Oracle introduces Oracle Retail Data Model

Industry-specific schema embedded with retail-specific analytics to help retailers gain intelligence into their business operations.

Oracle has introduced the Oracle Retail Data Model, a standards-based data model for Oracle Database, to help retailers accelerate their design and implementation of an enterprise data warehouse.

According to Oracle, the data model features a retail industry-specific schema complete with embedded retail-specific analytics to help retailers gain intelligence into their business operations, which is built for the Oracle Database platform including the HP Oracle Database Machine and HP Oracle Exadata Storage servers.

Oracle claims that the model helps retailers make better decisions by providing advanced analytics such as forecasting out-of-stock situations, understanding hidden patterns for loss prevention, contribution and market basket analysis, product affinity, customer clustering and segmentation, halo impact and promotional lift.

Oracle has said that the model is designed to start data warehouse and business intelligence initiatives helping retail organizations realize a return on investment by reducing implementation time and costs. Furthermore, the solution's open, standards-based model allows for better integration with existing retail applications further reducing integration costs and complexity.
Ray Roccaforte, vice president of data warehousing and analytics at Oracle, said: "The Oracle Retail Data Model is the culmination of our efforts in combining Oracle's deep retail industry and data warehousing expertise and technologies into a comprehensive, pre-built and tuned solution for retailers. Oracle Retail Data Model offers customers a solution designed for rapid, predictable deployment and integration with existing investments to help customers save time, effort and costs."

Source: http://appdev.cbronline.com

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The Oracle open source credibility gap

Paula says open source executives are suspicious, and the unscientific poll I did here confirms it.

Oracle has an open source crediblity gap.

(Harry Shearer and Michael McKean, right, with David Lander, were part of a radio comedy troupe dubbed The Credibility Gap early in their careers. It must be true, I read it on Wikipedia. They are now touring as Unwigged and Unplugged with Christopher Guest.)

Fact is that many in the open source movement distrust Oracle’s motives in buying Sun and taking over such blue-chip open source names as Java, mySQL, Open Solaris and OpenOffice.org.

The fear that Oracle will seek to destroy these projects is real. And as with the swine flu, fear has consequences.

Just as Mexico is being pummeled because people fear a bug that has (as of yet) killed no one in this country, so Oracle is hurt by its open source credibility gap.

When Oracle bought proprietary vendors like Seibel Systems it could easily make up the $5.8 billion cost on the backs of Seibel’s customers. Their code, and support for their code, disappeared into the Oracle maw and, since most were fairly scaled, they had no choice.

Oracle can’t do that with mySQL. Any attempt to change the license or kill it through non-support would be immediately followed by a community fork, which in turn would probably be followed by entrepreneurs grabbing former mySQL committers and selling support for the fork.

Things would be even tougher with OpenOffice. A good alternative, OpenOffice Symphony, is supported by IBM, which even has a viable business model for the office suite.

Java was proprietary until a few years ago, yet dozens of companies had versions of it. Making it open source was necessary to tear down that Tower of Babel. And Glassfish?

Point is, Oracle is already being hurt by this community distrust. Where CEO Larry Ellison can feel it, in the wallet.

So long as Oracle does not make its intentions clear, and so long as fear exists that it intends to do Sun’s open source projects harm, support for those projects is going to diminish. The assets are like ripening fruit.

Until Oracle makes clear that it intends to fully support Sun’s open source projects, and by extension the open source movement itself, the value of those assets will be degraded.

Author: Dana Blankenhorn @ http://blogs.zdnet.com

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Naked CIO: Oracle and Sun - good luck

Integrating IT can make or break a merger or acquisition, says the Naked CIO. Here's how to get it right.

Inspired by Oracle's recent bid to purchase Sun and mumblings about the difficulty to integrate their product sets, I recalled the challenges IT had in several companies I worked for when trying to integrate systems as a result of mergers and acquisitions.

Firstly, I recall the frustration I had as an executive running IT that I was not included in the 'need to know' circle when the consideration of the merger or acquisition was being discussed. Inevitably, once the deal was pretty much final, IT would be brought into the loop and then be perceived as party poopers when rightly we would identify considerable challenges and costs to integrating services, applications and data into one seamless environment.

In my experience streamlining and creating synergies between platforms and applications of two companies can take a considerable amount of time, often years, to do right.

When the board looks at the upside of a merger or acquisition, they almost always leap to the conclusion that services, products, applications and information will be seamlessly integrated from day one. Even those that have been through the exercise before are often still believers that Santa Claus will come down and make everything work perfectly.

Secondly, the challenge when integrating two companies' IT platforms and indeed strategies is attaining business alignment. It is almost always the case of a square peg in a round whole - and trying to understand what to compromise is very difficult.

Additionally, it's hard to decide, with two often-divergent strategies coming together, which one or which hybrid is the right one. Don't ask the board, as in my experience they rarely have thought that far ahead.

