Raise Your Game with Oracle Cloud Applications
In this special episode of the Oracle University Podcast, Bill Lawson and Nikita Abraham chat with Peter Fernandez, Senior Director of Cloud Certification at Oracle University, about the exciting new Raise Your Game challenge. They discuss how the initiative is designed to enhance participants' skills in Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications and Oracle Cloud Success Navigator. They also cover key details about the challenge, such as how to get started, who can participate, the way it is structured, and the prizes up for grabs. Raise Your Game: https://education.oracle.com/raise-your-game-saas Oracle University Learning Community: https://education.oracle.com/ou-community LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/oracle-university/ X: https://x.com/Oracle_Edu Special thanks to Arijit Ghosh, David Wright, Kris-Ann Nansen, and the OU Studio Team for helping us create this episode. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Episode Transcript: 00:00 Welcome to the Oracle University Podcast, the first stop on your cloud journey. During this series of informative podcasts, we’ll bring you foundational training on the most popular Oracle technologies. Let’s get started! 00:25 Bill: Welcome to the Oracle University Podcast. I’m Bill Lawson, Senior Director of Cloud Applications Product Management with Oracle University, and with me is Nikita Abraham, Team Lead of Editorial Services. Nikita: Hi everyone! Last week, we concluded our three-part series on multicloud, and today, we’re shifting gears and exploring an exciting new challenge that’s been thrown down by Oracle University. To tell us all about it, we have Peter Fernandez joining us. Peter is Senior Director of Cloud Certification at Oracle University. Hi Peter! We’re thrilled to have you with us today! Peter: Hi Niki, hi Bill! I’m delighted to be here. 01:02 Bill: So, Peter, let’s get straight into it. What’s this new challenge all about? Peter: The challenge, which we’re calling Raise Your Game, is an incredible opportunity for anyone looking to gain knowledge and gain professional skills about Oracle’s Fusion Cloud Applications. We launched a skills challenge on Feb 14, and it will continue until May 15, 2025. This challenge encourages you to build expertise in two key areas: Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications and Oracle Cloud Success Navigator. This training is geared towards anyone who could be a student in higher ed or someone pursuing a business degree, and Oracle customers and partners who are new to Oracle’s Applications or experienced consultants implementing business applications. 01:55 Nikita: And how exactly does the challenge help in building this expertise? Peter: The challenge has two levels. In Level 1, you’ll need to complete an Oracle Fusion Cloud Apps Foundations course and pass the corresponding exam. These courses are designed to deepen your understanding of the technology enablers in Oracle’s Fusion Cloud Applications and learn about Oracle’s Modern Best Practice, or OMBP. These are extremely helpful throughout all phases in the journey when implementing and using Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications. The Foundation training itself covers a wide range of topics, including core OMBP processes, key performance metrics, implementation considerations, and technology enablers like AI, ML, mobile, and analytics. 02:49 Bill: Before we move on, Peter, can you tell us more about Oracle Modern Best Practice? We discussed it a few weeks back, but for anyone who missed that episode, it’ll be nice to get a quick refresher. Peter: Sure, Bill. Implementing Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications successfully is more than just technology—it’s about following best practices that drive efficiency and success and tie back to business requirements. Oracle Modern Best Practice represent years of accumulated experience, industry insights, and proven methodologies. It serves as a guiding framework for implementing efficient business processes within Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications. These best practices map the features and innovations within Oracle applications to the processes that customers perform every day, and that is key. These curated, industry-leading practices detail how the features that we have built using the most modern technologies can be leveraged to optimize operations. Having a solid grasp of an OMBP and its associated technology enablers will empower you to ensure smoother business operations and higher customer satisfaction. It will show you how to automate activities, streamline tasks, improve results, and set your team up for continued success. The goal of these courses is to make it easy for implementers, global process owners, IT teams to identify every opportunity to improve an organization’s business processes with Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications. 04:33 Bill: So, getting back to Level 1, what do I earn when I complete it? Peter: When you complete this level, you’ll earn a Level 1 Oracle University Learning Community badge. This recognizes that you have foundational knowledge in your chosen Fusion application. 04:48 Bill: That sounds exciting. And then there’s a Level 2? Peter: There is also a Level 2 and where things get even more exciting. You’re going to take your knowledge to the next level by completing the Oracle Cloud Success Navigator Essentials course and passing the associated assessment. This level in the challenge focuses on particularly applying the knowledge you gained in Level 1 where you’ll explore the Oracle Cloud Success Navigator's features and functionality, and get the skills you need to lead organizations through their Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications implementation journey. 05:25 Nikita: And when I complete Level 2, I earn another badge? Peter: That’s right, Niki. When you successfully complete Level 2, you’ll earn a special Level 2 Oracle University Learning Community badge. The goal of Raise Your Game is to reach the Summit by completing both Level 1 and Level 2 challenges with the fastest time and the highest pass scores. Both these combined determine your position on the leaderboard and your position in the Top 500, which will be awarded separate prizes at the end of the challenge. 05:59 Nikita: So, when you’re done, you’ll have both theoretical and practical knowledge. And I understand that there are some fantastic prizes up for grabs? Peter: Absolutely, Niki. This not only helps with both theoretical but also practical knowledge. Learners also have a chance to be featured on the leaderboard in the Oracle University Learning Community. The leaderboard showcases the people who have achieved Level 1 and Level 2 with the fastest times and the highest scores. Along with the badges I told you about, at the end of the promotion, the top 500 people who complete both Level 1 and Level 2 with the fastest time and highest pass scores will receive an Oracle-branded cap, an Oracle Success Navigator pin, and a special Oracle University Community Success Navigator digital badge. 