Last week, our team had the pleasure of attending HrOUG 2025 in Rovinj, Croatia, one of the region’s most prominent conferences dedicated to Oracle technologies, APEX development, and IT innovation. Set in a relaxed seaside atmosphere, the event brought together hundreds of professionals, developers, and Oracle enthusiasts to exchange ideas, share experiences, and discuss the future of technology.
As an Oracle Partner, Esscom places great importance on continuous learning and staying at the forefront of innovation. That’s why events like HrOUG are more than just conferences for us — they are a chance to connect with the community, explore new approaches, and bring home fresh ideas that elevate our everyday work.
This year’s agenda was particularly rich and diverse. We attended numerous sessions that offered practical insights directly applicable to our projects.
One of the highlights was Jan Květina’s presentation on the APEX Deployment Tool (ADT) — an open-source Python solution designed to simplify Oracle database development and deployment. The talk demonstrated how automation and dependency tracking can significantly enhance CI/CD pipelines, which closely aligns with our approach to modern software delivery.
We also enjoyed Domagoj Sain, Ines Kapor, and Ivan Benutić’s session on migration to OCI, which shed light on best practices and lessons learned from real-world migration projects across industries.
Among the technical deep dives, Richard Martens and Roel Hartman stood out with their sessions on SQLcl Project — a feature that redefines deployment and version control for Oracle APEX environments. Learning how to structure SQL and PL/SQL code for collaborative development and automated rollouts was both inspiring and immediately useful for our team.
Equally captivating was the presentation by Jari Laine and Pekka Kanerva on building Document RAG solutions using APEX 24.2 and OCI Generative AI Agent Service, demonstrating how low-code and AI can work hand in hand to create intelligent document-based applications. As AI continues to shape our industry, sessions like these are essential for understanding how to integrate new technologies responsibly and effectively.
We also appreciated the energy and humor in Vedran Vinš Seman’s “DR – Make IT Easy!”, which turned the serious topic of Disaster Recovery into an engaging and educational experience. On the practical side, Dejan Topalović’s “Performance Optimization Without a DBA” offered valuable techniques for improving query and procedure efficiency — insights we can directly apply in our day-to-day work.
Finally, sessions like Mirela Ardelean’s “Go With the Flow – APEX Workflow” and Zoran Tica’s “APEX APIs and How to Make Them Even Better” reminded us how dynamic and creative the APEX community truly is. From workflow automation to extending APEX APIs, every topic reinforced why we enjoy working with these tools daily.
We left Rovinj not only inspired but also proud to be part of a vibrant and forward-thinking Oracle community. Events like HrOUG strengthen collaboration, spark innovation, and remind us that learning never stops — especially when it comes with a sea view and great company.
Thank you, HrOUG 2025, for another year of valuable insights and unforgettable moments. See you next time!