So in most cases integrating IT platforms in these circumstances is a wait-and-see exercise propagated by naïve executives and pawned off on unsuspecting IT professionals to make right - and to be accountable for if it goes wrong.

There are many ways in which companies can mitigate some of these unfortunate events. Having a CIO or IT executive on the board in the first place is an excellent start. Evaluating the IT integration opportunities even before due diligence would be beneficial. Understanding these costs and challenges prior to any agreement is a must especially if IT integration is a key aspect of the success of the whole initiative, which is predominantly the case.

When acquiring another organisation, it is critical to have a plan that encompasses all aspects of the integration process right from the beginning. This will allow you to ensure that benchmarks and expectations are managed properly. Quite often you can achieve some form of synergy quickly through establishing a data warehouse that can take multiple source system data and allow for analysis and manipulation while you wait for application synergies and development in order for operation platforms to work in unison.

Even though you, the IT executive, may be the bad-news bearer, never over promise in terms of mergers and acquisitions. Instead always err on the side caution. Why? Because the unknowns in these circumstances always have a negative impact on the plan.

Most of all, convince your company that if it is planning to acquire another company, IT needs to be a key player from the start. This will help with the integration efforts and provide valuable information on the true cost of a merger.

Author: Naked CIO @ http://management.silicon.com

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Will OpenOffice survive the Oracle-Sun takeover?

The last week has seen a lot of speculation about the future of Sun’s open source projects now that the company has been absorbed by Oracle. Most of the fallout from Oracle’s latest acquisition falls outside my realm of expertise or even interest. Some of my university readers are certainly going to be curious (OK, some university IT folks and even the occasional K-12 shop that has invested in Sun technologies are downright nervous). However, I have to say that the only bit of Sun technology that I actually care about at this point is OpenOffice.

Sure, Solaris was becoming quite a platform for virtualization and Sun had made real strides in terms of bring cross-platform virtualized applications to the desktop. They donated time, money, and expertise to a variety of educational pursuits. We all know the open source projects they had in their stable. I just can’t get fussed about anything, though, except OpenOffice.

Mostly this is because I’m convinced that MySQL will live on; it’s simply embedded in too many places to die and has already been forked, so I’m not overly concerned. VirtualBox is great, but there are other virtualization products that will do the trick if it dies. OpenOffice has forked as well, but Go-oo.org lacks the brand recognition or credibility of OpenOffice. It is also Windows and Linux only; Macs need to rely on OpenOffice or NeoOffice, the former of which is fully cross-platform.

Why do I care about OpenOffice so much? Because it saves our schools a lot of money. More importantly, it saves our students, parents, and community members a lot of money. It means that any student with a computer can have a fully-functional, mature office productivity suite without paying hundreds of dollars or settling for the Works suite that might have come with their computers.

Can OpenOffice do a mail merge as well as Office 2007? No, not quite. Are its spreadsheet functions as easy to use? Close…very close. Aside from that, though, is there anything that most students, faculty, or staff would be looking for in an Office suite that can’t be satisfied for free with OpenOffice? The simple answer is no.

What this means is that OpenOffice must live on beyond Sun. Maybe Oracle will get behind it; I’m not so sure and I’m not alone. However, whatever rebranding of Go-oo needs to happen should happen and we should make sure that our students and schools still have access to the highest quality, free office suite available.

Author: Christopher Dawson @ http://education.zdnet.com

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Fitch Affirms Oracle's Ratings at A/F1 on Merger

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the ratings of Oracle, following the announcement that Oracle will purchase Sun Microsystems.

The ratings are affirmed as follows: --Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A'; --Senior unsecured debt at 'A'; --Short-term IDR at 'F1'; --Commercial Paper (CP) at 'F1'.

The Rating Outlook is Stable.

The affirmation follows the announcement that Oracle will purchase Sun, for approximately $8.7 billion, including $1.3 billion of assumed debt ($5.6 billion net of cash and debt acquired). The Board of Directors of Sun has unanimously approved the transaction, which is anticipated to close by the summer of 2009, subject to Sun stockholder approval, certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

The affirmation incorporates Fitch's expectations that Oracle will fund the acquisition with a mixture of cash, CP borrowings and long-term debt issuance, with the majority being funded with debt, given that most of the company's cash is located outside the U.S. While credit protection measures are expected to deteriorate as a result of this transaction, Fitch believes Oracle retains solid financial flexibility at its current ratings, which incorporate total leverage of approximately 1.5 times (x) given the company's current operating profile. Fitch anticipates Oracle will continue to pursue an aggressive acquisition strategy, which could temporarily drive leverage outside of expectations. However, in line with past transactions, the company is expected to refrain from meaningful share repurchases and use significant free cash flow to reduce debt incurred in the transaction.

Fitch believes that materially weaker credit metrics over an extended period from a failed integration of Sun, a more aggressive financial policy, or a significantly worse impact of the weak macroeconomic environment, could result in negative ratings actions.

