The Oracle ACE Program
What is the Oracle ACE Program?
The Oracle ACE Program is a community recognition program that celebrates individuals for their contributions to the Oracle community in two categories: technical contributions and community leadership.
It is an ‘invite only’ network of Oracle experts with differing products and skills related to Oracle technology and applications. Using collaborative groups and discussions in Slack and social media, these industry experts look to drive more awareness of Oracle products, their benefits and features to customers, and to educate the industry on the direction of the Oracle roadmap and associated services.
Recently I have been welcomed into the Oracle ACE Program at an Associate level, giving me access to other like-minded individuals and the opportunity to network and grow the Version 1 brand within the Oracle ACE Program and the wider Oracle communities. This also allows for me to educate myself in new Oracle technologies and product features.
What are the Oracle ACE Program Benefits?
There are numerous benefits to the individual (and associated company) to being included in the Oracle ACE program, but there is a difference on each tier attained.
The tier that you can attain, depends on the quantity/level/quality of contributions that you deliver to the Oracle community via events, blogs, articles, whitepapers, guest speakers, training, expertise sharing, webinars and workshops etc.
The Oracle ACE Program offers three membership tiers:
· Oracle ACE Associate
· Oracle ACE Pro
· Oracle ACE Director
Oracle ACE Associate benefits:
· Exclusive global in-person & virtual technology and networking events such as the recent Oracle ACE Program get together and the UKOUG meetings for example. Meet on Slack, Teams and chat, with people and groups all over the globe.
· Blog posts, and contributions to the Oracle community are shared on social media channels by other Oracle ACE program members and Oracle ACE promoters and group administrators such as LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Oracle Blogs etc. This allows for maximum eyes on the articles and information that the ACE’s are sharing, making networking easier and cross collaborative workshops better.
· An Oracle ACE gets direct access to Oracle Product Development teams via monthly meetings and working groups on Slack channels.
· Being on the Oracle Program also gives members the opportunity to get Oracle Certification exam credits to apply to Oracle learning — such as OCI and Database Administration for example.
· Another benefit is that the members have defined profiles in the ACE Program Directory — so you can look up who is an expert in HCM or EPM for example in a particular territory, to gather knowledge and find their contact details for networking. You can also find out who is recognised by Oracle as an expert in a particular field.
· Members of the Oracle ACE Program get custom background graphics, logos and profile graphics for social media profiles such as X, LinkedIn and Facebook, among others.
· Receive an official membership certificate, verifying inclusion in the Oracle ACE Program, showing recognised skills in specific Oracle areas.
Oracle ACE Pro level benefits:
· Everything in Oracle Associate level plus
· An entry pass to the Oracle CloudWorld conference at no cost. This allows members to network with Oracle experts in-person at the events, attend training and informative workshops and create new connections with other like-minded individuals and groups.
· An Oracle Cloud account.
· Free cool swag including t-shirts, hoodies, earphones, hats — all branded with Oracle ACE Program.
Oracle ACE Director benefits:
· Everything in Associate and Pro plus
· Exclusive testing eligibility — get a first look at features and new products.
· Travel support eligibility to speak at conferences and events highlighting a particular Oracle service / product.
· Exclusive product briefings with high level Oracle executives, getting an insight into product direction and roadmap for future developments.
Who is eligible for Oracle ACE Program?
Everyone is eligible to become an Oracle ACE; except individuals under 18 years of age, Oracle staff, public sector, and government employees.
Can you nominate a Director?
Only current Oracle ACE Pro and Director members in good standing (who are employed by a different company than the candidate) and Oracle employees can submit nominations for the ACE Director level.
Do you need to be a technical expert?
Both technical contributors and community organisers are eligible for the ACE Associate and ACE Pro levels, while Oracle ACE Directors are all technical experts.
How long do nominations take?
Nomination reviews can take up to 60 days.
How to nominate?
Please visit this link and include all supporting evidence such as blogs, events, community posts, webinars etc. Please include a link or screenshot for every Oracle tech and community contribution so that there is enough information to review the nomination.
Summary
So, now that I am included in the Oracle ACE Program, I intend to continue my blog posts on LinkedIn and Medium, my profile on the Oracle ACE directory has links to my social media accounts, so if you want to follow me and learn more about Oracle technology and applications licensing, then please do follow me from there.
I plan to learn more about the Oracle ACE Program over the next few months to see how it can help drive more traffic to my community posts, engage with other Oracle bloggers, and hopefully have more engagement with Oracle customers on licensing across the globe.
Over the next qualifying period I intend to try to become an Oracle ACE Pro level, of which I am on track at the moment. This level progression could open more doors for me and for Version 1 being represented by another Oracle ACE Pro — to join the other ACE Pro’s in the wider in the Oracle ACE’s Directory.
For further information, please contact myself or the Version 1 SAM team via your usual channel.
About the Author:
Johnny Cree is a SAM consultant working for Version 1 in the UK and Ireland with over 15 years in Oracle license management. He has a wealth of experience and knowledge across all Oracle product categories. He especially likes audit defence, negotiation and Oracle applications and technology. Johnny is a technical wizard also and has many years’ experience in a lot of programming, project management and face to face customer interaction. Prior to working for Version 1, he headed up the UK and Ireland Oracle delivery for SoftwareONE. He has worked across implementation projects and managed services coupled with sound knowledge of Software Asset Management tools such as ServiceNow, Snow and Flexera.
