Oracle APEX bij hét IT-bedrijf van Defensie

Jan Willem Janse is product owner of the OMIS development team at JIVC: the IT company of Defense. JIVC falls under Materiel and IT Command (COMMIT). Two and a half years ago, a major modernization project begins, using APEX to replace Oracle Forms and Reports. A rebuild with the store open: OMIS has to operate continuously.

The Royal Air Force’s planning system was originally built with Oracle Forms and Reports. Jan Willem explains, “Forms was completely out of development. An important reason to start the modernization process. Mobile accessibility was also a challenge. We wanted to retain the database, continue working with the same tables and reuse as much of the existing software (stored procedures) as possible.”

From Forms to APEX
APEX has many similarities with Forms. Jan Willem: “The similarities make the transition easier. But plenty of interesting technical challenges remain. For example, together with the users, we had to reinvent many old functionalities. For example, the auto refresh mechanism. That’s the live updating and highlighting of changes to the data displayed on a screen when other users have made changes to that data. Or if two people simultaneously change the same mission. Then the changes should not bite each other.

This was all built into Forms at the time, including through Java customization. In APEX, we had to figure out these key functionalities in a new technical way. If that then succeeds, it’s very satisfying.”

Ready for the future
Jan Willem continues: “We also want a system that works on all devices.That’s why we prefer to build a perfectly responsive website rather than an app.The application must work entirely in the browser, based on modern web standards. This way, we can later make OMIS accessible on mobile as well. Completely ready for the future.”

High level of knowledge
The project involves working completely agile with two scrum teams. Jan Willem: “APEX development teams lend themselves well to working according to scrum methods. The OMIS team consists of a project leader, product owner, functional administrators and eight APEX developers. The complexity of the project requires a high level of knowledge of the APEX developers. We also expect this high level from our hired IT professionals.”

“The complexity of the project requires a high level of knowledge from the APEX developers. We also expect this high level from our hired IT professionals.”

A good balance
OMIS has many different users. Jan Willem: “I am the intermediary between the development team and the users. I am always looking for the balance between what is desired and what is possible. With so many different users, this is quite a challenging job. For example, every airbase has its own culture and customs. All with a different desired display of the screens. And then there are other users of the system, such as Army units.”

Rebuilding with the store open
It makes the job even more challenging for Jan Willem and his team. “In OMIS, among other things, all Royal Air Force flights are planned. The system is also completely geared to exercises. No one should be inconvenienced by our rebuilding. That’s why we work hard to minimize downtime. The agreement is a monthly release cycle with a maximum of 2 hours of downtime per month. So we are rebuilding with the store open. Rack by rack. As a result, we renew parts of the system in phases. And we are phasing out environments. Some user groups are already working with the modernized APEX screens. Other users are still working with the old screens.

In this way, OMIS modules are being modernized in phases. User groups can use more and more modules in the modernized APEX application. The components of the old system are being phased out. A big advantage, because this way the underlying database remains largely the same. And that’s nice.”

A fine collaboration
Qualogy is one of the Ministry of Defense’s partners for hiring APEX specialists. Jan Willem: “APEX consultant Wouter de Waard works for us through Qualogy. He is flexible and has the level of knowledge we strive for. JIVC stimulates knowledge sharing. We regularly organize knowledge sessions for team members, by team members. Wouter is happy to share his knowledge there.”

About Jan Willem Janse
Jan Willem Janse is product owner of the OMIS team at JIVC: the IT company of Defense. JIVC falls under the Defense Materiel Organization (DMO). He has a background in IT, including at Oracle. Jan Willem has worked for Defense for over 15 years and has been involved in the OMIS system for many years. This has given him a lot of functional knowledge, which he combines with his technical IT background in his current role as product owner.