When the University of Newcastle in Australia canvassed vendors to replace its outdated database management programs, it didn’t expect to receive 415,000 Australian dollars’ worth (US$310,000) of free software licenses.To refocus on product rather than procedure, the university needed to replace its raw SQL databases and restricted freeware management applications with retail software used by professionals.Daniel Conway, technical adviser at the University of Newcastle School of Design, Communication and IT, said the 108 licenses covered the SQL manager Toad for Oracle (expert DBA module), which replaced the limited freeware version students used for their database and programming courses.“The freeware program is stripped down from the retail version as it has reduced functionality,” Conway said. “We wanted to accelerate students’ learning [of SQL and database management] by focusing more on the wider details such as why particular methods are used as well as on the final product.” With the Toad for Oracle experience, the university approached the program’s designer, Quest, for a solution. Quest regional sales manager Don Williams said the company supplied Toad for Oracle at no cost, as it was for educational rather than commercial reasons. “They came to us with a problem that we could easily solve,” Williams said. “We decided that as an educational institution, there was no reason to charge them on a commercial basis.” Conway said allowing the university to use the software would benefit Quest, as students familiar with its applications would eventually use it in the workplace.“I was able to prove the benefits in allowing educational access to their software, namely the concept that what the students use in education, they will use in practice,” he said. “It is a partnership that I am willing to promote and develop as long as it is possible.”Toad for Oracle is a database development and administration tool for Oracle SQL applications that adds functionality to query building and execution, database object creation and modification and PL/SQL and SQL development debugging. It also improves data importing/exporting and schema comparison.Conway said the software will be used by postgraduate and undergrad students across four of its IT courses and campuses.“Students will use [the software] in courses: information systems programming, database management systems, business systems Web database interfacing, and applications programming,” he said. “Quest was generous enough to allow our external campuses at Ourimbah [near Gosford, NSW], Port Macquarie [NSW mid-North coast] and Singapore to use the software.” He said Toad for Oracle was chosen due to staff familiarity and to reduce training.Students will acquire software skills through course design rather than short courses, although Quest offers free training programs twice per year.The university started using the software, designed to make IT courses reflective of the workplace, in its first semester.-Darren Pauli, Computerworld Today (Australia) Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Who’s paying your data integration tax? Reducing your data integration tax will get you one step closer to value—let’s start today. By Sandrine Ghosh Jun 05, 2023 4 mins Data Management feature 13 essential skills for accelerating digital transformation IT leaders too often find themselves behind on business-critical transformation efforts due to gaps in the technical, leadership, and business skills necessary to execute and drive change. By Stephanie Overby Jun 05, 2023 12 mins Digital Transformation IT Skills tip 3 things CIOs must do now to accurately hit net-zero targets More than a third of the world’s largest companies are making their net-zero targets public, yet nearly all will fail to hit them if they don’t double the pace of emissions reduction by 2030. This puts leading executives, CIOs in particul By Diana Bersohn and Mauricio Bermudez-Neubauer Jun 05, 2023 5 mins CIO Accenture Emerging Technology case study Merck Life Sciences banks on RPA to streamline regulatory compliance Automated bots assisted in compliance, thereby enabling the company to increase revenue and save precious human hours, freeing up staff for higher-level tasks. By Yashvendra Singh Jun 05, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation Robotic Process Automation Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe