August 2017
The JD Edwards customer base has grown significantly in the past 6 years. The Denver population growth has outpaced the national rate every decade since the 1930’s and the metro currently holds more than 3 million people and a few cranes. JDE started in Denver in 1977, and still shares many similarities with the city where it all started. The Infocus conference hosted by Quest International from August 14-August 16 was a unique experience and I have included my three favorite highlights below.
Highlight #1- Continued Growth
JD Edwards has communicated a consistent dedication to the product line. Extended support of version 9.2 for EnterpriseOne is now extended until 2028 and for World customers it is extended until 2025 for those on version 9.2. New releases such as a 9.3 have not been ruled out, however, JDE has communicated that they believe they can make the incremental enhancements needed by the business on a single code line of 9.2. This process has already started and from October 2015 to August 2017 there have been 7 feature packs released. The path moving forward will consist of 2-3 feature packs per year with a consolidated update as well.
This new approach enables a customer to pick what new features they want to adopt and implement them on their own timeline. This has been well received by the customer community rather than a large upgrade every three years. This has now been replaced with incremental changes at flexible times, while still delivering new enhancements.
This is similar to Denver in many ways as the city is being built in a way that features modern conveniences. The stunning Union Station enables folks to use public transit easily, the condensed city effortlessly encourages walkability, and the humidity free climate is attractive for a summer time conference. These are a few of the features fueling Denver’s continued growth.
Highlight #2- The People
The conference attendee total surpassed 1,000 people, making it the largest Infocus conference on record. Not only did the volume of people increase, the quality of familiar faces increased as well. With 90 vendors and hundreds of JD Edwards customers on hand, this was the go to place to see and be seen, JD Edwards style!!
The energy at the conference was high all three days and many people dressed up for the evening themed happy hours. You could easily see the “team spirit” of the community at the event. Oracle was well represented with many from their Denver office physically attending and Quest International Users Group had a full crew of green shirts ensuring the conference was organized in a positive manner for the whole ecosystem.
This is similar to Denver, as the city has developed into a melting pot of sorts. People from all over the country have fueled the growth of the city as the attitude, climate, and culture have attracted people. The conference was similar as people from primarily around the US and Canada attended the event, like Wade Anderson from New Orleans!
Highlight #3- The Content
The content is a foundational part of any conference and the volume and quality of sessions fuels each attendees take-aways from the conference. Many folks attended to research and plan for upcoming initiatives and were tasked with returning to the home office with data to help the organization make future decisions.
The feedback on the quality of the sessions was great. Particularly, Michael Sullivan, CIO of LSB Industries, presented on UX One and personalization of JDE Forms on Monday. The room filled up so fast that they wouldn’t allow more guests into the space!! As a result, he was asked to present the session again on Tuesday so all of the interested folks could get the chance to see it live. When is the last time you heard of a break out session turn people away at a conference due to over-crowding???
Denver is similar in many ways. In the past, people moved to Colorado for the weather/culture/lifestyle and rarely did people move for family/professional reasons. Colorado has received a consistent influx of new companies such as Arrow Electronics, Home Advisor, and Heartland IT Consulting moving or expanding to the Denver area and is home to the Colorado Rockies.
Conclusion
Although everyone may not have been aware of the similarities, Denver and JD Edwards continue to share a partnership and culture that is unmatched by other software communities, making them stronger together. Heartland IT Consulting is proud to be an influential member of the community providing niche consulting talent. Here is a video produced in 2016 with Lyle Ekdahl and John Schiff regarding our expansion to Denver and the synergies with JD Edwards.
Video link- https://www.heartlanditc.com/denver-heartlanditc-opens-a-second-office-video/
Do you notice any other similarities between Denver and JD Edwards?
Blog Written by:
Patrick Donlin
Heartland’s CEO and President of Sales
