If there is a word that sums up Oracle at the moment, that word must be ‘success’. First this week comes the news that Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison is the highest paid CEO of the decade. The big cheese of the software giant pulled down $1.84 billion, beating Internet tycoon Barry Diller into second place.
Ellison has 23% shares in Oracle, which he founded in 1977. In the ten years up to 31st May 2009, Oracle made a staggering $98 billion, up from $36 billion at the start of the decade. Eye-watering indeed.
So, where does a company go from huge salaries and huge profits? Huge acquisitions, of course. There appear to be mixed messages on this one, however. Earlier this week, Oracle president Charles Phillips confused reporters when he said that the company was planning to splash out on a $70 billion shopping spree, buying up other companies, between now and 2015. This would be a massive leap, even considering Oracle’s $7 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems in January this year.
Phillips revealed the plan at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech Conference in Aspen, Colorado. He said: “If you look forward for the next five years, we'll probably double what we've spent on acquisitions in the last five years.” Seeing as Oracle spent $35 billion on acquisitions in the past five years, a quick bit of maths shows that Oracle are looking at $70 billion.
Over the past five years, Oracle has spent around $35 billion on acquisitions. Phillips, however, was mistaken, boasting, imprudent, or just a bit shaky on his multiplication, according to a statement issued by Oracle later. In this statement, a spokesperson said that the acquisition budget quoted by Phillips was “highly unlikely,” but that it would consider making acquisitions “if market conditions warrant.” Which, here at Inatech, we think will be the case. Whether Phillips was wrong or exaggerating, it is likely that Oracle in 2015 will be even bigger and better than ever.
Showing posts with label Sun Microsystems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sun Microsystems. Show all posts
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Oracle Unified Storage System updated
This week in the ever-changing world of Oracle, it is the 7000 Unified Storage System Series that has been given a facelift. This time, Oracle has added support for 4 and 8 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel, new SAS disk drives and multiple storage pods, for greater user convenience.
Mike Shapiro, vice president of Storage at Oracle, said: “Oracle's Sun Storage products, and specifically the Sun Storage 7000 Unified Storage product line, deliver innovative technologies and breakthrough economics for modern datacentre requirements such as private clouds, storage consolidation, and data protection.”
As well as the improvements mentioned above, the new update includes a built-in inline data deduplication that can be combined with inline data compression. The new version is designed to help customers to reduce the costs of storage, expand the use of the Sun Storage 7000 System product line into Fibre Channel Storage Area Networks, and improve capacity and availability.
The Sun Storage 7000 System product line is supported with Oracle Solaris, Oracle Enterprise Linux, Oracle Database, Oracle Applications, Oracle Fusion Middleware and Sun System software products, and other third party products too, to help consumers achieve complete, open and integrated systems.
Mike Shapiro, vice president of Storage at Oracle, said: “Oracle's Sun Storage products, and specifically the Sun Storage 7000 Unified Storage product line, deliver innovative technologies and breakthrough economics for modern datacentre requirements such as private clouds, storage consolidation, and data protection.”
As well as the improvements mentioned above, the new update includes a built-in inline data deduplication that can be combined with inline data compression. The new version is designed to help customers to reduce the costs of storage, expand the use of the Sun Storage 7000 System product line into Fibre Channel Storage Area Networks, and improve capacity and availability.
The Sun Storage 7000 System product line is supported with Oracle Solaris, Oracle Enterprise Linux, Oracle Database, Oracle Applications, Oracle Fusion Middleware and Sun System software products, and other third party products too, to help consumers achieve complete, open and integrated systems.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
MySQL founder fights on against Oracle’s Sun takeover
For some in the software community, the battle over Oracle and Sun Microsystems is still raging. Predictably, the biggest opposition to the acquisition, which took place in January, comes from the open source community.
This time, it is Michael Widenius, co-founder of MySQL, who is raging against Oracle. Widenius has filed an appeal against the decision made by the European Commission to approve Oracle’s takeover of Sun, again raising the issue of competition in the market.
Last year, the European Commission investigated claims that the Oracle-Sun deal would harm competition in the market, as it cast the future of MySQL into question. Widenius, amongst others, claimed that Oracle had an incentive to suppress or restructure MySQL. In January, Oracle finally sealed the deal, only after releasing a list of commitments to keeping MySQL as a competitive force, including increased spending on MySQL research and development.
Widenius, however, is not satisfied. He spent the final few weeks before the deal campaigning against Oracle, trying to gather signatories for a petition against the takeover. He thinks that these commitments are merely designed to placate, and, as they are not legally binding, will not protect MySQL in the long run.
On his blog, Widenius wrote in the last few days before the deal that it is the consumer who he is concerned about. He said: “If Oracle were allowed to acquire MySQL [owned by Sun], we would be looking at less competition among databases, which will mean higher license and support prices.
“In the end it's always the consumers and the small businesses that have to pay the bills, in this case to Oracle.”
It is not yet known what the exact terms of the appeal are yet, and Widenius and Oracle spokespeople have all refused to give further comment at the moment. A European Commission official told the Financial Times last week that it would defend its earlier decision in court.
This time, it is Michael Widenius, co-founder of MySQL, who is raging against Oracle. Widenius has filed an appeal against the decision made by the European Commission to approve Oracle’s takeover of Sun, again raising the issue of competition in the market.