Concerns for the transaction center on greater integration risk associated with Oracle's purchase of Sun due to Sun's sizable employee base (33,000 at year-end 2008) and broad and diverse product portfolio, including a significant hardware segment. Additionally, uncertainty exists regarding potential segment/product divestitures, management structure and product strategy, particularly regarding open source software (e.g. MySQL). Positively, Fitch believes that Oracle can achieve significant cost synergies, primarily general and administrative expenses. Also, Oracle should be able to able to derive incremental benefits from Sun's sizable customer base and large intellectual property portfolio (e.g. Solaris and Java software platforms).

For the latest 12 months (LTM) ended Dec. 28, 2008, Sun generated total revenue, operating EBITDA and free cash flow of $13.3 billion, $1 billion (7.7 percent margin) and $8 million, respectively. Fitch estimates server systems, storage, software, and services accounted for approximately 39 percent, 17 percent , 5 percent and 39 percent of Sun's total revenue in the LTM period, respectively.

Pro forma for the recently initiated $1 billion dividend, Fitch estimates that Oracle's free cash flow for the LTM ended Feb. 28, was $7 billion, providing the company with significant financial flexibility for this transaction. Fitch said it believes that cash restructuring payments associated with the transaction and a pressured operating environment could have a slight impact on free cash flow in subsequent years, although the cash generating capability of the underlying business is expected to remain strong.

Oracle's credit metrics are expected to deteriorate upon the transactions close as Fitch estimates leverage could increase to approximately 1.4x from 1.0x from additional debt associated with the acquisition and interest coverage declining to approximately 12x from 18x, assuming 100 percent of the transaction is debt financed.

As of Feb. 28, Oracle's cash and cash equivalents were approximately $11.3 billion, of which approximately $10.1 billion was held by foreign subsidiaries. In addition, Oracle has an undrawn $5 billion CP program backed by a $3 billion revolving credit facility expiring March 2011, and a $2 billion 364-day facility expiring March 2010 (which the company entered into upon expiration of the previous $2 billion facility in March 2009).

Total debt as of Feb. 28, was approximately $11.2 billion and consisted primarily of $1 billion of floating- rate senior notes due May 2009, $1 billion of floating-rate senior notes due May 2010, $2.25 billion of 5 percent senior notes due January 2011, $1.25 billion of 4.95 percent senior notes due April 2013, $2 billion of 5.25 percent senior notes due January 2016, $2.5 billion of 5.75 percent senior notes due April 2018, and $1.25 billion of senior notes due April 2038.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, fitchratings.com.

Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com

Source: www.tmcnet.com

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More thoughts on Oracle and hardware

There are two explanations making the rounds for Oracle’s unexpected entry into the hardware business. Neither on its own is wholly convincing, but each hints at what is probably really going on here.

The first is the explanation that Oracle was putting about on Monday. This holds that vertical integration of all aspects of hardware and software is the next step being demanded by the customers of enterprise technology companies, who want one throat to choke when something goes wrong.

But it hardly feels as though customer expectations have changed enough to force Oracle to buy a deeply troubled server company to take on entrenched rivals like IBM, HP and now Cisco. Not does this explanation take account of the fundamental nature of the enterprise technology industry, which relies on deep technology and business partnerships.

The other explanation is that Oracle had to move quickly to outmaneuver the slow-footed IBM, so it was willing to take on the unappealing hardware business just to get its hands on Sun’s software assets. It then follows, according to this view, that Oracle will now turn around and unload the hardware side as soon as it can, perhaps in pieces.

To judge from the people we’ve spoken to, neither of these explanations quite gets to the bottom of what is going on.

One good pragmatic reason for assuming Sun’s struggling hardware business is that, for the arch cost-cutters at Oracle, this is where many of the biggest opportunities for expense savings lie. Oracle has promised $1.5bn in operating profits from the Sun deal in the first year. Slashing hardware costs is likely to be a quick way to get there - and if the economy turns, Sun’s highly cyclical hardware arm could even provide a pleasant surprise.

One person familiar with Oracle’s thinking suggests that the company will act quickly to narrow the focus of Sun’s hardware on a smaller number of high-end system designs. And a person close to the Sun camp admits that Sun itself simply failed to act aggressively enough to cut costs - though this person adds that a big acquirer like a Oracle also has many more opportunities to save money than Sun could have done on its own, for instance by combining salesforces.

Another pragmatic reason to take on the hardware business is that it offers Oracle a strategic hedge. In a world dominated by a handful of giant systems companies, life as a pure software company could become uncomfortable: what if big partner/rivals like IBM and HP become less enthusiastic about selling and supporting Oracle’s software?

Being able to offer its own hardware gives Oracle a fall-back, according to one person close to the transaction. The very existence of an Oracle hardware division changes the equation and removes a potential weapon in the hands of its enemies.

