EurOmnis17 Conference Notes

And we missed you Jock. Not quite the same without you. See you next year then 🙂

There were plenty of new sessions and technology to go exploring, and a whole new session, RTFM, which was lead ably by Jason & Andreas.

Mike, Gav & Rob

Organisers of EurOmnis Conferences
phone: +44(0)7973 306790 | web: omnisworld.org <www.omnisworld.org/> | email: mike@omnisworld.org <mailto:mike@omnisworld.org>
> On 23 Oct 2017, at 15:40, Jock Philip <jock@visionchips.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks, as ever, Jim.
>
> Some great stuff there. Do appreciate you writing it up for us.
>
> Jock
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Jock Philip [jock@visionchips.com] Vision Chips, Inc.
> 888.517.7779 x 3563
> www.visionchips.com/
>
> Developers of OBserver OB/GYN Ultrasound Reporting and Image Archiving System
>
> —–Original Message—–
> From: omnisdev-en [mailto:omnisdev-en-bounces@lists.omnis-dev.com] On Behalf Of Jim Pistrang
> Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2017 3:51 AM
> To: Omnis List Mail <omnisdev-en@lists.omnis-dev.com>
> Subject: EurOmnis17 Conference Notes
>
> Hi all,
>
> I’m writing this on a plane to Boston, on my way home from what I found to be a very successful EurOmnis conference. As I’ve done in past years, I took notes at the Plenary Session run by the Omnis ‘corporate office’ and I’m sending them on to the $list. Before we get to my notes I’ll throw in a bit of commentary:
>
> The conference comes on the one year anniversary of the new ownership of Omnis. The new owners were in attendance, as well as Birgit Jäger in her capacity as both the General Manager of Germany and the Director of Global Sales and Marketing, and Bob Whiting in his capacity as General Manager of Omnis. The atmosphere was upbeat and positive. The Plenary Session included a far more detailed Business Presentation than we’ve seen in past years, and the ‘corporate’ representatives seemed relaxed and happy to be there. Notably missing from the presentation were any announcements of products or initiatives that were only peripherally related to the core product! The focus of the business is clearly OMNIS, which pleased all parties.
>
> My apologies in advance if I’ve missed or mis-represented anything that happened at the Session, and if others who were there want to reply to the list with additional comments, please do so!
>
> A quick note about the conference in general before I move on: There were a LOT of sessions I wanted to attend this year, folks are doing some amazing and inspiring work with the product and the environment. The level of sharing amongst the community is truly remarkable, and (as far as I could tell) the attendees were thrilled to be there. The hotel was accommodating, the food was good, and the band was excellent. Special thanks should go to the conference organizers, who put together a great event for the community.
>
> OK, here are my somewhat-rough notes:
>
> *********************************************************
>
> Plenary session EurOmnis 2017
>
> Business Presentation
> The team….
> Birgit Jäger: dir global sales mkting & general mgr Germany Bob Whiting: general manager Bob Mitchel: Head of development. Not in attendance, but the tech folks were nicely represented by Jason Gissing.
> David Lewis: Owner, responsible for legal issues & USA development
>
> Today is anniversary of new ownership by OLS
>
> ***** David Lewis *****
> Thank developers
> Great first step of success
> Running company like a real business
>
> Business:
> New mgmt structure
> OLS holdings
> Omnis software Ltd
> Omnis Germany
> Omnis France
> Development
> Omnis USA
>
> Additional resources have been added to the company:
> 3 new engineers in UK
> UK sales mgr (also USA for now)
> New office in Germany
> More recruitment in progress
>
> Different approach:
> Proactive
> Proud of Omnis studio
> Focus on new developments & new technologies
> “Omnis Studio – the smart choice”
> Product development
> Market oriented
> Involve customers (developers)
>
> New initiatives:
> Developer portal
> For new + experienced developers
> Important – 1st access point for clients
> Approx 240 users, growing
> Managed by Omnis
> Mgmt encourages use of Dev portal
> What is on the Portal?
> Forums
> Tech questions
> Multi language E,F,G,I,S
> REST web services
> Externals
> News not just Omnis news, also developer news
>
> Libraries
> Externals (free & comercial)
> Dev list digest
> Videos
> Jobs
> Blogs
>
> Omnis Academy
> Free 3 day training
> 100+ trained
> Also Online Academy
> Videos & libraries
>
> New customer voting via oVote
>
> Omnis technical committee
> Consultative board for Omnis mgmt
> Approx 10 reps invited by Omnis
> Formulate customer requirements
> Ideas for future direction for Omnis
> 1-2 Ming’s per year + phone calls
> 1st meeting 11 Jan in Hamburg
>
> Conferences & technical days
> Regional Conferences (1 or 2 days)
> Ecuador 40+ developers
> Technical Days – subject specific
>
> Outreach: Emails to trial version downloaders
> A series of 12 response emails
> Free support
> Seek feedback
>
> Quarterly newsletter
> Quarterly ODPP newsletter
>
> Initiatives are bearing fruits
> Increased profits
> New customers (but not enough)
> Growing
> Reinvesting in Omnis (majority of profits)
> (Not investing in strange products)
>
> In the pipeline
> Presence in North America
> Some sort of US conference in Feb or March 2018?
> Recruiting a North America sales person, later will add pre and post technical sales people.
> Additional recruitments
> Effective social media
> Enhanced webinars
> New features presented by engineers
> University and school initiatives
> Will seek help from local developers
> PR
> Omnis Ambassadors (reinstitute)
> Review of products & licensing (coming eventually, be patient)