Last year, the European Commission investigated claims that the Oracle-Sun deal would harm competition in the market, as it cast the future of MySQL into question. Widenius, amongst others, claimed that Oracle had an incentive to suppress or restructure MySQL. In January, Oracle finally sealed the deal, only after releasing a list of commitments to keeping MySQL as a competitive force, including increased spending on MySQL research and development.
Widenius, however, is not satisfied. He spent the final few weeks before the deal campaigning against Oracle, trying to gather signatories for a petition against the takeover. He thinks that these commitments are merely designed to placate, and, as they are not legally binding, will not protect MySQL in the long run.
On his blog, Widenius wrote in the last few days before the deal that it is the consumer who he is concerned about. He said: “If Oracle were allowed to acquire MySQL [owned by Sun], we would be looking at less competition among databases, which will mean higher license and support prices.
“In the end it's always the consumers and the small businesses that have to pay the bills, in this case to Oracle.”
It is not yet known what the exact terms of the appeal are yet, and Widenius and Oracle spokespeople have all refused to give further comment at the moment. A European Commission official told the Financial Times last week that it would defend its earlier decision in court.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sun contributes $400m to Oracle Q4 income
It has been a boom quarter for Oracle, according to the latest figures released by the software giant. Oracle announced on Friday that its revenues for its fourth quarter, which ended on 31st May, had increased by 39% to $9.5 billion. Shares in Oracle are up to 46 cents each, an increase of 24% on last year’s figures for the same quarter.
In the breakdown, it is clear that new software licenses are driving up revenue, with revenues in this area increasing by 14% to $3.1 billion. Meanwhile, license updates and product support revenues were a close second, increasing by 12% to $3.4 billion. Operating income was up by 14% to $3.3 billion, the operating margin was 35%, and the net income was up by 25%, reaching $2.4 billion.
Oracle’s Safra Catz said that Sun Microsystems had been a big part of that quarter’s success, following its acquisition by Oracle early this year. She said: “We estimate that Sun contributed over $400m to non-GAAP operating income in our Q4.”
Oracle President Charles Phillips was optimistic about the company’s market dominance, boosted by the figures. He said: “We continue to take large chunks of market share away from SAP.
“Over the past twelve months Oracle's applications business has grown 5% on a constant dollar basis, while SAP's business has declined 24% over their previous four quarters.
The big cheese, Larry Ellison, was again preoccupied with competition with major rival IBM, and in this area, Oracle is gaining ground. He said: “Version 2 of our Sun Exadata database machine outperforms IBM's fastest computer in both data warehousing and transaction processing.”
This means, according to Ellison, that some of IBM’s biggest customers started buying Exadata machines instead of IBM servers in Q4, helping contribute to the boost.
In the breakdown, it is clear that new software licenses are driving up revenue, with revenues in this area increasing by 14% to $3.1 billion. Meanwhile, license updates and product support revenues were a close second, increasing by 12% to $3.4 billion. Operating income was up by 14% to $3.3 billion, the operating margin was 35%, and the net income was up by 25%, reaching $2.4 billion.
Oracle’s Safra Catz said that Sun Microsystems had been a big part of that quarter’s success, following its acquisition by Oracle early this year. She said: “We estimate that Sun contributed over $400m to non-GAAP operating income in our Q4.”
Oracle President Charles Phillips was optimistic about the company’s market dominance, boosted by the figures. He said: “We continue to take large chunks of market share away from SAP.
“Over the past twelve months Oracle's applications business has grown 5% on a constant dollar basis, while SAP's business has declined 24% over their previous four quarters.
The big cheese, Larry Ellison, was again preoccupied with competition with major rival IBM, and in this area, Oracle is gaining ground. He said: “Version 2 of our Sun Exadata database machine outperforms IBM's fastest computer in both data warehousing and transaction processing.”
This means, according to Ellison, that some of IBM’s biggest customers started buying Exadata machines instead of IBM servers in Q4, helping contribute to the boost.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Oracle update: rebates and redundancies (or a lack thereof)
This week Oracle news has been all about teething troubles following - you guess it - the Sun Mircrosystems takeover. There are bound to be difficulties at a time like this, only six months after the merger.
Firstly, there is the problem of hardware sales rebates for Sun hardware VARs. Sun used to pay out rebates within a 60-day lag time period, but a small group of Sun hardware resellers, due to the changeover to Oracle, are still waiting for payment of rebates from February. They are also still waiting to find out how hardware rebates will be paid out in the new financial year. Whilst Oracle is looking to placate Sun users, ensuring that support will be provided, Sun resellers seem to have been left a little in the dark on this one; here’s hoping things pick up soon.
The other big Oracle story this week is that about redundancies. Now, naturally, in any takeover of any company, there are going to be casualties, but reporting and speculation about the redundancies that the Oracle-Sun deal would bring have been bordering on hysterical. Various analysts and publications predicted a huge wave of redundancies, some claiming that there would be as many as 13,800 in one fell swoop.
In fact, as Oracle CEO Larry Ellison pointed out out this week, redundancies would actually be at around 1,000. The boss laid into members of the press who had speculated wildly over the lay-offs, saying that they should be “ashamed of themselves.” We’re inclined to agree here at Inatech. Yes, it may have been confusing that Oracle hired 2,000 salespeople in January, only to make 1,000 redundant six months later, but throwing random, huge figures into the air couldn’t have helped the situation much either.
Firstly, there is the problem of hardware sales rebates for Sun hardware VARs. Sun used to pay out rebates within a 60-day lag time period, but a small group of Sun hardware resellers, due to the changeover to Oracle, are still waiting for payment of rebates from February. They are also still waiting to find out how hardware rebates will be paid out in the new financial year. Whilst Oracle is looking to placate Sun users, ensuring that support will be provided, Sun resellers seem to have been left a little in the dark on this one; here’s hoping things pick up soon.
The other big Oracle story this week is that about redundancies. Now, naturally, in any takeover of any company, there are going to be casualties, but reporting and speculation about the redundancies that the Oracle-Sun deal would bring have been bordering on hysterical. Various analysts and publications predicted a huge wave of redundancies, some claiming that there would be as many as 13,800 in one fell swoop.
In fact, as Oracle CEO Larry Ellison pointed out out this week, redundancies would actually be at around 1,000. The boss laid into members of the press who had speculated wildly over the lay-offs, saying that they should be “ashamed of themselves.” We’re inclined to agree here at Inatech. Yes, it may have been confusing that Oracle hired 2,000 salespeople in January, only to make 1,000 redundant six months later, but throwing random, huge figures into the air couldn’t have helped the situation much either.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Novell aims for Sun customers
Since Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems, several smaller players have looked to pick off Sun customers, cashing in on the uncertainty and anxiety left after the merger. This time, the little fish trailing after Oracle is Novell, which has just released a range of incentives that it hopes with tempt Sun Solaris and identity management customers to switch.
In particular, the strategy aims at Sun customers with a perpetual licence on five identity management and security products. These customers, Novell says, can now switch to a Novell equivalent for free, paying only maintenance.
A similarly shiny and new offer is being touted for Solaris customers. For a limited time, customers buying Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server subscriptions get free training aimed at Solaris administrators thrown in, to make that migration smoother.
Justin Steinman, vice president of solution and product marketing at Novell, said: “If Sun customers are concerned about the future of Solaris, they can now migrate to SUSE Linux Enterprise.
“If they are concerned about the future road map for Sun's identity management products, they can now migrate to Novell Identity Manager 4, the only identity solution to manage identities in physical, virtual and cloud environments.
“And if you are a former Sun partner, you may be interested in establishing a new relationship with a company such as Novell, which is deeply committed to the partner channel.”
With all this in mind, however, it’s important to remember that Novell is in rather a state of flux. The company is rumoured to have over 20 companies looking over its books and product lines. Novell’s boss said in April that the company’s Linux business, as well as its identity and security management software, had taken a severe blow. These things in turn have led existing Novell customers to be cautious when it comes to making long-term platform commitments, unsure of Novell’s future. All of this points to Novell’s poaching strategy being largely unsuccessful.
In particular, the strategy aims at Sun customers with a perpetual licence on five identity management and security products. These customers, Novell says, can now switch to a Novell equivalent for free, paying only maintenance.
A similarly shiny and new offer is being touted for Solaris customers. For a limited time, customers buying Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server subscriptions get free training aimed at Solaris administrators thrown in, to make that migration smoother.
Justin Steinman, vice president of solution and product marketing at Novell, said: “If Sun customers are concerned about the future of Solaris, they can now migrate to SUSE Linux Enterprise.
“If they are concerned about the future road map for Sun's identity management products, they can now migrate to Novell Identity Manager 4, the only identity solution to manage identities in physical, virtual and cloud environments.
“And if you are a former Sun partner, you may be interested in establishing a new relationship with a company such as Novell, which is deeply committed to the partner channel.”
With all this in mind, however, it’s important to remember that Novell is in rather a state of flux. The company is rumoured to have over 20 companies looking over its books and product lines. Novell’s boss said in April that the company’s Linux business, as well as its identity and security management software, had taken a severe blow. These things in turn have led existing Novell customers to be cautious when it comes to making long-term platform commitments, unsure of Novell’s future. All of this points to Novell’s poaching strategy being largely unsuccessful.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Oracle news: Indian expansion and Sun Ray update
New guidelines issued by the Indian government have raised the threshold for public shareholding in listed companies to 25%. Speculation around the new legislation turned to Oracle, naturally, as a major player in India.
The new guidelines, however, will not currently affect Oracle Financial Services, its Indian arm. Oracle’s public holding is less than 25%, which means that the company will not need to delist its Indian arm; at least, not in the near future, anyway.
Having said this, Oracle is currently in talks to offload up to 9% of Oracle Financial Services. Currently, it holds 80.47%. The funds raised by this, Oracle spokespeople have said, will be used for expansion and acquisitions in India.
And expand Oracle will. Last month, reports came in that Oracle had already acquired 3.5 lakh square feet of commercial space at Kalyani Magnum, JP Nagar. Never a company to be left behind in its quest for market dominance, Oracle purchased the space as fellow IT services provider Capgemini signed for 2.5 lakh sqft of office space at the Summit in Brigade Metropolis, which could house 2,000 employees.
Whilst it expands in the East, Oracle has been working on improving its Sun offering too. This week, Oracle unveiled the new versions of its Sun Ray Client and the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure software it runs on. This is the first time the products have been revamped since the Sun takeover.
