HOME WEB NEWS IMAGES CLASSIFIEDS YELLOW PAGESPOLLS - SURVEYS WIKI COUNTRIES PHOTOS US UK INDIA
Cities Stocks Weather Movies Coupons Travel Blogs Health Horoscope Maps ASIA EUROPE Classifieds Yellow Pages
|
| Oracle Corporation | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Public (NASDAQ: ORCL) |
| Founded |  California, USA (1977) |
| Headquarters | Redwood City, CA |
| Key people | Lawrence (Larry) J. Ellison, CEO Jeffrey O. Henley, Chairman Safra A. Catz, President/CFO Charles Phillips, President |
| Industry | Software & Programming |
| Products | Oracle Database Oracle Rdb Oracle eBusiness Suite Oracle Application Server Oracle JDeveloper Oracle ADF Oracle Collaboration Suite Oracle Enterprise Manager Oracle Application Express Oracle Designer Oracle Developer Suite |
| Revenue | ▲$17.996 billion USD (2007) |
| Operating income | ▲ $5.974 billion USD (2007) |
| Net income | ▲ $4.274 billion USD (2007) |
| Employees | 68,236 (2007) |
| Slogan | Information driven |
| Website | http://www.oracle.com |
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) is one of the major companies developing database management systems (DBMS), tools for database development, middle-tier software, enterprise resource planning software (ERP), customer relationship management software (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) software. Oracle was founded in 1977, and has offices in more than 145 countries around the world. As of 2005, it employed more than 50,000 people worldwide and is the world\'s second largest software company.
Lawrence J. Ellison (Larry Ellison) has served as Oracle\'s CEO throughout the company\'s history. Ellison served as the Chairman of the Board until his replacement by Jeffrey O. Henley in 2004. Ellison retains his role as CEO. Forbes magazine once judged Ellison the richest man in the world.
Ellison was inspired by the paper written by Edgar F. Codd on relational database systems named A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks. He had heard about the IBM System R database from an article in the IBM Research Journal provided by co-founder Ed Oates, also based on Codd\'s theories, and wanted Oracle to be compatible with it, but IBM stopped this by keeping the error codes for their DBMS secret. He founded Oracle in 1977 under the name Software Development Laboratories. In 1979 SDL changed its name to Relational Software, Inc. (RSI). In 1983, RSI was renamed Oracle Systems to more closely align itself with its flagship product Oracle Database with Robert Miner as senior programmer.
Contents |
|
|
To meet Wikipedia\'s quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (September 2007) |
Made obvious with Peoplesoft in January 2005, Oracle has made acquisitions an important component of its growth strategy.
| Company | Date | Industry | Valuation millions USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thinking Machines Corporation | June 1999 | Darwin, Datamining technology | N/A |
| Toplink | January 2002 | Object relation mapping technology | N/A |
| NetForce | January 2002 | Adverse Event Reporting System | N/A |
| Steltor | June 2002 | Enterprise calendaring system | N/A |
| Phaos | May 2004 | Identity Management | N/A |
| Collaxa | June 2004 | Business Process Management | N/A |
| PeopleSoft | January 2005 | Enterprise Software | $10,300 |
| Oblix | March 2005 | Identity Management | N/A |
| Retek | April 2005 | Retail Industry Solutions | $630 |
| TripleHop | June 2005 | Context-sensitive Enterprise Search | N/A |
| TimesTen | June 2005 | Real-time Enterprise Solutions | N/A |
| ProfitLogic | July 2005 | Retail Industry Solutions | N/A |
| Context Media | July 2005 | Enterprise Content Integration | N/A |
| i-flex | August 2005 | Banking Industry Solutions | $900 |
| G-Log | September 2005 | Transportation Management Solutions | N/A |
| Innobase | October 2005 | Discrete Transactional Open Source Database Technology | N/A |
| Thor Technologies | November 2005 | Enterprise-wide User Provisioning Solutions. | N/A |
| OctetString | November 2005 | Virtual Directory Solutions | N/A |
| Temposoft | December 2005 | Workforce Management Applications | N/A |
| 360Commerce | January 2006 | Retail Industry Solutions | N/A |
| Siebel Systems | January 2006 | Customer Relationship Management Solutions | $5,850 |
| Sleepycat | February 2006 | Open Source Database Software for Embedded Applications | N/A |
| HotSip | February 2006 | Communications Infrastructure Solutions | N/A |
| Portal Software | April 2006 | Communications Industry Software Suite | $220 |
| Net4Call | April 2006 | Communications Industry Service Delivery Platform | N/A |
| Demantra | June 2006 | Demand-driven Planning Solutions | N/A |
| Telephony@Work | June 2006 | IP-based Contact Center Technology | N/A |
| Sigma Dynamics | August 2006 | Real-time Predictive Analytics Software | N/A |
| Sunopsis | October 2006 | Enterprise Integration Software | N/A |
| MetaSolv Software | October 2006 | Communications Service Providers Solutions | $219 |
| Stellent | November 2006 | Content Management Solutions | $440 |
| SPL WorldGroup | November 2006 | Revenue and Operations Management Software | N/A |
| Hyperion Solutions | 1 March 2007 | Enterprise Performance Management | $3,300 |
| AppForge (intellectual assets only) | April 2007 | Cross-platform handheld development | N/A |
| Agile Software Corporation | May 2007 | Product Life Cycle Management Software | $495 |
| Bharosa | July 2007 | Identify Theft | $495 |
| Bridgestream | September 2007 | Enterprise Role Management | N/A |
| LogicalApps | October 2007 | Compliance software | N/A |
| NetSure Telecom Ltd. | November 2007 | Network intelligence and optimization software | Undisclosed |
| Moniforce | 6 December 2007 | End-user experience management software | N/A |
| BEA Systems | 16 January 2008 | Middleware software Company | $8,500 |
| Captovation | 16 January 2008 | Document capture software | N/A |
As of 2004, Oracle Corporation shipped release 10g (g: grid) as the latest version of Oracle Database. Oracle Application Server 10g using Java EE comprises the server part of that version of the database, making it possible to deploy web technology applications. The application server is the first middle-tier software designed for grid computing. The strong interrelationship between Oracle 10g and Java has enabled the company to allow developers to set up stored procedures written in the Java language, as well as those written in the traditional Oracle database programming language, PL/SQL.
Oracle Rdb is a relational database system running on OpenVMS platforms. Oracle acquired Rdb in 1994 from Digital Equipment Corporation. Oracle has since made many enhancements to this product and development continues today.
Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) used by database administrators (DBAs) to manage the DBMS, and recently in version 10g, a web-based rewrite of OEM called "Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control". Oracle Corporation has dubbed the super Enterprise Manager used to manage a grid of multiple DBMS and Application Servers as "Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control".
Oracle Collaboration Suite contains messaging, groupware and collaboration applications.
Oracle Corporation\'s tools for developing applications include Oracle Designer, Oracle Developer - that consists of Oracle Forms, Oracle Discoverer and Oracle Reports, Oracle JDeveloper, and several more. Many external and third-party tools make the Oracle database administrator\'s tasks easier.
Besides databases, Oracle also sells a suite of business applications. The Oracle eBusiness Suite includes software to perform financial (Oracle Financials), manufacturing, enterprise resource planning and HR (Human Resource Management Systems) related functions (Oracle HR). User access to these facilities is provided through a browser interface over the internet or corporate intranet.
Consequent to a number of high-value acquisitions beginning in 2003, especially in the Applications domain, Oracle currently maintains a number of product lines:
Development of applications commonly takes place in Java (using Oracle JDeveloper) or through PL/SQL (using, for example, Oracle Forms and Oracle Reports). Oracle Corporation has started a drive toward \'wizard\'-driven environments with a view to enabling non-programmers to produce simple data-driven applications.
In 1990, Oracle laid off 10% (about 400 people) of its work force because of a mismatch between cash and revenues. This crisis, which almost resulted in Oracle\'s bankruptcy, came about because of Oracle\'s "up-front" marketing strategy, in which sales people urged potential customers to buy the largest possible amount of software all at once. The sales people then booked the value of future license sales in the current quarter, thereby increasing their bonuses. This became a problem when the future sales subsequently failed to materialize. Oracle eventually had to restate its earnings twice, and also to settle out of court class action lawsuits arising from its having overstated its earnings. Ellison would later say that Oracle had made "an incredible business mistake."
