Some thoughts about Justin Kestelyn and the Oracle Technology Network

I guess this information is now public, so I can comment on it.

Today is Justin Kestelyn's last day at Oracle.

Kestelyn headed an organization within Oracle known as the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). While I haven't interacted much with Kestelyn since my 2009 job change, I was certainly interacting with him in my years as a product manager at Motorola, when I would attend Oracle OpenWorld frequently. In addition to my professional duties on behalf of Motorola, I have also blogged about Oracle upon occasion - in fact, one of the last substantial posts in which I mentioned Kestelyn was a post about the 2009 Oracle blogger meetup at Oracle OpenWorld. (That's the one with the t-shirts and the markers.)

But Kestelyn did more than fund beer for bloggers (although this is a Very Important Task). The purpose of the Oracle Technology Network was to provide a way for Oracle customers to obtain technical information about Oracle's ever-expanding line of products. This information was conveyed in a variety of ways, including live (and pre-recorded) videos and a variety of digital and printed publications. For example, see what CIO wrote back in 2008, and also look at this case study.

While some will assert that Oracle did not do as much as it could have in the social media arena, it at least made the effort in various areas, including unconferences. And when you talk about a large organization such as Oracle, it's understandable that some organizations are ahead of others in social media adoption.

Kestlyn and OTN have accomplished a lot, and it sounds like OTN will continue to excel in the future. As Justin departs, I wish the Clash City Rocker well in his future endeavors.

P.S. See this post from Hector Madrid.