Of course, none of this changes Oracle’s main motivation for the Sun acquisition: getting its hands on Java, Solaris and MySQL. But it does help to explain why a software company with operating profit margins of 35 per cent is willing to take on a business that recently has had trouble making any money at all.

Author: Richard Waters @ http://blogs.ft.com

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Oracle to buy Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion

Sun Microsystems Inc.’s scramble to find a suitor landed the slumping server and software maker in the arms of Oracle Corp., which agreed to pay $7.4 billion in cash for Sun in a startling marriage that would transform Silicon Valley and the computing industry.

The acquisition announced Monday illustrates how some of the biggest and richest technology companies are racing to become one-stop shops for corporate and government customers.

By picking up Sun and expanding heavily into hardware, Oracle would look much more like the company it beat out for Sun — IBM Corp., which appears unlikely to re-enter the bidding.

Heavyweights like IBM, Hewlett-Packard Co., Cisco Systems Inc. and now Oracle all want to offer a richer mix of technology products. The companies hope to find more hooks into customers and use those relationships to sell other kinds of stuff.

That setup, with a broad mix of services, software and hardware, helped Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM escape financial ruin in the 1990s and become one of the industry’s most profitable companies. IBM has forked out nearly $13 billion on 40 acquisitions since 2006 to expand its offerings. HP has followed suit, spending $13.9 billion for services provider Electronic Data Systems last year.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun lacked that kind of scale, especially after the tech meltdown of 2001 knocked the company off balance and led to a decade of financial pummeling.

Sun’s best sellers are computer servers and machines that store data on tape. But Oracle and IBM mainly had their eyes on Sun’s software.

The deal would give Oracle ownership of the Java programming language, which is a key element of the Internet and runs on more than 1 billion mobile devices worldwide. Oracle would get the Solaris operating system, which already has been a platform for Oracle’s products. And Oracle would get Sun’s MySQL database software, which has undercut Oracle and siphoned some sales away.

All these products are open-source, which means their underlying code is distributed freely on the Internet. To make money from the software, Sun sells support contracts alongside those programs. Like IBM before it, Oracle believes it can make money off those properties better than Sun can, partly by selling other products in package deals.

Forrester Research analyst Ray Wang thinks Oracle could keep MySQL to put pricing pressure on Microsoft, a longtime Oracle nemesis that sells a less-expensive database product.

“With the acquisition of Sun, Oracle is now able to make all of the pieces of the technology stack fit together and work well,” Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison said during a Monday conference call.

But unlike IBM, Oracle is a surprising suitor because it doesn’t make hardware. Although Sun wouldn’t be Oracle’s biggest acquisition during a four-year shopping spree that has cost about $40 billion, it may be the boldest.

Some analysts suspect Oracle might try to sell Sun’s hardware divisions if they turn out to be a drag.

“This is a really strange deal to me — Oracle buying all this hardware, I wonder what they’re going to do with it all,” said Jane Snorek, an analyst with First American Funds. “I don’t know what to think, frankly. It seems everyone wants to be IBM and have a mix. If it wasn’t the for the fact that Oracle is such a good acquirer, I’d be negative” about the deal.

Oracle shares sank 24 cents, 1.3 percent, to close at $18.82 in trading Monday. Sun shares jumped $2.46, 37 percent, to $9.15.

Oracle’s offer — which is valued at $5.6 billion when Sun’s cash and debt are taken into account — amounts to $9.50 per share. That represents a 42 percent premium to Sun’s closing stock price of $6.69 on Friday, and is about twice what Sun was trading for in March, before word leaked that IBM and Sun were in negotiations.

While Sun wouldn’t be Oracle’s most expensive acquisition, it will be the largest in terms of the people involved. Sun employs about 33,500 workers, far more than the roughly 12,000 that PeopleSoft had when Oracle bought that company in 2005 for $11.1 billion — the biggest outlay during Oracle’s expansion.

Sun has campuses in Broomfield and Colorado Springs.

Oracle, which already has roughly 86,000 workers, didn’t specify how many people will lose their jobs after it takes control of Sun. The cuts might not be as dramatic as they would have been in an IBM acquisition because Sun and Oracle have fewer overlapping products.

The smaller overlap also could keep Oracle from facing the antitrust objections that IBM likely would have prompted with Sun. Indeed, one of the sticking points in the IBM-Sun negotiations was the level of assurance Sun sought that IBM would see the deal through a regulatory review. Regulators figured to look closely at the way that swallowing Sun would expand IBM’s lead over Hewlett-Packard in certain markets for servers and data storage.

Oracle already says the Sun acquisition, which it expects to close this summer, will add at least 15 cents per share to its adjusted earnings in the first year after the deal closes. The company estimated Sun will contribute more than $1.5 billion to Oracle’s adjusted profit in the first year and more than $2 billion in the second year.

With former investment bankers Charles Phillips and Safra Catz steering things as the company’s co-presidents, Oracle has been able to hit its financial targets in all its acquisitions during the past four years.