Although IBM dominated the mainframe relational database market with its DB2 and SQL/DS database products, it delayed entering the market for a relational database on UNIX and Windows operating systems. This left the door open for Sybase, Oracle, and Informix (and eventually Microsoft) to dominate mid-range and microcomputers.
Around this time, Oracle fell behind technically to Sybase. In 1990-1993, Sybase was the fastest growing database company and the database industry\'s darling vendor, but soon fell victim to its merger mania and technical issues with System X.[citation needed] Sybase\'s 1993 merger with PowerSoft resulted in its losing its focus on its core database technology. In 1993, Sybase sold the rights to its database software running under the Windows operating system to Microsoft Corporation, which now markets it under the name "SQL Server."
In 1994, Informix Software overtook Sybase and became Oracle\'s most important rival. The intense war between Informix CEO Phil White and Ellison was front page Silicon Valley news for three years. Ultimately, Oracle defeated Informix in 1997. In November of 2005, a book detailing the war between Oracle and Informix was published. "The Real Story of Informix Software and Phil White" provides a detailed chronology of the battle of Informix against Oracle, and how Informix Software\'s CEO Phil White landed in jail because of his obsession to overtake Ellison. Later in 1997, Ellison was made a director of Apple Computer after Steve Jobs came back to the company. Ellison resigned in 2002, saying that he did not have the time to attend necessary formal board meetings.
Once Informix and Sybase were defeated, Oracle enjoyed years of industry dominance until the rise of Microsoft\'s SQL Server in the late 90s and IBM\'s acquisition of Informix Software in 2000 to complement their DB2 database. Today Oracle\'s main competition for new database licenses on UNIX, Linux, and Windows operating systems is with IBM\'s DB2 and with Microsoft SQL Server (which only runs on Windows). IBM\'s DB2 still dominates the mainframe database market.
In 2004, Oracle\'s sales grew at a rate of 14.5% to $6.2 billion, giving it 41.3% and the top share of the relational-database market (InformationWeek - March, 2005), with market share estimated at up to 44.6% in 2005 by some sources [3]. Oracle\'s main competitors in the database arena are IBM DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server, and to a lesser extent Sybase and Teradata [4], with open-source databases such as PostgreSQL and MySQL also having a significant share of the market. EnterpriseDB, based on PostgreSQL, has recently made inroads[5] by proclaiming that their product delivers Oracle compatibility features at a much lower price point.
In the applications arena, their main competitor is SAP. On March 22, 2007 Oracle sued SAP, accusing them of fraud and unfair competition.Karen Gullo and Connie Guglielmo. "Oracle Claims Rival SAP Stole Software and Data (Update4)", Bloomberg, March 22, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
Oracle Corporation and the German SAP AG have had a decade-long history of cooperation. This cooperation began in 1988, with the integration of SAP\'s R/3 enterprise application suite with Oracle\'s relational database products. Their products were considered to be complementary to one another, rather than substitutes. Despite the current SAP partnership with Microsoft, and the increasing integration of SAP applications with Microsoft products (such as SQL Server, a competitor to Oracle Database), Oracle and SAP continue their cooperation, and according to Oracle, the majority of SAP\'s customers use Oracle databases.Oracle/SAP : Relationship. Oracle, on its relationship with SAP.
In recent years, however, competition between Oracle and SAP has increased, and as a result, the rivalry between the two companies has grown, even developing into a feud between the co-founders of the two companies, where one party would frequently voice strong negative comments about the other company.
In 2004 Oracle began to increase its interest in the business of enterprise applications (in 1989, Oracle had already released Oracle Financials). A series of acquisitions began, the most notable being the acquisition of PeopleSoft and Siebel (and most currently, Hyperion).
SAP recognized that Oracle was becoming a competitor in a market where SAP had the leadership, and saw an opportunity to lure in customers from those companies that had been acquired by Oracle. It would offer those customers special discounts on the licenses for its enterprise applications (Safe Passage Program). Oracle would resort to a similar strategy, by advising SAP customers to get "OFF SAP" (a play on the words of the acronym for its middleware platform "Oracle Fusion for SAP"),Oracle press release. and by also providing special discounts on licenses and services to SAP customers who chose Oracle.
