Quest Q and A Spring 2010 : Page 13
1 in 50,000 Meet SiG Leader JaMeS WatSon Connect with the JD Edwards Industrial Manufacturing/Distribution SIG Onsite at COLLABORATE – Tuesday, April 20 at 8 a.m. (Jasmine G). Come for a discussion of the issues surrounding the industrial manufacturing, automotive and distribution industries from a JD Edwards EnterpriseOne perspective. Discuss needed enhancements within JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, and discuss topics of interest to the represented industries. Online at http://questers.questdirect.org/p/co/ly/gid=118 name: James Watson SiG: Manufacturing/Distribution SIG Childhood ambition: To become a rock star. First job: Dragging a lawn mower down the street looking for lawns to mow. inspiration: My wife. Her intelligence and decision making ability always impresses me. Favorite movie or book: One of the best books I read recently was “Lone Survivor” about a tragic Navy Seal mission in Afghanistan. These guys are real heroes. indulgence: Finding time to play my bass. Position and Company: CIO, Energy Alloys Location: Global company with headquarters in Houston, Texas. Size: 250 – 300 employees with locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Dubai, Singapore and still growing. role: Responsible for global I.T. strategy and management. History: I like to quip that I’m a CPA that went to the dark side. Actually though, the move from accounting to I.T. was a natural progression. From the First ERP project, I was hooked. What have you learned? People matter most. Technology only brings value when people use it effectively. My favorite example is the treadmill. A treadmill sitting in the corner with clothes hanging on it is a very expensive clothes hanger. The true value of the treadmill is when it’s used for its purpose. What was your call to action? Energy Alloys had some gaps in functionality where we had to add some custom modules. I was looking for ways to communicate our needs to Oracle to hopefully get that functionality built into future versions of the software. I was really only looking to join an active SIG but found that the Industrial Manufacturing SIG was not active. What would you tell someone thinking about getting involved in Quest? Most people are interested in what the SIGs offer but already have full time jobs so finding time to participate is difficult. The benefits you gain from networking with peers, vendors and Oracle is worth the investment. As a customer you’re one voice in a crowd. Together we can have a much bigger impact on the success and direction of our products. How do you make the business case for being involved in your SiG? in Quest? ROI. Involvement in your SIG will help drive enhancements to the product, networking with peers will broaden your knowledge of how other companies have resolved a business need, and you’ll get visibility into the development pipeline. Your investment in time will impact the direction of the product you’re using. What’s your vision for your rUG? What’s your vision for Quest? Each customer has made a significant investment in their ERP application and continues to pay maintenance for support and enhancements. My vision of the SIG is for customers to come together as a group to work with Oracle to continue enhancing the product. A good example of a successful SIG is the Technology SIG. As a customer, I have seen the benefits of this collaboration each time I upgrade to the next tools release. My life is…Better than I imagined it could be. 13
1 In 50,000
Meet SiG Leader JaMeS WatSon
Connect with the JD Edwards Industrial Manufacturing/Distribution SIG Onsite at COLLABORATE – Tuesday, April 20 at 8 a.m. (Jasmine G). Come for a discussion of the issues surrounding the industrial manufacturing, automotive and distribution industries from a JD Edwards EnterpriseOne perspective. Discuss needed enhancements within JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, and discuss topics of interest to the represented industries.
Online at http://questers.questdirect.org/p/co/ly/gid=118
James Watson SiG: Manufacturing/Distribution SIG Childhood ambition: To become a rock star.
First job: Dragging a lawn mower down the street looking for lawns to mow.
Inspiration: My wife. Her intelligence and decision making ability always impresses me.
Favorite movie or book: One of the best books I read recently was “Lone Survivor” about a tragic Navy Seal mission in Afghanistan.
These guys are real heroes.
Indulgence: Finding time to play my bass.
Position and Company: CIO, Energy Alloys Location: Global company with headquarters in Houston, Texas.
Size: 250 – 300 employees with locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Dubai, Singapore and still growing.
Role: Responsible for global I.T. strategy and management.
History: I like to quip that I’m a CPA that went to the dark side. Actually though, the move from accounting to I.T. was a natural progression. From the First ERP project, I was hooked.
What have you learned? People matter most. Technology only brings value when people use it effectively. My favorite example is the treadmill. A treadmill sitting in the corner with clothes hanging on it is a very expensive clothes hanger. The true value of the treadmill is when it’s used for its purpose.
What was your call to action? Energy Alloys had some gaps in functionality where we had to add some custom modules. I was looking for ways to communicate our needs to Oracle to hopefully get that functionality built into future versions of the software. I was really only looking to join an active SIG but found that the Industrial Manufacturing SIG was not active.
What would you tell someone thinking about getting involved in Quest? Most people are interested in what the SIGs offer but already have full time jobs so finding time to participate is difficult. The benefits you gain from networking with peers, vendors and Oracle is worth the investment. As a customer you’re one voice in a crowd. Together we can have a much bigger impact on the success and direction of our products.
How do you make the business case for being involved in your SiG? In Quest? ROI. Involvement in your SIG will help drive enhancements to the product, networking with peers will broaden your knowledge of how other companies have resolved a business need, and you’ll get visibility into the development pipeline. Your investment in time will impact the direction of the product you’re using.
What’s your vision for your rUG? What’s your vision for Quest?
Each customer has made a significant investment in their ERP application and continues to pay maintenance for support and enhancements. My vision of the SIG is for customers to come together as a group to work with Oracle to continue enhancing the product.
A good example of a successful SIG is the Technology SIG. As a customer, I have seen the benefits of this collaboration each time I upgrade to the next tools release.
My life is… Better than I imagined it could be.
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