Event

An interview with Yvan Cognasse…

Laura: You have started working with Oracle 9 years ago and you have covered several positions in Oracle. Why have you chosen to be a presales?

Yvan: After a 4+ year career in Oracle consulting, I was looking for a new opportunity to work in a sales environment with diverse workforce. As a Sales consultant I have now really the feeling to be an active part of closing the business by providing presales support to prospective clients and partners. I worked as a part of a expert team called IASG in FY08, along side sales account managers, and pre-sales functional consulting staff in the positioning and sale of the Oracle Applications set. I prepare and present product demonstrations including Oracle Applications but also a variety of other Oracle software such as Business Intelligence, Application Integration Architecture, User Productivity Kit, Identity Management, Oracle Grid Control, etc.

Yvan, in your opinion, which qualities are the most important for becoming a successful member of the Oracle Presales Team of Consultants?

Apparently, you need to have a deep understanding of the enterprise landscape and business challenges and be effective at communicating with good presentation skills. But in the Oracle context of the new acquisitions, all presales consultants will have to be more and more analytical thinkers with an ability to translate complex business needs into feasible and valuable solutions.

You are also a very active Oracle blogger, and now your blog is officially referenced on the Oracle blogs public page http://blogs.oracle.com/ and http://blogs.oracle.com/schan/blogroll as well. Do you find this communication method equally important important?

Yes. I manage the OracleInsight.net blog dedicated to the Oracle Applications Market and the new technologies like the Enterprise 2.0. Presently, we record around 600 to 1′000 unique visitors per day. After only 5 months, it’s a great achievement, which demonstrates the interest of all the Internet community for the Oracle technologies within the applications, especially for in-depth discussions of technology stack architectures.

What are your future plans? I heard you are now assuming a new position starting June 1st 2008. Can you tell us more about it?

Yes, I’m now an Application Solution Architect (ATA). Responsible for developing and presenting the technical solution architecture in multi-pillar sales engagements, I’m helping customers assess their technical application architecture and its suitability for supporting relevant business processes. I recommend Oracle and Partner application and technology solutions and IT best practice to meet the
customer’s business requirements. I’m working across all ERP, CRM and Global Business Units and with Technology teams to present a single Oracle vision to the customer. My role is Sales led and focused on delivering long-term value to the customer and for Oracle.

Written by Laura Ispas, Application Technology Presales Consultant EBS.

© 2008 OracleInsight.net.