitting

Installs :
Installed 8.10 to Neumanns (Petrolium Division)
Installed 8.12 to Cabot (Intel/SQL) - Remotely
Installed 8.12 to Stonegate Farmers (Intel/SQL) - Proof of Concept
Installed 8.12 to Ibstock (Intel/SQL) - Proof of Concept
Installed 8.12 to Altro (Intel/SQL) - Proof of Concept
Installed ERP9 to Cabot (Intel/SQL) - Remote assistance
Installed ERP9 to Cabot (Linux/Oracle) - Remote assistance

JD Edwards XE support was supposed to end and when Peoplesoft extended this support, the push to upgrade from XE was no longer on the table for many clients. As I specialise in upgrades, this meant I had to cut back on my UK trips. Instead of 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off which I did until 2007, I was now doing just 3 trips a year.

In 2007, I performed upgrade planning sessions and presentations for Thiess in Brisbane, Australia. The upgrade from their JDE B733.4 to Enterprise One 8.12 was approved, and this was performed in early 2007. I got a call in June 2007 as their technical project needed some assistance. They asked me to stay on as a consultant until after the go live, due October 2007. This was performed and once live, Thiess asked me to provide additional onsite support in a permanent part time position. Thiess have many thousands of users from India, to Indonesia and all over Australia. At monthend, it is not unusual to see over 900 concurrent users online. During normal processing, there are always over 700 users connected and processing. This is the largest web user for Enterprise One in Asia/Pacific.

I have been doing this permanent part time role ever since, and take time off to service other clients in the UK and the USA as required. I have also provided pre and post sales consultancy to Business Partners in Australia.

I expect 2009 to be the time for ERP9 upgrades for a number of my 'die hard' clients that I support. The global financial issues may decide that this is not the case - only time will tell.

Well..... That is the history of Vaise Williams and his work with JD Edwards software and third party technologies. All posts from now on will be technical in nature as I use this forum to document my thoughts on JDE, bugs and oportunities I find, and my processes to perform specific CNC activities.

All posts will be a little hap hazzard for some time while I convert my many documents and processes to blog format for uploading.

JDE Work while based in the UK 1999 - 2001

In December, 1998 I moved the the U.K to join Whittman Hart to build and lead their advanced technologies group in Europe, then a year later I joined Coronel Consulting, in the same role (I got out 2 months before the tech crash - hows that for luck). It was in this time that the XE version of OneWorld came out (B7333) which was seen to be a milestone for JD Edwards as this was the most stable release. I still work with a number of these clients from time to time.

1999 - 2002

B73.2.2
B73.3.0
B73.3.1
B73.3.2
B73.3.3 (XE)

A short list of the work performed in that timeframe is thus :

General :
Provided CNC support and CNC audits to a large number of clients as directed by JD Edwards for all of Europe
Maintained support contracts for specific clients
Database ported Lindt UK from AS400 to Intel/SQL Server
Database ported Internation paper from AS400 to Intel/Oracle
Database ported Oxford Industries from AS400 to Intel/SQL
Database ported Fife Council from DB2/UDB to Oracle
Database ported Criterion Asset Management from AS400 to Intel/SQL

Installs :
Installed B73.2.2 to Aggregate Industries (RS9000/Oracle)
Installed B73.3.0 to Bioglan (Intel/SQL)
Installed B733.1 to Whitbread Pubs (AS400)
Installed Gullivers Travel to B73.3.1 (AS400)
Installed B733.2 to Brinks (Intel/SQL)
Installed B733.2 to Sheffiled City Council (HP9000/Oracle
Installed B73.3.2 to International Paper (AS400)
Installed B73.3.2 to Viewlocity (Atlanta, G.A) (Intel/SQL)
Installed B73.3.2 to CMPi (including World to OneWorld conversion) (Intel/SQL)
Installed B73.3.2 to CSF (Intel/SQL)
Installed XE to Electrolux (as part of Deloittes) (AS400)
Installed XE to Orthofix (Intel/SQL)
Installed XE to Infast (AS400)
Installed XE to Viewlocity (Atlanta GA) (Intel/SQL)
Installed XE to Fife Council (AIX/DB2UDB) - This was the first DB2/UDB in the world!
Installed Cabot Corp (Atlanta GA) with XE (They ported many AS400 World system to this single clustered SQL Server solution).