Currently, Oracle and SAP are also competing in the third-party enterprise software maintenance and support market (the latter through its recently acquired subsidiary TomorrowNow). On March 22, Oracle filed a suit against SAP. The complaint alleged that TomorrowNow, which provides discount support for legacy Oracle product lines, used the accounts of former Oracle customers to systematically download patches and support documents from Oracle\'s website and appropriating them for SAP\'s use.[6] [7] Some ERP market analysts suggested the suit could be part of a strategy by Oracle to decrease competition by SAP in the third-party enterprise software maintenance and support market.[8][9]
On July 3, SAP admitted that TomorrowNow employees had made "inappropriate downloads" from the Oracle support web site. However, it claims that SAP personnel and SAP customers had no access to Oracle intellectual property via TomorrowNow. SAP\'s CEO Henning Kagermann stated that "Even a single inappropriate download is unacceptable from my perspective. We regret very much that this occurred." Additionally, SAP announced that it has "instituted changes" in TomorrowNow\'s operational oversight.SAP Responds to Oracle Complaint
In 2000 Oracle drew attention from the industry and the eyes of the press after hiring private eyes to dig through the trash of organizations involved in the Microsoft antitrust trialOracle Rethinks Its Dumpster-Diving Ways. Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison staunchly defended his company\'s hiring of an East Coast detective agency to investigate groups that supported rival Microsoft Corp. during its antitrust trial, calling the snooping a "public service." The investigation reportedly included a $1,200 offer to janitors at the Association for Competitive Technology to look through the organization\'s trash. Asked how he\'d feel if others were looking into Oracle\'s business activities, Ellison said: "We will ship our garbage to Redmond, and they can go through it. We believe in full disclosure."San Jose Mercury News, Calif., Swing Shift Column. |San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, California) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News) (December , 2000)
Oracle markets many of its products using the slogan "Can\'t break it, can\'t break in", or "Unbreakable". This signifies the increasing demands on information safety. Oracle Corporation also stresses the reliability of networked databases and network access to databases as major selling points.
However, two weeks after its introduction in 2002, David Litchfield, Alexander Kornbrust, Cesar Cerrudo and others demonstrated a whole suite of successful attacks against Oracle products.The Register: Oracle security claimThe Register: How to hack unbreakable Oracle. The slogan was widely criticized as unrealistic, and as an invitation to crackers. But Oracle chief security officer Mary Ann Davidson says the criticism is unfair. Rather than representing a literal claim that Oracle\'s products are impregnable, the campaign refers to fourteen independent security evaluationsOracle list of major Security certifications http://www.oracle.com/technology/deploy/security/seceval/pdf/seceval_matrix.pdf that Oracle\'s database server passed.
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft sued Oracle in 2004 to prevent a contract acquisition. Then, in 2005, Oracle hired Ashcroft\'s recently created lobbying firm, The Ashcroft Group, LLC. Oracle, with Ashcroft\'s lobbying, then went on to acquire the contract, a multi-billion dollar intelligence application.Chicago Tribune: Ashcroft breaks with tradition by lobbying, has earned $269,000
Oracle Corporation has its world headquarters on the San Francisco Peninsula in the Redwood Shores area of Redwood City, adjacent to Belmont, near San Carlos Airport (IATA airport code: SQL).
Oracle HQ stands on the former site of Marine World Africa USA, which moved from Redwood Shores to Vallejo in 1986. Oracle Corporation originally leased two buildings from the site, moving its finance and administration departments from the corporation\'s former headquarters in Davis Drive, Belmont, California. Eventually, Oracle purchased the complex and constructed a further four main buildings.
The Oracle Parkway buildings were prominently featured as the futuristic headquarters of fictional company "NorthAm Robotics" in the Robin Williams film Bicentennial Man (1999).IMDb: Trivia for Bicentennial Man
On October 20, 2006 the Golden State Warriors and the Oracle Corporation announced a 10 year agreement in which the Oakland Arena would be known as the Oracle Arena.
|
|
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia
