Kscope14: My First Time


In June 2014, I attended my first Kscope conference in Seattle. My expectations were exceeded with the opportunities provided to immerse ourselves in the Oracle Hyperion world. The camaraderie of colleagues filled the atmosphere as we engaged in conversations and attended sessions. I learned a lot about how to increase financial reporting efficiency with increased data integrity through Hyperion products and services. The social events allowed us to gather in a relaxed environment to network and share experiences with Oracle partners and other Hyperion users.

Knowledge and a preview of what is to come in the Hyperion world were not the only items on the agenda during the conference. Though the weekend was mainly for registration, there was an event held on Saturday that provided an opportunity to leave a mark in the local area through community service. During the Kscope14 Community Service Day, our group of volunteers worked with Nature Consortium to restore the forest in one of the crucial wild spaces in the Seattle area.

Monday kicked off with a phenomenal keynote on how big data affects our lives. Whether you are a passionate IT guru, a technical novice from the company tax department, or a stay-at-home mom whose life is organized by her smartphone, Jake Porway, founder of DataKind, reminded us of how the information that is available on the Internet has become a huge part of our lives. Our online shopping, social media activity, and mobile phone GPS all work together to create statistical data that reports consumer trends and even projects peak times in traffic and dining. This information is a form of power selling to the big online retailers. For example, if you are a big Ralph Lauren customer who mainly shops at Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, or eBay, retailers will track your purchasing habits and email you with the latest that Ralph Lauren has to offer. Of course, all of this is to entice you to buy more.

The average person takes the Internet for granted but does not understand that the Internet mirrors the physical world. This sort of realization is mind-blowing and made for a fantastic keynote.

Throughout each day, many sessions were available to all types of Hyperion users, whether your focus was from an end user’s standpoint or a developer’s view. As for me, I am an HFM and FDM administrator for my company. Currently, my company is on Hyperion version 11.1.1.3. We upgraded from System 9 three years ago and now are scheduled to go live on version 11.1.2.3.500 in early spring 2015. Kscope14 allowed me the opportunity to preview all of the bells and whistles that the latest version offers, such as making financial reporting more efficient. In addition, Kscope allowed me to learn some basics about other Hyperion products that my company does not currently use, such as Hyperion Financial Close and the Tax Provision solution. I love the look and feel of the new HFM user interface. The news about FDMEE was pretty exciting, especially with the ODI integration and the change to Jython language for scripting; it looked like a language that is fairly easy to learn. The mobile financial reporting feature will definitely be nice to take advantage of for those users who are constantly on the go. This is only a small part of what the sessions had to offer, and there was so much more to the conference.

The Kscope team even scheduled time to focus on social issues. I attended the Women in Technology panel discussion, which spotlighted some of the realities of being a family woman in a career of technology. The opportunity to work without sacrificing many joys of being an actively involved mother and wife is only one of the benefits that a career in technology has given women. Women can work from home while caring for their newborn or while being a caregiver to an aging parent. In the past, this was not an option. Now, the number of women in technology is steadily increasing as programs such as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) are being implemented in schools across the nation.

The social highlight of the week was the special event held at Experience Music Project, a nonprofit museum dedicated to the ideas that fuel contemporary pop culture. This event gave us all a chance to have serious fun and truly let our hair down while enjoying the live band with a sci-fi twist.

As mentioned earlier, Kscope14 was beautifully located in the heart of Seattle. The host hotel was most accommodating and convenient to the venue as well as many tourist attractions. The atmosphere promoted interaction among the groups of Hyperion enthusiasts from around the world. We found ourselves making new friends, reuniting with old friends and familiar faces, and becoming mentors and mentees to each other. Overall, Kscope14 was an absolute success!!!!!

REGISTER FOR THIS YEAR’S CONFERENCE AT www.kscope15.com/registration.

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