Network encryption is one of the most important security hardening strategies to be adopted in any enterprise infrastructure. It will ensure confidential data transmitted over the wire is encrypted and will prevent malicious attacks in man-in-the-middle form intended for data exfiltration. Network encryption guarantees that data exchanged between the clients (Application) and Database System or indeed between any two endpoints should be securely transmitted and transparently decrypted without fear of prying eyes. Moreover, compliance with mandatory laws like HIPAA dictates or highly recommends to implement tools of encryption of in-transit and/or at-rest data as protection from theft or malicious attacks. Oracle RDBMS Enterprise Edition offers out-of-the-box solutions to encrypt and secure over-the-wire data, and this article will compare two of these options that can be implemented in any Oracle database infrastructure.

Sasha Banks-Louie, Oracle BRANDVOICE contributor, wrote in Forbes about the top five priorities for CMOs in 2020. As chief marketing officers worldwide finalize their strategies for 2020, the force they say is influencing their marketing mix more than anything else has little to do with the traditional 4Ps of marketing. The foundation of product, promotion, price, and placement strategies is beginning to crack under pressure from customers who now value emotional connection and personal experiences more than product features and pricing incentives.

Oracle Data Safe is a fully-integrated cloud service that helps organizations secure their enterprise data with a comprehensive set of features for protecting sensitive and regulated data in Oracle Cloud. An Oracle Data Safe introductory video describes the data security challenges that organizations face and how Oracle Data Safe can address with its five main features:
-Security Assessment
-Data Discovery
-Data Masking
-User Assessment
-Activity Auditing

Gary Gordhamer, Education Director for the Quest IOUG Database & Technology Community, reflected on changes in the last decade - including IOUG's integration with Quest Oracle Community - and provided an overview of what attendees can expect from Quest IOUG Database & Technology education at COLLABORATE 20.

Tom McGinn, Learning Architect, Database User Assistance, wrote an article about the introduction of "just enough documentation," a combination of two content types - interactive diagrams and video. This concept was introduced by the Oracle Database User Assistance group with the aim of helping customers get started using Oracle's products as quickly as possible through a combination of interactivity and visual presentation. The first implementation of this approach is the Architectural Overview for Oracle Data Safe.

Jeff Erickson, Oracle BRANDVOICE Contributor, wrote in Forbes about how autonomous technology - namely Oracle's Autonomous Database - fits into a post-digital business world. 

As part of Quest Experience Week (QXW) 2019, Gary Henderson and John Norman from Nationwide spoke about how Nationwide leveraged Oracle Enterprise Manager's Fleet Maintenance feature to effectively and proactively patch its Oracle Database environment to address critical vulnerabilities and maintain version currency. Nationwide was able to patch more than 7,000 databases over a three-year period, with a success rate exceeding 99 percent. The company’s patching approach gets a lot done with few people, minimal downtime, and minimal risk. 

COLLABORATE 20 will be here before you know it! The event will take place April 19-23, 2020, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Created by users for users, COLLABORATE 20 brings IT strategists, users and developers together with Oracle teams and vendor experts to share inspiration, insights, and solutions. COLLABORATE 20 Quest education features sessions and networking opportunities for JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Oracle Cloud Applications, and Database and Technology users.