Wim Coekaerts, Oracle senior vice president for Linux and virtualisation engineering, said:
“Oracle is committed to helping customers leverage the power of virtualisation through the most complete and integrated portfolio, spanning desktop, server, storage and middleware.”
The new guidelines, however, will not currently affect Oracle Financial Services, its Indian arm. Oracle’s public holding is less than 25%, which means that the company will not need to delist its Indian arm; at least, not in the near future, anyway.
Having said this, Oracle is currently in talks to offload up to 9% of Oracle Financial Services. Currently, it holds 80.47%. The funds raised by this, Oracle spokespeople have said, will be used for expansion and acquisitions in India.
And expand Oracle will. Last month, reports came in that Oracle had already acquired 3.5 lakh square feet of commercial space at Kalyani Magnum, JP Nagar. Never a company to be left behind in its quest for market dominance, Oracle purchased the space as fellow IT services provider Capgemini signed for 2.5 lakh sqft of office space at the Summit in Brigade Metropolis, which could house 2,000 employees.
Whilst it expands in the East, Oracle has been working on improving its Sun offering too. This week, Oracle unveiled the new versions of its Sun Ray Client and the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure software it runs on. This is the first time the products have been revamped since the Sun takeover.
Wim Coekaerts, Oracle senior vice president for Linux and virtualisation engineering, said:
“Oracle is committed to helping customers leverage the power of virtualisation through the most complete and integrated portfolio, spanning desktop, server, storage and middleware.”
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Breaking records and new releases: Oracle developments this week
There have been two new developments from Oracle in the past week, which have certainly impressed us here at Inatech. The first is Oracle’s new world record. Now, if you’re really enthusiastic about databases (and yes, we really are) you’ll love this.
Oracle’s 11g Database has achieved a world record non-clustered TPC-H Three Terabyte benchmark result, running on Oracle’s Sun SPARC Enterprise M9000 server. So what does that mean? Well, the 11g Database achieved a performance result of 188,229.9 QphH@3000GB, with a price of $20.19QphH@3000GB. Put a little more simply, 11g delivered 20 per cent more performance at a better price/performance ratio that the former record holder from rivals IBM. Even more simply, the 11g has officially the most bang-for-buck in the database world.
Number-crunching aside, Oracle’s other big development of the week is its new release, Sun Netra 6000. This is a new carrier-grade server for the communications industry, and it secures Oracle’s position as a leader in the comms industry when it comes to servers, storage, IT infrastructure, operations support systems and service delivery platforms.
The new release has all of the great features of Oracles Sun Blade 6000 modular system, such as the advanced blade networking, reliability and simplified management, and more. Sun Netra 6000 also brings carrier-grade qualities such as extended lifecycle support and Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) certification. NEBS certification helps to reduce costs and risk and improve time-to-market, and because of that, we think this release is going to be big, particularly in telecommunications central office deployments.
Leveraging the same advanced features of Oracle’s Sun Blade 6000 modular system, including advanced blade networking, simplified management and leading reliability, the Sun Netra 6000 adds carrier-grade qualities such as Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) certification and extended lifecycle support. NEBS certification helps reduce cost and risk and improve time to market for customers, and is required for telecommunications central office deployments.
Oracle’s 11g Database has achieved a world record non-clustered TPC-H Three Terabyte benchmark result, running on Oracle’s Sun SPARC Enterprise M9000 server. So what does that mean? Well, the 11g Database achieved a performance result of 188,229.9 QphH@3000GB, with a price of $20.19QphH@3000GB. Put a little more simply, 11g delivered 20 per cent more performance at a better price/performance ratio that the former record holder from rivals IBM. Even more simply, the 11g has officially the most bang-for-buck in the database world.
Number-crunching aside, Oracle’s other big development of the week is its new release, Sun Netra 6000. This is a new carrier-grade server for the communications industry, and it secures Oracle’s position as a leader in the comms industry when it comes to servers, storage, IT infrastructure, operations support systems and service delivery platforms.
The new release has all of the great features of Oracles Sun Blade 6000 modular system, such as the advanced blade networking, reliability and simplified management, and more. Sun Netra 6000 also brings carrier-grade qualities such as extended lifecycle support and Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) certification. NEBS certification helps to reduce costs and risk and improve time-to-market, and because of that, we think this release is going to be big, particularly in telecommunications central office deployments.
Leveraging the same advanced features of Oracle’s Sun Blade 6000 modular system, including advanced blade networking, simplified management and leading reliability, the Sun Netra 6000 adds carrier-grade qualities such as Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) certification and extended lifecycle support. NEBS certification helps reduce cost and risk and improve time to market for customers, and is required for telecommunications central office deployments.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Ellison to sell shares
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has announced that he plans to sell $1.32 billion of his stock in the software giant over the next ten months. Ellison plans to sell at least 50 million of his shares by the end of June this year.
Oracle spokespeople said that this sale is part of Ellison’s "strategy for asset diversification and liquidity."
The sale will still leave Ellison with 1.13 billion shares, which equates to 22.3% of Oracle’s outstanding stock, so there’s no chance of Ellison losing any of his grip over the dominant software company.
Oracle spokespeople said that this sale is part of Ellison’s "strategy for asset diversification and liquidity."
The sale will still leave Ellison with 1.13 billion shares, which equates to 22.3% of Oracle’s outstanding stock, so there’s no chance of Ellison losing any of his grip over the dominant software company.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Oracle to sell software compatible with Sun
At an event in London last month, Oracle’s UK leader David Callaghan revealed plans to provide integrated hardware and software.