Upgrades :
Upgraded More Group to B73.3.0 (Intel/SQL)
Upgraded Bioglan to B73.3.1 (Intel/SQL)
Upgraded More Group to B73.3.1 (Intel/Oracle)
Upgraded Racal B73.3.1 (Intel/SQL)
Upgraded Stewo (Switzerland) B73.3.1 (Intel/SQL)
Upgraded Bioglan to B73.3.2 (Intel/SQL)
Upgraded BSkyB to B73.3.2 (HP9000/Oracle)
Upgraded Microtronica to B73.3.2 (HP9000/Oracle)
Upgraded Aggregates to XE (RS6000/Oracle)
Upgraded Christies to XE (Intel/Oracle)
Upgraded Hayles to XE (Intel/SQL)
Upgraded Wedgewood to XE Co-Existance (AS400)
Upgraded Sheffield City Council to XE
Upgrded Liberata to XE
Upgraded Criterion Asset Management to XE
Upgraded CSF to XE

In mid 2001, the 'boom' times of JDE Consulting were almost over. The JD Edwards sales were drying up, The XE product was quite stable, and hence the consulting requirements were reduced. My family said they would like to return to Australia so we sold up, and moved back - but I still had active clients in the UK and USA so I started 'travelling'. That will be in a separate post.

JDE Versions used While at JD Edwards/AusNZ to End 1998

These are the list of versions of JDE that I have worked on, or upgraded to / from up to the end for 1998 while living in Australia and working for JDEdwards Australia/NZ.

We regularely upgraded clients to the later releases. The software had quite a few 'oportunities' in those days. There were many client installed in Australia & New Zealand however the most memorable time for me was Yalumba wines which was championed by JD Edwards Australia. We had access to the Alpha program for that client and I spent many a week in the Barossa Valley - A hard life! For the techies out there, the early JDE versions had no security server, no scheduler and no host processing at all. These were just a deployment server, a database server and fat clients. All jobs were run locally. We have come a long way!

1996 - 1998

B7A02
B71.4
B72.1
B72.2
B73.1
B73.1.1
B73.1.2
B73.2.0
B73.2.1
B73.2.2 Alpha

My First Blog

Hello.

This blog has been started to get my thoughts down and to track technical stuff I find interesting which will relate to Oracle Enterprise One and its associated technology components and partners. I will use this area to store information that I may require in the future. Others may also find it interesting.

I started my JDE career as Group Technology Manager for JD Edwards Australia and New Zealand, based in Sydney, Australia. That was in 1996. That was very early days for what we now call 'JD Edwards Enterprise One'. Of course the product is now owned by Oracle, after a time in the hands of Peoplesoft.

In 1996, I was experienced in PC's, Novell Networking and IBM AS400's. I came from 6 years as Operations and Communications Manager of Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast, Australia. When I first started at JD Edwards, I dabbled a bit in World software on the AS400 (now called ISeries) and did a few installs of that application however my initial focus was to build and manage the internal systems, networks and standards for the JD Edwards offices in Australia and New Zealand.

Glenn Tubb - probably the best boss in the world, positioned me to champion the new 'Everest' product being developed in Denver, USA. This ran on Windows for Workgroups, and had a database server, a deployment server and fat clients. It in no way resembles the product we have today. I got to go to Denver many times to learn the product, and bring back the skills to teach other technocal consultants in Australia and New Zealand. North Forest Products was the first cab off the rank - and JDE Australia performed major developent for them to create their system.

In 1997, 1998 and1999, JD Edwards Aus/NZ were at the forefront of installations and upgrades worldwide, and I got to work on most of them. We championed the 'REP' methodology and it was stated at the time that we had most of the reference clients for the entire world.

I sadly left JD Edwards Aus/NZ at the end of 1999 as I had accomplished all there was to do, and Europe came calling (these were then the 'boom' times for JD Edwards consultancy).

My next blog will detail some of the OneWorld versions used in the 'old days'!

Thanks.