Back between 2018 and 2020 I was the Scrum Master at four separate week-long events in the U.S. and India called Oracle Code Innovate, a program started by Matt Thompson who I’ve known since my days at Sun Microsystems. Loved it. During those years, I observed something really cool happen when Oracle engineers and customer developers came together for three intensive days to hack on cloud projects. Ideas transformed into working prototypes really quickly. Questions got answered in minutes instead of weeks. And most importantly, real business problems got solved in real time.

This blog draws from my interviews with the engineering teams involved with the Oracle Code Innovate Program, my own experience managing and supporting these events on site, and also the videos, podcasts, and photography I created to document the program. See those links below.

Oracle Code Innovate is a program that reimagines how technology companies work with their customers. Rather than the traditional approach of product training or proof of concepts, Code Innovate brings Oracle’s engineering expertise directly to customer development teams in an intensive but collaborative “hackfest” format. It’s simple — engineers doing real work to build something interesting that the company needs.

Chip Baber, who leads Oracle’s developer innovation team in North America, describes the program through a fitting analogy. He compares it to the master builder classes at Legoland, where children receive bags of disassembled pieces and learn from experts how to put the blocks together in unexpected ways. As Baber says, “It’s a way for Oracle to connect its Master Builders from a cloud solution directly with your master builders, your developers, to work together and build something new in the cloud.” And in the process, a new community of developers is born because part of the program is to continue these new engineering relationships in ways that benefit Oracle, the customers, and the development community.

The format is designed to maximize fast learning and tangible results. Events can run two or three days in person or virtually with at least eight developers forming teams that compete on real projects. It’s interesting to see the competition taken seriously throughout the week as developers focus intensely on their projects. However, in the end everyone realizes that the entire experience was totally fun. Each event follows a structured Agile/Scrum progression — brief project overviews, collaborative ideation sessions using design thinking principles, and then intensive development work where Oracle engineers sit side by side with customer teams to build new solutions using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

The ideation phase during the first day sets Code Innovate apart from a typical training session. Engineers use sticky notes, white boards, and group exercises to brainstorm all available possibilities. Then the teams identify business challenges and map them to technical solutions. They also formulate goal statements, scope their projects, and break work into manageable tasks. And then they all start working.

Chip emphasizes the collaborative nature of the program: “The idea of Code Innovate is not that Oracle builds it for you like a POC. The idea is Oracle builds it with you. So every attendee at a Code Innovate should be hands on keyboard, should be willing to participate either as a developer or subject matter expert.”

Day two is all about coding. Teams work together, Oracle engineers answer questions immediately rather than forcing developers to search through documentation, and the energy builds as projects take shape and some good-natured pressure increases. Day three brings final development work in the morning, followed by lightning talks where teams present their work to executive judges who then select winners.

The program tackles diverse use cases. For example, one state government built a chatbot that helps residents locate lost pets after hours by querying shelter databases. Financial institutions have created real time payment integrations. Manufacturing companies have explored blockchain for supply chain transparency. The common thread is solving actual business problems with Oracle Cloud technology.

Chip reflects on what makes these events special: “The beauty of this program is that it combines everything that engineers love together in three days. What do they often not have the most time to do in the day? Work on the problems that they want to explore, those new technologies.”

Code Innovate represents more than a three day event. The relationships continue beyond the hackfest through cloud coaching, ongoing collaboration, and often repeat engagements. Sometimes the came customer would implement an Oracle Code Innovate event for multiple engineering teams in different locations, such as the United States and India. Ultimately, a new community forms during these events and the developers stay connected long after the projects end. Engineers continue conversations on Slack and social media, met up at Oracle conferences or local developer events, and maintain the technical relationships they built during the project week.

These connections proved valuable beyond the immediate technical work. The trust and rapport established during Code Innovate sessions opened doors to new business relationships for both companies, and in several cases, the projects directly led to new cloud business being generated for Oracle. Oracle funds the Code Innovate program, requiring only that customers commit their developers for the full duration and come prepared with use cases to explore.

Photos

Cisco Bangalore
GE Digital Bangalore
McAfee Bangalore
Cisco San Jose

Podcast

Oracle Code Innovate: Passionate Participation

Videos

Oracle Code Innovate: Cisco Bangalore: Shyam Krishnamurthy
Oracle Code Innovate: Enterprise Collaboration in the Cloud
Oracle and Cisco Engineering Leads Discuss Code Innovate Cisco in Bangalore
Oracle Code Innovate Retools, Embraces Virtual Format to Engage Cloud Developers
Oracle Code Innovate Overview, Oracle Code Innovate Review
Oracle Code Innovate
Virtual Code Innovate
Oracle Code Innovate: GE

Website

Oracle Code Innovate

Oracle and Cisco engineers at an Oracle Code Innovate cloud hackfest in Bangalore in May 2019.