RECONNECT 2017 is “in the books,” as they say! It was my fifth RECONNECT and the best that I have ever been a part of. I would even go so far to say it was the best conference I’ve ever participated in. As THE PeopleSoft only deep-dive event, it exclusively featured PeopleSoft content with PeopleSoft customers, the Oracle PeopleSoft Strategy, Development and Support teams, and solution providers who help our community get the most out of their PeopleSoft investments. There was a different feel to this event than any others. It seemed like we were having a big PeopleSoft family reunion!

The first day of this year’s conference was different for us. RECONNECT has historically been a two-and-a-half-day conference, but this year we decided to make it a three-day event based on customer feedback. This added an entire morning to the first day and even more value to the week for our attendees.

The Vision for PeopleSoft

The first day was full of networking opportunities, but also featured a look at the roadmap for PeopleSoft, which was extremely encouraging. Rebekah Jackson, Vice President of PeopleSoft Strategy and Product Management, and Marc Weintraub, Senior Director of PeopleSoft Product Strategy took the stage at lunch to answer some of the most common questions around the investment of PeopleSoft. I enjoyed this session, as it allowed me to understand more about our customer base as well as how the Oracle PeopleSoft team was tackling the community’s concerns.

After the overall PeopleSoft roadmap, we had sessions in which Amira Morcos, Senior Director of PeopleSoft Financials Product Strategy, Robbin Velayedam, Director of PeopleSoft HCM Product Strategy and Product Management, and Dave Bain, Director of PeopleSoft Strategy went into more detail around the future of their respective products and provided some great demos. It was quite a busy day, but it was just the start of all the education to come.

I could go on and on (and on) about the incredible education the community shared throughout the conference, but here are just some highlights from the week.

PeopleSoft Financials highlights:

• Fluid Approvals came out in image 20 and is a huge win for customers. The new approvals are being added with each Image and feature a more intuitive user experience.
• Page Composer allows you to change labels on fields, take out fields that you do not need for approvals and change fonts. The best part is it’s all configurable.
• Accounting Tags are a blend of speed types and speed charts.
• My WorkScope came out in Image 19 and allows you to toggle between different regions, countries and business units that you manage. You can also set up the MyWork filters to appear without having to change the values every time.

PeopleSoft HCM highlights:

• On-boarding is a new Fluid activity guide-based on-boarding solution which will soon be delivered.
• Fluid User Interface was discussed in detail as the HCM team provided an in-depth technical and functional approach to the technology and harnessing its benefits.
• Several roadmap sessions were delivered on products within Human Capital Management, emphasizing strong growth and development within all the pillar’s products.

PeopleSoft Technology highlights:

• ElasticSearch is the new search capability for PeopleSoft and offers many important benefits to users.
• PeopleSoft on the Cloud is the “lift and shift” Cloud model that is executed through PeopleSoft Cloud Manager.
• Classic Plus is the middle ground between a classic page and a Fluid page. These pages function as classic pages with a more modern look and feel like Fluid pages.
• Unified Navigation allows you to configure directly in PeopleTools 8.56, which means you no longer need to use the interaction hub for activity guides.

PeopleSoft SRM highlights:

• Fluid Supplier Portal helps vendors collaborate online and ensures they stay on top of tasks.
• Supplier Lifecycle Management is the most demanded solution for PeopleSoft SRM and helps round out your Procure-to-Pay process.

The PeopleSoft Community: Active Year-Round

The most common theme heard throughout the week was continuous innovation coming from customers, Oracle and partners, which is in line with the continuous delivery model inherent in PeopleSoft 9.2. Quest has been producing content in a continuous delivery model as well, with plenty of opportunities to learn about PeopleSoft year-round. If you couldn’t attend RECONNECT or you did attend and want more education, make sure you join us for Quest Experience Week, our free virtual event in November. You can also attend one of our 125 webinars we host throughout the year.

I can’t tell you how many customers have said they have already implemented something they learned at RECONNECT and have justified the cost of attending (and then some). No matter what industry you are in or product you are on, if you are a PeopleSoft user you really should make every effort to be there next year. I encourage you to save the date and make sure your budget includes RECONNECT 2018, July 17-19, 2018 in Rosemont, IL!