The aim of the new products is to lower IT operating costs and boost performance for users.
Callaghan said: "Oracle's strategy is about being complete, open and integrated, which brings value by broadening functionality and driving out risk."
Oracle vice-president of systems Dermot O'Kelly said that the move would give Oracle the unique capability to provide users with a fully integrated enterprise system from the application, middleware and database through to the operating system, server and storage hardware.
He also said "By combining Sun with Oracle, we are changing the economies of running a datacentre."
The potential for cost-cutting here is huge. Large businesses using Oracle’s complete software and hardware system will benefit in particular.
This comes in the wake of Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems, which sparked fears amongst Sun users that their systems would no longer be supported.
In response to this, Oracle spokespeople have said that the company will focus its efforts on developing enterprise systems for Solaris, whilst at the same time supporting users those running Sun's x86 servers and using Windows. Specifically, Oracle will develop Linux and Solaris systems for the SunFire 2200, 4100, 4200, 4400 and 4600 servers.
The aim of the new products is to lower IT operating costs and boost performance for users.
Callaghan said: "Oracle's strategy is about being complete, open and integrated, which brings value by broadening functionality and driving out risk."
Oracle vice-president of systems Dermot O'Kelly said that the move would give Oracle the unique capability to provide users with a fully integrated enterprise system from the application, middleware and database through to the operating system, server and storage hardware.
He also said "By combining Sun with Oracle, we are changing the economies of running a datacentre."
The potential for cost-cutting here is huge. Large businesses using Oracle’s complete software and hardware system will benefit in particular.
This comes in the wake of Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems, which sparked fears amongst Sun users that their systems would no longer be supported.
In response to this, Oracle spokespeople have said that the company will focus its efforts on developing enterprise systems for Solaris, whilst at the same time supporting users those running Sun's x86 servers and using Windows. Specifically, Oracle will develop Linux and Solaris systems for the SunFire 2200, 4100, 4200, 4400 and 4600 servers.
Oracle to maintain OpenSolaris
Further reassurances over the future of Sun Microsystems have been given since its acquisition by Oracle.
Oracle director of product management Dan Roberts has said that OpenSolaris will not vanish due to the new acquisition, but instead, Oracle will develop a new version of the software called OpenSolaris 2010.03.
Roberts said: "Oracle will continue to make OpenSolaris available as open source, and Oracle will continue to actively support and participate in the community.
"Oracle is investing more in Solaris than Sun did prior to the acquisition, and will continue to contribute technologies to OpenSolaris, as Oracle already does for many other open source projects."
There will, however, be some features that will not be available in open source in the future, Roberts explained.
"There may be some things we choose not to open source going forward, similar to how MySQL manages certain value add at the top of the stack," he said.
"It's important to understand the plan now is to deliver value again out of our IP investment, while at the same time measuring that with continuing to deliver."
Oracle director of product management Dan Roberts has said that OpenSolaris will not vanish due to the new acquisition, but instead, Oracle will develop a new version of the software called OpenSolaris 2010.03.
Roberts said: "Oracle will continue to make OpenSolaris available as open source, and Oracle will continue to actively support and participate in the community.
"Oracle is investing more in Solaris than Sun did prior to the acquisition, and will continue to contribute technologies to OpenSolaris, as Oracle already does for many other open source projects."
There will, however, be some features that will not be available in open source in the future, Roberts explained.
"There may be some things we choose not to open source going forward, similar to how MySQL manages certain value add at the top of the stack," he said.
"It's important to understand the plan now is to deliver value again out of our IP investment, while at the same time measuring that with continuing to deliver."
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Oracle launches MySQL Cluster 7.1
This week software giant Oracle announced version 7.1 of its MySQL technology, further demonstrating the company’s commitment to the database software. There has been speculation and anxiety over the future of the open source-founded technology, ever since Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems, but this new version cements Oracle’s investment in MySQL.
Version 7.1 of the popular database software brings in a new cluster manager component. It is this aspect that Oracle has focussed on. Company spokespeople said that the component “simplifies and automates the management of the MySQL Cluster database, enabling database administrators to respond quickly to changing market conditions and stringent service level agreements.”
As well as this, Oracle has announced that it is also providing a new MySQL Cluster Connector for Java, to “help accelerate development cycles and time to market, and enabling higher throughput and lower latency for Java-based services.”
Over on The Register, Gavin Clarke claims that the presentation given by MySQL founder Michael Widenius and MySQL architect Brian Aker at the MySQL Conference in Santa Clara threw a spanner in Oracle’s works. The pair contested that MySQL, founded and developed by the open source community, should not be the property of a single organisation, but the pairs’ words were ineffective; Oracle acquired MySQL along with Sun in January, and these views are outdated and counterproductive.
Rebuffing this view was the speech given by Oracle chief software architect Edward Screven the day before at the same event. Screven said that Oracle will provide projects to tie MySQL into Oracle’s software fabric and management products, reassuring MySQL users that they will not be left out in the cold. Oracle expects a boost in database sales thanks to MySQL, and may even topple Microsoft as the main provider of database products. More importantly, Screven pointed out that users of the database will now find their information is safer now that Oracle can offer them a single, integrated and supported stack.