That helped enable Oracle to earn $5.5 billion on revenue of $22.4 billion in its last fiscal year. Investors have enjoyed some of that prosperity too, with Oracle’s stock rising about 35 percent since the PeopleSoft takeover was completed in 2005. Oracle recently decided to pay a dividend for the first time.

But Oracle’s emphasis on increasing profits will likely raise concerns in its new role as the steward of Sun’s open-source software.

“This gives Oracle the keys to the crown jewels of the open-source movement,” said Wang, the Forrester analyst.

Ellison said Oracle intends to invest more heavily in Java than Sun has been able to afford as its fortunes waned. While Sun still has big sales — $13.9 billion last year — its profitability has been hit and miss. Earnings last year were $403 million, but from 2002 through 2006 Sun lost more than $5 billion.

Source: http://www.dailycamera.com

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Oracle, IBM sued over database patents

Giant computer corporations IBM and Oracle have been dragged into a Texas district court over an allegation that their database software breaches existing patents.

Vasudevan Software Inc (VSI) started the case against Oracle and IBM and is seeking a jury trial and damages over two patents.

The first, US patent 6,877,006 B1 describes an invention called “Multimedia Inspection Database System (MIDaS) for Dynamic Run Time Evaluation.” That patent was granted on the 5th of April 2005.

The other patent, US 7,167,864 B1 covers a similar invention. VSI claims that IBM uses these patents in its Websphere Information Integrator and other products. Oracle is alleged to have infringed these patents in its Oracle Data Service Integrator and other products.

Author: Mike Magee @ www.tgdaily.com

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Potential Acquirers for Sun: Oracle or Cisco?

Could Oracle (ORCL) or Cisco (CSCO) be potential acquirers for Sun Microsystems (JAVA), as talks between it and IBM are fading?

CSCO recently got involved into the computer server business, while ORCL has long been a close partner with Sun-- which specializes in making the kind of servers large companies use to run Oracle database software. With a huge cash pile of $29.5 billion, CSCO is a favorite among pundits looking for alternatives to IBM. Cisco could jumpstart its way into new computer hardware and storage businesses with Sun. Dell (DELL) or HPQ are very unlikely to express an interest in JAVA, since they're both committed to selling so-called industry-standard servers that run on microprocessors made by Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

IBM originally was talking to Sun about paying $10-$11 per share to buy Sun, but reportedly cut its offer to between $9.10 and $9.40 after due diligence, leading Sun to walk away. Currently at 6.50/share, JAVA must be feeling the pressure of having backed away from a lucrative deal with IBM. Moreover, JAVA's executive board members owe shareholders an explanation as to how their company is worth north of 10/share.
Depending on your level of patience tolerance, purchasing the shares at the current level of 6.50 and writing the May strike 5,6, or 7 may be very rewarding. If you're ultra-conservative, the "deep in the money" May strike 5 calls at 1.97/contract still offer an intrinsic value of .35/share, according to last Friday's close. That isn't an anemic return coupled with nearly 1.95/share downside protection!?

Let's examine May strike 6 and 7 for those who desire to earn more premiums on their contracts while having less downside protection to their underlying shares. At 6.50 /share, the May strike 6 calls are offered at 1.30 /contract for an intrinsic value of .90/contract. If the underlying shares get "called away" by option expiration (the third week of May), the investor would pocket .90/contract. If the shares remain below the strike price of 6, then the investor will keep the entire 1.30 /contract plus the shares. However, holding JAVA below 6/share provides the perfect bargain opportunity to accumulate additional shares and dollar cost-averaging. If IBM liked the Java at 9.33, wouldn't they be salivating to resume talks at 6 or below.
Similarly, the "out of the money" May strike 7 at nearly .80/contract provides the holder a juicy premium of .80/share as well as an .80 pullback.

Author: Jack Haddad @ http://seekingalpha.com

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Oracle Financial introduces new enterprise application

The new application helps centralize exposure management across the entire spectrum of offerings. Oracle Financial Services Software has introduced Oracle Flexcube Enterprise Limits and Collateral Management, an enterprise application that enables banks to achieve a holistic view of their exposure by helping them to centralize collateral management, limits definition, and tracking and measurement of exposure across the institution.

Customers using Oracle Flexcube Enterprise Limits and Collateral Management can centralize exposure management across the entire spectrum of offerings including loans, trade finance, treasury and overdrafts, said Oracle Financial.

The application is process-driven and designed to deliver capability that helps banks to deploy it centrally. It leverages the Oracle Industry Reference Model for Banking to help standardize business processes and replicate best practices across the enterprise.

Oracle Flexcube Enterprise Limits and Collateral Management enables efficient limits monitoring across the institution with centralized online tracking and monitoring of multi-currency limits for all transactions across all branches or entities - in countries as well as regions.

The system helps banks make informed credit decisions with accurate credit information, by customer and segment, while also helping to improve exposure management with collateral pooling and contribution controls, added Oracle Financial.

