Our Swathi Ambati recently detailed how to accelerated APEX development with AI-driven functions in a Tech Corner feature. Response to that post was enthusiastic, so we asked here to sit for a short Q&A exploring the wins that result from use of APEX. Take a look…

HEXstream: APEX is ideal for rapid application development. What applications / solutions are ideal for this approach?

Swathi: There are many:

Automation of internal workflows—APEX can replace ad-hoc Excel processes for everything from onboarding checklists to mobile-asset checks. Because of its speed, teams often implement these "shadow IT" solutions quickly to meet sudden demands.

Sharing information across departments—APEX applications can make curated data sets (e.g. historical outage data, environmental monitoring) accessible to non-technical users via simple web portals and reports, which bridges silos.

Data acquisition and management systems—With APEX we can streamline data-entry interfaces and effectively manage large data volumes.

Customer-facing portals—We can develop portals for customer support, service requests and feedback.

HEXstream: All of these capabilities democratize application creation. How does that translate into wins for utilities? 

Swathi: APEX excels at rapidly building the kinds of applications that utilities frequently need. Its tight integration with Oracle Database means developers can quickly expose and manage existing data. Common high-impact use cases include:

• Field-service coordination—The ability to deploy mobile-friendly applications for technicians. For example, field workers can use an APEX app to receive work orders, record inspection results, and capture digital signatures offline. Pre-built APEX components (lists, calendars, forms) speed this development, reducing paper processes and manual errors.
• Customer self-service portals—We can quickly launch web portals where customers can view bills, report outages, request service, or track work orders. Because APEX apps are browser-based and responsive, utilities can prototype and roll out consumer-facing portals that integrate with billing and CRM systems with minimal code.
• Work order and preventive-maintenance systems: We can build applications to schedule recurring maintenance and better manage work orders. APEX’s low-code wizards enable utilities to define workflows (submit work requests, approved tasks, close work orders) in weeks instead of months.

HEXstream: What are the most common uses of APEX that you experience? What is an intriguing, unusual use? 

Swathi: Common use cases I have experienced include: 

• Prototyping and proof of concepts—Users can test ideas and demonstrate feasibility before committing to full-scale development.
• Internal tools and dashboards—Users can quickly build tools for project management, reporting and analytics tailored to specific business needs.

Personally, I have developed an APEX app as a knowledge portal where employees and developers can share custom solutions for the OOTB limitations and see the latest updates, for example features available, related blog articles published to APEX topics in social media or on the same portal as an APEX-related news bulletin.

I recently came across an unusual use case in which APEX’s flexibility was employed at utilities; Oracle published an architecture where APEX delivered interactive vegetation-management dashboards combining LiDAR images, AI predictions, and GIS layers to predict vegetation encroachment on power lines.

HEXstream: What most excites you about the APEX development platform? 

Swathi: The combination of rapid delivery, enterprise scalability and low cost gives us confidence that new solutions will quickly pay for themselves. I am most excited about the APEX development platform for the following reasons:

Speed of innovation—APEX dramatically reduces development cycles. As a developer, APEX enables me to build robust applications with minimal coding, effectively leveraging SQL and PL/SQL skills.

Integration capabilities—Seamless integration with Oracle databases and cloud services enables unified data management and scalable solutions.

Community and support—There is active community engagement and ongoing updates from Oracle, which ensure continuous learning and adoption of application-development best practices.

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