OraNA :: Oracle News Aggregator

The Sept. 21 kickoff of Oracle OpenWorld 2008 is rapidly approaching, and many bloggers are asking the same question:

To go or not to go?

Some people are not too happy, claiming Oracle is suggesting- -or at least making it easier- -to do the latter.

Last year, Oracle opened up its conference to bloggers for the first time- -it was a move that may have been well-intentioned, but the end result was steeped in controversy.

People were upset that Oracle sent out invitations to bloggers but would not pick up their travel expenses. What may have been more upsetting, however, was Oracle’s reasoning: “This will keep [the bloggers] impartial.”

Can bloggers be so easily be “bought?” Does Oracle favor bloggers with a pro-Oracle bias?

The decision caused an outcry in the blogosphere. ZDNet’s Dennis Howlett, for example, accused Oracle of having double standards, and also disapproved of what he said was an unwillingness to give bloggers access to Oracle executives.  Others compared Oracle to SAP, a company that reportedly often pays for bloggers- -even the most critical ones- - to attend its events.  

There is nothing, however, indicating that Oracle pays the OpenWorld travel expenses for any other members of the media, other than accredited press from overseas (this may explain some of Howlett’s frustration- -he is located in Spain). So, maybe the real questions here aren’t about Oracle’s expense-paying policies, but rather how they view the role of bloggers.

So… how do bloggers differ from the rest of the accredited press?

When the OpenWorld blogger program was recently renewed for this year’s conference, only a couple of differences were announced. The first difference is that there is now a blogger credential; bloggers no longer register as Press. No, this isn’t a very significant change - - but, if Oracle is going to officially lump bloggers into their own category, how should “bloggers” be defined? How do you think Oracle envisions these differences?  What if you’re a member of the press but have a blog as well? (think SearchOracle.com, for example).

The second difference in this year’s program is that “there will be a more cohesive program assembled for bloggers.” This, in my opinion, is what matters the most - - that Oracle (especially as they begin to outline their Web 2.0 plans) is willing to continue to invest in bloggers and give them new opportunities. As Jake from Oracle AppsLab, one of the pioneers of the blogger program, said last year: “This is new territory for a lot of us, and personally, I’d like to hear a lot more opinions and suggestions before I support one path or another.”

I’ve asked many tough questions, and it seems like people have yet to agree on solutions. So, if we are yet to have all the answers to this relatively new blogging phenomenon, why should Oracle be expected to? Despite the controversy (Howlett thinks there are a lot of negatives this year as well), does Oracle at least have the right idea with the OpenWorld blogger program? What do you think?

It’s no secret that Larry Ellison is in his business for the money. Therefore, his reason for laying low in the on-demand software industry — he says software-as-a service (SaaS) isn’t profitable enough — should come as no surprise.

It may also be easy to question Ellison’s reasoning given the way it’s been embraced by so many in the IT business, including Oracle rival SAP.

SAP, which had a change of heart about SaaS last year (CEO Henning Kagermann called it “game changing” and “the better model”), hopes to have 1,000 subscribers to Business ByDesign, its SaaS-based ERP suite for SMBs by the end of 2008.

Ellison, on the other hand, seems to have dismissed SaaS, at least for the time being. In this recent Information Age article, he points to the low profits of on-demand CRM provider Salesforce.com.

“The entire on-demand industry has to get better at making money in selling on-demand software,” he says.

This isn’t the first time Ellison’s rejected the idea of SaaS, a model that requires less licensing and consulting fees than traditional software. In September, Ellison compared Oracle’s SaaS strategy (focusing on adding value to the large companies it already serves) with SAP’s (going after smaller companies with new products like Business ByDesign).

As ZDNet blogger Larry Dignan puts it:

“Here’s Ellison’s strategy: Let SAP figure SaaS out and crow if the rival fails. If SAP is successful–it probably will be over time–Ellison buys NetSuite [the SaaS ERP provider that Ellison owns a majority stake in] from himself.”

But does Ellison have the right idea?

Some people seem to think so. In his recent blog post, “Does Larry Ellison have the best SaaS strategy?”, Dingan credits Ellison for taking a step back in such a difficult, slow-growing market.

Others, however, have higher hopes for SaaS. Blogger Phil Wainewright has criticized what he calls “Oracle’s misconceived SaaS strategy,” and at the start of this year, Wainewright gave his “Eight reasons SaaS will surge in 2008.” Among these include a wider move to Internet-based services, the emergence of virtualization technology and a slowing economy that will make lower-cost options more appealing for customers.

So, maybe signs are pointing to this being a big year for SaaS. But if it is, how soon will Ellison pounce? Do you think it would be worth it for Ellison to take his customers–rather than his profits–into consideration sooner rather than later? And what does it all mean for NetSuite and Oracle’s existing SaaS-based application Oracle CRM OnDemand, a vestige of Siebel’s foray into the business? Could you benefit from a wider Oracle SaaS offering, or is Ellison right in his strategy?

Earlier this month, after Oracle announced its acquisition of insurance software maker Admin Server, I asked this question:

Is this Oracle’s big break into the insurance market?

At that point, it may have been hard to say. But this week, after Oracle made yet another acquisition announcement, many are saying it’s likely that the software giant is  ready to dominate the insurance market.

Oracle will acquire Skywire Software, an insurance software provider and maker of applications for insurance policy life cycle management, in a deal that’s expected to close in the second half of 2008.

Matthew Josefowicz, director Novarica’s insurance practice, was quoted in this Insurance and Technology article as saying:

“If the acquisition of AdminServer was Oracle’s planting the flag on the shore of the insurer software business, the subsequent acquisition of Skywire Software is a declaration of Manifest Destiny.”

In Oracle’s official press release, President Charles Phillips clearly suggests that the Skyware acquisition will not be the last of Oracle’s steps into the insurance software industry:

“Insurance is a strategic industry for Oracle with growth focused on integrated packaged applications,” he said. “Adding Skywire Software to our growing portfolio of insurance software products further accelerates our investment in and commitment to providing the most modern and complete software solutions for this industry.”

Now the next questions: Will other vendors follow Oracle’s lead with acquisitions? Will Oracle have to fight with Microsoft, IBM or SAP for the top spot in the insurance software industry?

Let’s take a look at these vendors’ current insurance offerings:

Microsoft: Microsoft’s latest insurance software addition is just one of many that use Microsoft’s own .NET Framework.  In this article, Celent analyst Donald Light says that he thinks Microsoft will continue to “stick to its guns to not buy outside software vendors.”

IBM: IBM continues to develop its own insurance solutions, such as these new SOA-powered applications. Light says that he thinks IBM will continue its partner-based (rather than acquisition-based) approach.

SAP: Light seems to think that SAP could go either way - - decide to stick with its “homegrown products” or make insurance software vendor acquisitions. SAP’s SOA-based insurance products have been gaining popularity recently in the industry.

So, while it seems like Oracle is the only one making the big acquisitions (anyone surprised?) at the moment in the insurance software industry, only time will tell if others will follow suit. What do you think?

Oracle’s 11g database has received some less-than-stellar press recently — The Pythian Group accused Oracle of releasing misleading adoption rates, and some Eye on Oracle readers don’t see many compelling reasons to upgrade.

The new database does, however, have plenty of new tools. And while they may be costly and time-consuming at first, many users are finding these features very valuable.

So, you ask…what are they?

In no particular order, here is my list of the top five features in 11g that make your upgrade worthwhile, along with some resources to help get you started.

1. Database Replay Tool: This tool provides users with a new way to test database changes and “works like a DVR inside the database,” according to Oracle Corp. in its step-by-step instructions. Before making a change (such as debugging, applying a patch or switching platforms), a user can use Database Replay to capture a database workload and replay it in a test system. Oracle ACE Lutz Hartmann calls it an 11g highlight, and Tim from ORACLE-BASE also provides a thorough explanation on how to use it.

2. SQL Performance Analyzer: This new feature shows the user how a database change, such as an upgrade, would affect SQL performance and allows one to compare different results. Check out SearchOracle.com’s chapter download from the book “Oracle Database 11g SQL” to learn about the optimizer in more detail. Also, you can find some more examples in Tyler Muth’s blog and Oracle’s Database Performance Tuning Guide. 

3. Real Application Testing: Real Application testing is the product that combines the Database Replay Tool and SQL Performance Analyzer.  The best part of this feature is the ability to detect potential problems with database changes, and see how these changes will affect performance, before actually putting them into production. Read Oracle’s description of Real Application Testing and SearchOracle.com’s conversation with Oracle executives about the product.

4. Data Recovery Advisor: This is one of the new backup and recovery features of 11g. The Data Recovery Advisor automatically diagnoses a problem (such as a physical corruption or datafile inconsistency) and gives repair advice, which the DBA can then choose whether or not to execute. Both Oracle and DBA Ben Prusinski give thorough descriptions of this and other 11g backup and recovery tools.

5.  Oracle Data Guard: This tool protects Oracle data by creating and maintaining standby databases that are synchronized with the original production database. If the production database goes down, the standby database can prevent data loss by taking over its role. Data Guard is not a new feature but is certainly enhanced in 11g. This includes failover enhancements, an Active Data Guard option, enhanced security and more — all of which can be read about here.

What are your favorite tools? If you’ve upgraded, what have your experience been like with these tools? If you haven’t upgraded, are these features enough of a reason to do so?