NRK Raman, managing director and CEO of Oracle Financial Services Software, said: "Oracle Flexcube Enterprise Limits and Collateral Management is a comprehensive, standards-based solution that enables banks to centralize their processes as well as monitor, control and report their exposure to key stakeholders and regulators. To meet the needs of customers, the application is designed to co-exist with a bank's current application environment to minimize the resources and costs associated with getting these processes streamlined."

Source: http://enterpriseapplications.cbronline.com

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Oracle sticks to guns over maintenance fees

It has become a regular ritual during Oracle's quarterly earnings conference calls. Company executives point to the vendor's lucrative revenue stream from maintenance - paid annually by customers as a percentage of their license fees - and bask in the approving glow of the financial analysts on the line.

Maintenance revenue is particularly crucial to software vendors during a recession, when many customers are holding back on buying new licenses.

Oracle reported $2.9 billion (£1.8 billion) in revenue for "software license update and product support" in its third quarter and incurred just $256 million in expenses against that total, for a roughly 90 percent profit margin. In contrast, the vendor logged about $1.5 billion in new license sales in the quarter, which it reported last month.

It's no surprise, then, that Oracle isn't budging an inch on maintenance fees as it works to finalise new contracts by the end of its fiscal year on May 31, say analysts and consultants.

"People have gotten different concessions initiated by maintenance or around maintenance, but I wouldn't say they're getting discounts on maintenance," said Forrester Research analyst Ray Wang.

For example, a customer's contract may include a clause that allows for the customer's maintenance bill to be adjusted each year according to the Consumer Price Index, a key measure of inflation.

Some users are managing to get Oracle to relent on this, said Eliot Arlo Colon, president of Miro Consulting, a Fords, New Jersey, company that advises Oracle customers on contact negotiations.

Wang echoed Colon. "I've seen this happen recently with a lot of deals, including Oracle," he said.

This particular concession may be more possible now because the CPI has been anemic so far this year.

Miro clients are also letting maintenance lapse on less mission-critical applications, according to Colon.

Meanwhile, Oracle's willingness to discount new licenses has been "roughly the same" as last year, Wang said.

Instead, the company is trying to give customers more bonus items, he said: "They're assisting you with installation, adding training, adding other products and tools that can help the application succeed."

These non-discount areas can actually be more valuable to a client than a price discount, according to Wang.

But for some users, such as those who "need a lot of hand-holding" or are rapidly expanding their use of the software, maintenance fees may well be justified, Wang said.

Oracle also spends billions each year on research and development, reinvesting with help from maintenance revenue, Wang added.

Indeed, some Oracle customers say they aren't troubled by the vendor's fees.

Zebra Technologies has adopted Oracle widely, moving away from a previous strategy that employed a lot of custom development and a legacy ERP system.

The Lincolnshire, Illinois, printing and labelling company now has an enterprisewide license agreement with Oracle, and has hired "key people" to work in-house instead of paying outside consultants, said Jeffrey Hand, director of IT.

As a result, from an integration standpoint, Zebra is saving about 60 percent over the old model, he said: "We're getting out of the software business."

Wind River Systems, which sells products and services for optimising device software, is planning to buy Oracle BI (business intelligence) software to run against its financials application, said vice president and CIO Scott Fenton.

While he has "been very successful" at garnering significant license discounts from the vendor, Fenton takes the cost of maintenance in stride.

"Paying maintenance is like getting a tuneup on your car," he said. "Oracle is top-notch. It's best-in-class support. It's a valuable service and part of doing business."

Author: Chris Kanaracus, IDG News Service @ www.techworld.com

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Oracle Offering Gadget Wizard for Google Apps

Oracle announces the release of Oracle Gadget Wizard for Google Apps and says Oracle Siebel CRM applications can now interact securely with the Google cloud platform through Google Secure Data Connector, allowing multitenancy support for accessing corporate data behind firewalls. Together, the new developments will allow even mobile enterprise users to interact securely with the cloud, Oracle says.

Oracle made several announcements on April 7 centered on products designed to interact with Google Apps, including Oracle Gadget Wizard for Google Apps with support for Google SDC.

Google marked the first birthday of the Google App Engine cloud computing solution at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, offering newly added Java support for the Google App Engine platform along with additional features including a database import tool and the Google Secure Data Connector, a development tool for building applications that give users access to secure corporate data even when they are working with Google Apps outside the firewall.

In addition to Oracle Gadget Wizard for Google Apps supporting Google SDC, Oracle is rolling out Siebel CRM support for Google Apps and Oracle Gadget Wizard for Google Apps.

Oracle Gadget Wizard for Google Apps allows users to construct gadgets without prior programming knowledge. These gadgets can make use of Oracle CRM.

The Siebel CRM applications utilize the Google SDC to interact with the cloud in a secure and flexible way, allowing for SAAS (software as a service) applications that can access corporate data behind the enterprise firewall, Oracle said in a news release.