>
> Main Targets
> New developers
> Stay close to customers
> Become more effective & fast
>
> ***** Bob Whiting *****
> Company is ‘a breath of fresh air’ to Bob Message from B Mitchell (sorry I can’t be there) (will come next year)
>
> Message fromBob Whiting repeated MANY times during his presentation: send him an email any time with ideas & thoughts on the direction of the product. He really wants to know what Omnis developers are thinking and wanting.
>
> Tech cycle
> 8.1 fixing stuff
> Consolidating processes
> 20th Anniversary of Studio!!!
>
> Recap of Studio 8.0:
> 64 bit
> OS X to macOS
> Code assistant
> Web browser external component
> No more activation (and no plans to bring it back)
> Win 10 wrapper
> SyncServer RESTful com interface
> Method editor enhancements
> Studio 8.1
> JSON representation
> Export/import Omnis libraries
> Use git (thanks to push from developers)
> Maintenance 8.1.2 coming next week
> Responsive Forms
> Headless Linux server
> Remove dependencies on X11
> Consideration of similar support on windows and macOS
> Utilizing JavaScript controls
> Allow definition of your own controls, add to component store
> Also able to wrap ready-made js controls from 3rd party
> macOS code signed application
> Not trivial, delivering this used lots of resources
> Tech note coming for developers
> Omnis will stay ahead of game regarding OS changes so developers don’t ‘get stuck’
> Improved new user entry point
> Guide, tutorial to create new first application
> Web services
> RESTful supports POSTs
> push from developers led to this!
> Method editor improvements
> SQL workers (and other workers)
> Code assistant
> oW3 worker objects
> Themes
>
> Studio 8.1.2 maintenance release
> Diacritical character input īß nøw sûppörtêd
> Single line edit, multi line edit, etc
> Property to disable it.
>
> Studio 8.2.
> Accessibility (js initially, fat will follow)
> Standard: WCAG 2.0
> Keyboard control for js components
> Remote Objects
> Analogous to object class
> New library group $remoteobjects
> Edited by method editor
> Every method is client executed
> Never need to $destruct
> Code generation
> Reusable and exists as a discrete class, easy to share
> JavaScript editor
> Pop up window
> Maybe do something similar for SQL?
> Maybe give user a choice of editor?
> DML emulation
> New omnissqlite dam
> Data files converted to SQLite
> DML command emulation
> Another path to conversion?
>
> Studio 9.0
> Studio remote debug
> Connect to RT and server from development environment
> Remote connect via http server
> Remote admin of server becomes much easier
> Cloud compatibility
> SaaS make studio cloud compatible
> Cloud based server farms for evaluation
> Introduction of metered license models
> Charge on use basis, not per seat or per user
> Studio Visible Controls
> Refresh existing client server controls, richer appearance and features
> Some streamlining of existing controls
> Additional objects – a list coming soon
> Additional js controls – a list coming soon Got ideas? Tell Bob!!!
> Mobile applications
> Make it easier
> Automated mobile platform wrapper creation and deployment
>
> Studio 8.1 released October 2017
> Studio 9.0 in development
>
> Discussion – should studio 8.0 be updated for current os changes?
> Pros & cons
> Trade offs, Omnis engineers need to determine greater good with restricted resources
>
> Moving forward
> Partnerships
> oVote
> Showed results of last vote – where should resources go?
> Thick client 25%
> New report engine! 19% (!!!)
> Js control enhancements 15%
> IDE enhancements 14%
> Cloud services 11%
> App Store wrappers 8%
> Assisted js wrapper control 7%
> New users
> Commitment to growing developer base
> Training, simplification
> Omnis git
> github.com/OmnisStudio
>
> Official GitHub recognition with 400 to 500 repositories Alex Clay will send details to the $list
>
> Road Map
> Accessibility q1 18
> US conference q1 18
> Thick client controls q2 18
> Studio 9 beta q2 18
> Additional js components q2/q3 18
> Mobile app wrapper simplified q3 18
> Remote debugging q3 18 (2 or 3 beta cycles) (5 or 6 month test cycle) Cloud based services q4 18
>
> What next?
> Bob Whiting and Omnis REALLY want developer feedback Facebook, Twitter, Omnis blog, email
>
>
> ***** Q & A ***** (B=Birgit, BW=Bob Whiting, DL=David Lewis
>
> Business questions:
>
> ? Omnis Dev list and portal relationship?
> B: not intention to replace email list, but concerned that it is not the right tool or look/feel for young developers
>
> ?allow email list interaction from portal
> BW: thank you to list.moms. Use of historical data by list mom permissions
>
> ?grateful & congrats for change in attitude & turnaround B not sure it is noticed, thank you
>
> ?how many more users, are things good?
> BW exceeded expectations
>
> ?new developers. From where?
> B: new companies choosing Omnis. Trial downloads not that effective. Personal contact where we show product are more effective
>
> ?have we stopped people leaving Omnis?
> B: not huge problem, reasons include – old developers, companies acquired by others. Not leaving out of dissatisfaction
>
> ?are new clients using js or fat?
> B: js. Thick client not even mentioned!
>
> ?give new users passes to euromnis?
> B: getting them in touch with existing developers is important. Limitation, EurOmnis only 1x/yr. success stories often shared
>
> ?plans for Australia conferences?
> DL: not exactly, but online academy
>
> Tech questions:
>
> ?How will remote debugging work with locked apps?
> BW: yes, understood. No promises on scope at this point. Client security an issue
>
> ?hub fault list nice. Will it get more detailed?
> BW: yes
>
> ***********************
>
> OK, that is all I’ve got, hope this is useful. Jim
>
>
>
>
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