Here at Inatech, we recognise the value of the open source community to software development. MySQL has been a triumph of the open source community, but now is the time to move on; under Oracle’s guidance, MySQL can go further than ever before and provide better functionality to users than they had imagined.
Version 7.1 of the popular database software brings in a new cluster manager component. It is this aspect that Oracle has focussed on. Company spokespeople said that the component “simplifies and automates the management of the MySQL Cluster database, enabling database administrators to respond quickly to changing market conditions and stringent service level agreements.”
As well as this, Oracle has announced that it is also providing a new MySQL Cluster Connector for Java, to “help accelerate development cycles and time to market, and enabling higher throughput and lower latency for Java-based services.”
Over on The Register, Gavin Clarke claims that the presentation given by MySQL founder Michael Widenius and MySQL architect Brian Aker at the MySQL Conference in Santa Clara threw a spanner in Oracle’s works. The pair contested that MySQL, founded and developed by the open source community, should not be the property of a single organisation, but the pairs’ words were ineffective; Oracle acquired MySQL along with Sun in January, and these views are outdated and counterproductive.
Rebuffing this view was the speech given by Oracle chief software architect Edward Screven the day before at the same event. Screven said that Oracle will provide projects to tie MySQL into Oracle’s software fabric and management products, reassuring MySQL users that they will not be left out in the cold. Oracle expects a boost in database sales thanks to MySQL, and may even topple Microsoft as the main provider of database products. More importantly, Screven pointed out that users of the database will now find their information is safer now that Oracle can offer them a single, integrated and supported stack.
Here at Inatech, we recognise the value of the open source community to software development. MySQL has been a triumph of the open source community, but now is the time to move on; under Oracle’s guidance, MySQL can go further than ever before and provide better functionality to users than they had imagined.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Oracle vice president speaks on future of Java
At this year’s EclipseCon in California, Oracle’s Steve Harris and former Sun Microsystems’ vice president Jeet Kaul gave a double-header presentation on the future of Java.
The acquisition of Sun by Oracle early this year provoked huge anxiety in Sun users, who feared that their systems would be put on the back-burner. Yesterday’s performance from Harris and Kaul was another affirmation that business will continue as usual, and, even better, improve in future.
In an abstract from the keynote speech, users are assured that “apocalyptic anxiety” over Java “is giving way to rational optimism,” and that “there is profound opportunity in the passing of the Java torch.”
Harris stressed the significance of Java to Oracle, saying: "Java is certainly the crown jewels of this acquisition.
“It brings together a tremendous base of developers and a tremendous community, and it's incredibly important to our business."
Meanwhile Kaul, who is now vice president of Oracle's client software development group, emphasised the future growth of the Java community. He said:
"Developers are the lifeblood of Java. Nine million developers are using Java, and we want to grow that community.
“And how do you grow that community? We have to make sure that Java is available in as many places as possible and we want it to be a competitive platform.
“We also want to adapt to change. That's an important part of the exercise, being able to widen a sustainable platform drives a whole lot of business. We need to be flexible to make changes."
Rounding things off, Kaul also stressed the need for user feedback, harking back to the Sun ethos.
"Come in and engage with us,” he said, “We need you to push us. We want to bottle that kind of industry excitement that was there at the beginning of Java. We want to bring all of that feeling back again."
The acquisition of Sun by Oracle early this year provoked huge anxiety in Sun users, who feared that their systems would be put on the back-burner. Yesterday’s performance from Harris and Kaul was another affirmation that business will continue as usual, and, even better, improve in future.
In an abstract from the keynote speech, users are assured that “apocalyptic anxiety” over Java “is giving way to rational optimism,” and that “there is profound opportunity in the passing of the Java torch.”
Harris stressed the significance of Java to Oracle, saying: "Java is certainly the crown jewels of this acquisition.
“It brings together a tremendous base of developers and a tremendous community, and it's incredibly important to our business."
Meanwhile Kaul, who is now vice president of Oracle's client software development group, emphasised the future growth of the Java community. He said:
"Developers are the lifeblood of Java. Nine million developers are using Java, and we want to grow that community.
“And how do you grow that community? We have to make sure that Java is available in as many places as possible and we want it to be a competitive platform.
“We also want to adapt to change. That's an important part of the exercise, being able to widen a sustainable platform drives a whole lot of business. We need to be flexible to make changes."
Rounding things off, Kaul also stressed the need for user feedback, harking back to the Sun ethos.
"Come in and engage with us,” he said, “We need you to push us. We want to bottle that kind of industry excitement that was there at the beginning of Java. We want to bring all of that feeling back again."
Friday, February 26, 2010
Sun Microsystems virtualization tool received with enthusiasm
Since the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle, speculation and discussion around Sun has been heated. Sun has been pushing virtualization and cloud computing, particularly through this video campaign.
Oracle recently got onboard with cloud computing and virtualization with the launch of its 50 date global cloud computing roadshow, countering CEO Larry Ellison’s earlier hesitation over the new technology. With this new drive from both the parent company and its new subsidiary, things look set to make virtualization big this year.
Out in the blogosphere, Sun’s latest virtualization offering Virtual Box has been received with hyperactive enthusiasm. Over on Notebooks, writer Rajesh proclaims:
“I believe 2010 is going to be a year of virtualization and cloud computing. There are lots of free Desktop Virtualization alternatives available online, but none of them can come near Virtual Box for a free desktop virtualization tool. VirtualBox is special because it is the only alternative which gives all the standard enterprise features to home users for free!”
Not to be outdone, bloggers at SiliconWhisperer are getting equally excited about VirtualBox. It lists the new product’s features such as Teleportation (live migration), 2D video acceleration for Windows guests, and more flexible storage attachments, as well as saying “What is great about VirtualBox, aside from being a professional quality hypervisor based virtualization solution, is that it is open source. I would say that Sun has made some major advancements overall in their flagship virtualization platform.”
Oracle recently got onboard with cloud computing and virtualization with the launch of its 50 date global cloud computing roadshow, countering CEO Larry Ellison’s earlier hesitation over the new technology. With this new drive from both the parent company and its new subsidiary, things look set to make virtualization big this year.
Out in the blogosphere, Sun’s latest virtualization offering Virtual Box has been received with hyperactive enthusiasm. Over on Notebooks, writer Rajesh proclaims:
“I believe 2010 is going to be a year of virtualization and cloud computing. There are lots of free Desktop Virtualization alternatives available online, but none of them can come near Virtual Box for a free desktop virtualization tool. VirtualBox is special because it is the only alternative which gives all the standard enterprise features to home users for free!”
Not to be outdone, bloggers at SiliconWhisperer are getting equally excited about VirtualBox. It lists the new product’s features such as Teleportation (live migration), 2D video acceleration for Windows guests, and more flexible storage attachments, as well as saying “What is great about VirtualBox, aside from being a professional quality hypervisor based virtualization solution, is that it is open source. I would say that Sun has made some major advancements overall in their flagship virtualization platform.”
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
IBM bid to steal Sun customers may not be so successful
Since Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems in early January, IBM has boasted of its ability cash in on uncertainty over Sun Microsystems.
IBM has rolled out a new software update for its Migration Factory product, which makes it easier for businesses to transfer from Sun’s infrastructure to IBM’s. IBM also said that the new software update will allow businesses to automate some manual processes that help to accelerate Sun migrations.
The product does this by utilising software code that identifies customers using Sun software, provisions the target IBM environment and streamlines the workload transition.
There are conflicting reports from sellers and customers who claim that IBM’s offering is not making as much of an impact as they claim it is. In Australia, Frontline, one of the country’s most successful resellers of Sun hardware, reports that IBM’s offering has barely been noticed. Amongst Frontline’s customers, 99% of whom are amongst Sun’s top 4,000 users, uncertainty and offers from other companies appear to have had no impact.
Frontline’s general manager Bill Frangeskakis told CRN that IBM have not stolen a single Sun account from Frontline during the Oracle acquisition.
Sun customers should not move too soon though, the opportunities that lie ahead for customers are far greater than the ability of its existing technology.
IBM has rolled out a new software update for its Migration Factory product, which makes it easier for businesses to transfer from Sun’s infrastructure to IBM’s. IBM also said that the new software update will allow businesses to automate some manual processes that help to accelerate Sun migrations.
The product does this by utilising software code that identifies customers using Sun software, provisions the target IBM environment and streamlines the workload transition.
There are conflicting reports from sellers and customers who claim that IBM’s offering is not making as much of an impact as they claim it is. In Australia, Frontline, one of the country’s most successful resellers of Sun hardware, reports that IBM’s offering has barely been noticed. Amongst Frontline’s customers, 99% of whom are amongst Sun’s top 4,000 users, uncertainty and offers from other companies appear to have had no impact.
Frontline’s general manager Bill Frangeskakis told CRN that IBM have not stolen a single Sun account from Frontline during the Oracle acquisition.
Sun customers should not move too soon though, the opportunities that lie ahead for customers are far greater than the ability of its existing technology.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Nationwide virtualises servers for greater efficiency
Following a pattern of streamlining processes in the financial technology sector, Nationwide Building Society has virtualised 500 of its servers.
Nationwide is to save an estimated £8 million through this project, as server virtualisation allows multiple servers to run on a single hardware unit, reducing hardware requirements and energy bills.
The upgrade is expected to take two to three years. The project plan is to virtualised an average of 12 servers onto each actual machine, and at the current rate of virtualisation, this will mean that 42 physical servers will be able to perform the work of 500 previous servers. A Nationwide spokesperson said: "This reduction has not only saved space within the datacentre but has also significantly contributed to a decreased carbon footprint through a reduction in power and air-conditioning usage."
This is the fascinating development of technology and one area where we will see the next decade see changes in the approach to software, hardware, the cloud etc. These opportunities will soon be presented by Oracle as it identifies that it too with Sun technology create similar and potentially more powerful platforms for businesses that will save space, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and above all reduce the effects on the environment.
Nationwide is to save an estimated £8 million through this project, as server virtualisation allows multiple servers to run on a single hardware unit, reducing hardware requirements and energy bills.
The upgrade is expected to take two to three years. The project plan is to virtualised an average of 12 servers onto each actual machine, and at the current rate of virtualisation, this will mean that 42 physical servers will be able to perform the work of 500 previous servers. A Nationwide spokesperson said: "This reduction has not only saved space within the datacentre but has also significantly contributed to a decreased carbon footprint through a reduction in power and air-conditioning usage."
This is the fascinating development of technology and one area where we will see the next decade see changes in the approach to software, hardware, the cloud etc. These opportunities will soon be presented by Oracle as it identifies that it too with Sun technology create similar and potentially more powerful platforms for businesses that will save space, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and above all reduce the effects on the environment.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Oracle and Sun deal still dragging on
The acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle is still playing out as European authorities battle out the legalities.
It's like watching a soap storyline unravel as European competition authorities now begin raising eyebrows over negative comments received in a market survey on the acquisition. Oracle has been working for the whole of 2009 on purchasing the technology company - and it's not coming easy.
European authorities question whether Oracle's control over Sun's open source MySQL database could harm competition in the database market - perhaps the authorities should question whether alone Sun can effectively survive in the future. Oracle's acquisition here is much about development for the future and improving database systems, not throttling it.
However no Christmas will come early for Oracle - it seems a decision will not be made until 27 January.
It's like watching a soap storyline unravel as European competition authorities now begin raising eyebrows over negative comments received in a market survey on the acquisition. Oracle has been working for the whole of 2009 on purchasing the technology company - and it's not coming easy.
European authorities question whether Oracle's control over Sun's open source MySQL database could harm competition in the database market - perhaps the authorities should question whether alone Sun can effectively survive in the future. Oracle's acquisition here is much about development for the future and improving database systems, not throttling it.
However no Christmas will come early for Oracle - it seems a decision will not be made until 27 January.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
More spending - Oracle buys HyperRoll
After a long period of acquisition and a slight indication a few months ago that Oracle had completed all its purchases the vendor announces another buy-out.
The plan - to strength Oracle Enterprise Performance management inorder to accelerate financial reporting for a faster close. All this using HyperRoll. This is not so surprising as we have looked very closely at Oracle's updates of late and discovered all the new additions to financial reporting. We will be providing the full insight very soon.Oracle has agreed to acquire certain assets of HyperRoll, a leading provider of financial reporting acceleration solutions.
HyperRoll’s products help improve reporting performance, shrink the close cycle and improve visibility of financial data to line management.
So yet again a best of breed conglomeration going on here. Check our other Oracle purchase stories:
The plan - to strength Oracle Enterprise Performance management inorder to accelerate financial reporting for a faster close. All this using HyperRoll. This is not so surprising as we have looked very closely at Oracle's updates of late and discovered all the new additions to financial reporting. We will be providing the full insight very soon.Oracle has agreed to acquire certain assets of HyperRoll, a leading provider of financial reporting acceleration solutions.
HyperRoll’s products help improve reporting performance, shrink the close cycle and improve visibility of financial data to line management.
The addition of HyperRoll’s assets is expected to improve the ability of customers to rapidly report results with higher confidence and lower compliance costs.
So yet again a best of breed conglomeration going on here. Check our other Oracle purchase stories:
Oracle furthers PeopleSoft technologies
Oracle is no longer just a player
Oracle to sabotage MySQL?
Oracle buys Sun: what happens next?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Green still on the agenda
Being green and eco-friendly is still a priority for many businesses. The impact green technologies have on the bottom line is fundamental to future growth and adhering to eco-policies and regulation.
Today, Prince Charles talked of the importance of addressing environmental concerns with the G8’s commitment to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050. He said "In failing the Earth, we are failing humanity."
It was reported yesterday that Oracle Corp has stopped work on a $313 million data center in Utah.
Construction started last summer on what Oracle called “Project Sequoia.” That was to be used as a showcase of “green data center” with “dramatically lower energy consumption,” Oracle claimed.
It is believed the suspension of construction is linked to Oracle’s planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA).
With any IT infrastructure development it is paramount business considers its impacts on the environment, not only to reduce energy consumption but to reduce the costs involved of operating these machines.
“We work with a shared belief that what’s right for the environment and the workforce is right for the bottom line. We draw our energy from the sun ... and other sustainable resources. It’s in our name and in our business philosophy,” said Vedante Srihari, managing director of Inatech.
“Technology can cause or cure environmental damage. The people behind the technology need to use their skills for the greater good”, continued Vedante.
Inatech is a leader in next generation data centres and Oracle technologies with 170 engineers working on Nortel’s next-generation data centres. The company’s internal initiatives to use technology reduces consultants’ travel, improves energy usage, and minimises wastage.
Today, Prince Charles talked of the importance of addressing environmental concerns with the G8’s commitment to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050. He said "In failing the Earth, we are failing humanity."
It was reported yesterday that Oracle Corp has stopped work on a $313 million data center in Utah.
Construction started last summer on what Oracle called “Project Sequoia.” That was to be used as a showcase of “green data center” with “dramatically lower energy consumption,” Oracle claimed.
It is believed the suspension of construction is linked to Oracle’s planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA).
With any IT infrastructure development it is paramount business considers its impacts on the environment, not only to reduce energy consumption but to reduce the costs involved of operating these machines.
“We work with a shared belief that what’s right for the environment and the workforce is right for the bottom line. We draw our energy from the sun ... and other sustainable resources. It’s in our name and in our business philosophy,” said Vedante Srihari, managing director of Inatech.
“Technology can cause or cure environmental damage. The people behind the technology need to use their skills for the greater good”, continued Vedante.
Inatech is a leader in next generation data centres and Oracle technologies with 170 engineers working on Nortel’s next-generation data centres. The company’s internal initiatives to use technology reduces consultants’ travel, improves energy usage, and minimises wastage.
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