Siebel CRM support of the Google Secure Data Connector "provides customers choice by helping seamlessly integrate existing [on-premises] investments with on-demand services," according to the company.

"There's an opportunity now to provide miniapplications or even applications that can be based, in part or in whole, on using Siebel CRM," Mark Woollen, vice president of Social CRM for Oracle, said in an interview. "You can take the code you built on middleware and port it directly to the Google App Engine. From there you can run it up into the cloud and use Google Apps accounts to get at the data behind the firewall."

With the new solutions in place, a brand owner could provide a gadget for deal registration, for example, sparing channel sales people from having to visit a company portal; instead, a salesperson could log on to a secure Google site to review and accept leads, interacting with the cloud without exposing the company's data in an insecure way.

Oracle has been updating or rolling out a number of new solutions as of late. On April 7, the company announced Oracle Transportation Management 6.0, a solution that provides improved oversight for transportation networks, the first update since Version 5.5 in May 2006.

And in March 2009, Oracle released Oracle Sourcing on Demand, a SAAS solution designed to make enterprise procurement of supplies a more efficient and cost-effective process by letting a company's experts collaborate online.

Author: Nicholas Kolakowski @ www.eweek.com

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Oracle launches new version of tax-specific software application

The application enables tax and revenue authorities to optimize revenue collection process. Oracle has announced the availability of Oracle Enterprise Taxation Management 2.2.0, the newest version of the tax-specific, commercial off-the-shelf software application that enables tax and revenue authorities to optimize revenue collection.

Providing a configurable alternative to custom-built systems, the application enables local tax collection authorities to optimize all aspects of the revenue collection process and respond to tax law and regulatory changes, said Oracle.

According to the company, the Oracle Enterprise Taxation Management 2.2.0 provides tax authorities with an integrated system to enable near-term functional improvements, while providing the adaptability and flexibility needed to address future challenges as well. It is built on Java Enterprise (J2EE) and service-oriented architecture industry standards.

John Andrus, vice president and general manager for Oracle tax global business unit, said: "Oracle Enterprise Taxation Management 2.2.0 demonstrates that tax authorities no longer need to rely on costly custom systems. Its standards-based platform and pre-built integrations allow for easy configuration to meet unique requirements and helps ensure the application will meet the needs of tax authorities today and in the future."

Source: http://enterpriseapplications.cbronline.com

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Oracle wins America's Cup case

A New York court has cleared the way for a possible one-on-one showdown in ultra fast 90-foot trimarans between the San Francisco-based BMW Oracle Racing team and the Swiss Alinghi syndicate, the sailing team that has won the last two America's Cups.

After nearly two years of litigation, Thursday's unanimous ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals sets up the potential for a high-stakes grudge match between software tycoon Larry Ellison and pharmaceutical magnate Ernesto Bertarelli, if they can't agree soon on rules to involve additional challengers.

It is still unclear where and when the boats will compete for the oldest trophy in international sport - one that dates to 1851. But race organizers point to next year off Valencia, Spain, or elsewhere.

"The right to act as trustee of the America's Cup should be decided on the water and not in a courtroom," the court wrote in a 6-to-0 decision. Ellison and Bertarelli should "work together to maintain this noble sailing tradition as 'a perpetual challenge cup for friendly competition between foreign countries.' "

The court ruling was a victory for Ellison's BMW Oracle team, whose lawyers argued that Bertarelli had attempted to host the 33rd America's Cup with rules rigged to the Swiss team's advantage.

The ruling could also benefit fans of extreme sailing. The gargantuan trimarans designed and built in the past year by BMW Oracle and Alinghi are extremely fast, terribly difficult to race, outright dangerous and vulnerable in heavy winds and seas.

Eighteen teams from 11 countries had reserved a spot to begin cup trials in Valencia next spring in high-tech sailboats with only one keel.

Ellison's team chose court instead. His lawyers argued that Alinghi had formed a Spanish yacht club that had never held an offshore regatta. Although the club was the first to file a challenge, Ellison's lawyers argue that it was a bogus challenge designed to ensure Alinghi's preferred rules for the next race.

Bertarelli's lawyers countered that Ellison was attempting through litigation to eliminate other cup contenders and become a finalist in a one-on-one race with Alinghi, something that Ellison's team had never achieved on the water. Bertarelli said his rules would make the regatta more affordable to other teams.

The appellate judges reinstated a lower court ruling that had declared BMW Oracle the official "challenger of record" for the next regatta.

Ellison's team launched its 90-foot trimaran last fall and has been training on it. Bertarelli's team has yet to reveal its secret, multihull design.

"We're hoping that Alinghi will come back and renegotiate for the benefit of all the challengers," said Norbert Bajurin, a San Francisco mechanic and staff commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, BMW Oracle's sponsoring organization.

But, he added, if the rules cannot be agreed upon, the original "deed of gift" for the America's Cup calls for a two-boat duel between rivals to be held within 10 months.