06:52 Bill: So, Peter, who can participate in this challenge, and are there any prerequisites? Peter: The challenge is open to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of Oracle Cloud Applications. And while there are no strict prerequisites, a basic understanding of business concepts and some familiarity with Oracle Cloud Applications is recommended. This will ensure that you’re able to make the most of the learning materials and engage with the content effectively. You can always check the program overview on the website if you have more questions about this challenge. We’ve got an FAQ posted there that should answer most anything you are curious about. 07:31 Bill: That’s good to know, Peter. And the fact that I get started no matter my level of experience is great news, too. Peter: Absolutely, Bill. Even if you are a beginner fresh out of college, or a seasoned pro like I mentioned earlier who has been implementing Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications (or other applications) for years, I would recommend the challenge and training to you. Basically, this training is for everyone. This program provides foundational knowledge to improve the implementation approach using Oracle Modern Best Practices. Even those individuals that are certified in Cloud Applications will benefit from learning how these modern best practices fit into their work. 08:12 Nikita: Ok, Peter, I’m ready to do it. How do I get started with the challenge? Peter: That’s great. The first step, of course, is to register. And you can do this by visiting oracle.com/education. That's Oracle's main site. oracle.com/education. And select the first tile that you'll see on the webpage, which is the Raise Your Game challenge. If you don't already have an Oracle MyLearn account, you'll need to create one and you'll be prompted to create one. This account gives you access to the Oracle MyLearning platform. Once you're registered, you'll have access to a curated list of learning paths and corresponding certifications. It's important that you review the official rules and promotion details before proceeding with the challenge. 09:12 Unlock the power of AI Vector Search with our new course and certification. Get more accurate search results, handle complex datasets easily, and supercharge your data-driven decisions. From now to May 15, 2025, we are waiving the certification exam fee (valued at $245). Visit mylearn.oracle.com to enroll. 09:40 Nikita: Welcome back! Ok, Peter, I’ve registered. What’s next? Peter: After you're done registering, you need to select the Cloud Application course that aligns with your interests and goals. We have courses on four different areas: Human Capital Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Supply Chain Management, and Customer Experience. Once you complete the training and certification, you're done with Level 1. For Level 2, we have the Oracle Cloud Success Navigator Essentials course and assessment that you will need to complete. You can check your status on the leaderboard in the Oracle University Learning Community and share your progress on social media. Like I was saying, the time taken to complete each of these levels and the higher scores earned determines the Top 500 winners. 10:36 Bill: And the best part of this challenge is that it's completely free, right? Peter: Absolutely. There is no cost associated with participating in the skills challenge. It is completely free for anyone, anywhere in the world to participate as long as they comply with the official rules of the promotion. You can take any or all of the Foundation Associate certification exams at no cost. With multiple free attempts, there is no time limit for completing the exams, but to be eligible for the prizes, you must complete the exams and assessments by May 15, 2025. That's midnight GMT. 11:16 Nikita: What if someone doesn't pass the certification exam on their first attempt? Peter: If someone does not pass the certification exam on their first attempt, we understand that not everyone does. We've made provisions for that. If you don't pass the foundations associate certification exam, you have the option to retake the exam many times over. 11:37 Nikita: Now, Peter, let's say someone has already registered for the Fusion Cloud Applications Foundations Associate certification exam before joining the skills challenge. Will their exam be considered for the prizes? Peter: Well, that's a great question, Niki. If someone has already registered for the exam before joining the challenge, their exam will be considered for the prizes as long as they first join the skills challenge. This ensures that everyone who engages with the challenge has a fair chance to win. 12:06 Bill: Does course content consumed before the start of the challenge count towards the awards and badges? Peter: Unfortunately no, Bill. Any content consumed or purchased before Feb 14, 2025, that's again 12 AM GMT, does not apply retroactively to awards or prizes in the Raise Your Game challenge. We want everyone to start on an equal footing here. 12:29 Nikita: What about certifications earned before the challenge began? Peter: Again, certifications earned before Feb 14, 2025, again 12 AM GMT, do not qualify for the promotion. That ensures again that the challenge is fair for all participants. 12:48 Nikita: Now, Peter, how many free exam attempts do participants get as part of the challenge? Peter: Since all the Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Foundations Associate Certification exams are free, there is no limit to the number of attempts. Participants can take these exams as many times as they need to. 13:05 Bill: And, Peter, say I want to take more than one of the Foundations courses and exams. Can I do that? Peter: Absolutely. This is a great way for someone to learn about the different areas of business that they may be familiar with. As I mentioned earlier, the Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Foundations training is a program to provide you with knowledge of OMBPs, Oracle Modern Best Practices, that is, and Fusion Cloud Applications. So, it's a great opportunity to cross-skill. You can earn all four certifications if you choose. 13:38 Bill: Peter, thank you so much for joining us today and telling us all about this challenge. It is a really fantastic opportunity for everyone, whether you’re new to Fusion Cloud Applications or an experienced implementation professional, to boost your Oracle Cloud Apps expertise. We’re really excited to try it out ourselves! Peter: A sincere thank you to you, Bill and Niki. It's been an absolute pleasure. I'd really encourage everyone to jump on this challenge. It's a great way to enhance your learning journey and have some fun along the way. Nikita: I couldn’t agree more! Thanks Peter. That’s a wrap on this episode. Join us next week for another episode of the Oracle University Podcast. Until then, this is Nikita Abraham… Bill: And Bill Lawson, signing off! 14:19 That’s all for this episode of the Oracle University Podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please click Subscribe to get all the latest episodes. 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