Author: Jim Doyle at jdoyle@sfchronicle.com

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Oracle man to head up ECI Europe

ECi Software Solutions has named former Oracle Corporation executive Kees Vogelesang as SVP Operations for its European division, effective 1 April 2009. Most recently Kees served as Head of Business Operations – COO for Oracle‘s Strategic Accounts Sales division serving Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In his new role, he will be responsible for all operational activities for ECi Europe across its three locations in Amsterdam-Holland and Cambridge and Lincoln.

CEO ECi International Tom Kapp says: "We are very fortunate to have someone of Kees‘ calibre on board. Kees has a strong background in the IT Industry — most recently his 10-year run with Oracle — that includes leadership positions in both business and sales operations on a global scale. Among other initiatives, Kees will focus on strengthening both customer support and the ECi product set, which includes Progress-Bridge, Vision and EasyOrder.

Kapp also thanked recently departed ECi Europe CEO Ron Wotherspoon. He says: "Over the past 20-plus years, Ron and his team built Interactive Products into the leading software provider for the European office products industry. We wish Ron the very best in the next chapter of his life. He has been a good friend and has left a lasting impression on both ECi and the industry."

Wotherspoon also served for two years as Chairman of the BOSS Federation and in 2004 was presented with the BOSS Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition for his dedicated service.

Source: www.channelinfo.net

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Sabrix Leads Transaction Tax Management Industry With Successful Integrations to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12

Fortune 1000 Companies Extend Value of Oracle E-Business Suite and Enjoy Greater Financial Control. Sabrix, Inc., a leading provider of transaction tax management for companies of all sizes, today announced that the Sabrix Application Suite is in production at multiple customer sites using Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12. Sabrix customers, which include Fortune 1000 companies spanning construction, grocery, manufacturing, and energy and utilities markets, are fully exploiting the value of the latest release of the Oracle ERP platform and are leveraging Sabrix's tax solution to assure improved tax accuracy and compliance with confidence.

"Sabrix has a proven history of being first to market -- whether supporting the latest technology advances, like the Oracle 12 integration, or ensuring timely and accurate compliance with new tax legislation," said Stephen James, principal and international tax technology practice leader at Ryan, a Sabrix partner. "Their early commitment to support the latest Oracle 12 platform in June 2008 has now come to fruition in real production instances at enterprise-scale companies, reinforcing the fact that Sabrix is a proven and trusted vendor for customers considering tax automation in Oracle 12 environments."

Sabrix's customer deployments follow the general availability of Sabrix Integration for Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12, which was announced last June (see New Release of Sabrix Application Delivers End-User Benefits to Tax Professionals as well as Integration to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12). Sabrix customers on Oracle 12 have successfully implemented the Sabrix Application Suite to support accounts receivable (AR), order management (OM) and accounts payable (AP) modules. The integration provides a direct, point-to-point integration with Oracle 12, eliminating the need for a separate application server or middleware, lowering maintenance costs and simplifying the IT environment. IT and tax professionals no longer have to configure and maintain tax requirements in Oracle, speeding deployment, minimizing risks to the overall ERP project, and shortening time-to-value.

"Our proven integration experience with Oracle 12 ensures the highest level of service, reliability, and support for companies migrating to the Oracle 12 platform," said Pam Kostka, senior vice president of corporate marketing at Sabrix. "Our own in-house team of Oracle experts has spent the past year developing and testing, then implementing and supporting our solution for Oracle 12. The opportunity to be first to market and to gain tangible experience in enterprise-grade implementations ensures that customers and prospects will be able to enjoy the lessons learned that only practical experience in real world environments can teach."

About Sabrix

Sabrix, Inc. is a leading provider of transaction tax management for companies of all sizes, enabling finance, tax, and IT professionals to achieve accurate, timely, and cost-effective compliance for sales tax, use tax, Value Added Tax (VAT), excise tax and industry-specific taxes and fees. The Sabrix Application Suite™ serves global enterprises such as Amazon.com, BASF, Cisco, DTE Energy, IBM, QUALCOMM, Sportsman's Warehouse, and York International. The Sabrix Application Suite seamlessly connects to all financial applications requiring the determination, calculation, and recording of transaction taxes. The company also offers the Sabrix Managed Tax Service™ (MTS), an outsourced transaction tax compliance service that helps finance departments of small-and-medium-sized businesses eliminate the hassle, control their audit exposure, and reduce the total cost of sales tax, use tax, and VAT compliance. Sabrix MTS seamlessly integrates with a company's existing accounting and e-commerce systems, and, similar to outsourced payroll services, operates as a trusted extension of a company's finance department to address tax compliance from start to finish: address validation, tax rate maintenance, tax determination and calculation, returns preparation and filing as well as audit research and documentation. For more information, please visit www.sabrix.com.

Sabrix, Sabrix Application Suite, Sabrix Managed Tax Service and Sabrix MTS are trademarks of Sabrix, Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Source: www.marketwire.com

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