Support desk is unsatisfactory, say Oracle users

One in five Oracle Support users is unhappy with some element of the service, according to an annual survey published at this week’s UK Oracle User Group (UKOUG) conference.

Dissatisfaction with global support has more than doubled, a further seven per cent of respondents cited a need for localised support, and the number complaining about the quality of offshore resources is up from seven per cent to 17 per cent.

But there were also positive results. Eighty-one per cent of Oracle Server users are happy with the product and 76 per cent of Oracle Consulting customers would recommend the services they use.

There is also increased take-up of the recent software releases.

“Historic versions have virtually disappeared from the estate, and that’s good news,” said UKOUG chairman Ronan Miles.

Author: Janie Davies @ www.vnunet.com

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Oracle to Put Moniforce Into Its Web App Mix

Oracle opened up its pocketbook again today, this time to snap up Dutch software firm Moniforce for an undisclosed price.

Moniforce's webStress and webProbe software lets companies monitor and evaluate the performance and availability of their Web applications by tracking a company's total network traffic.

Oracle officials said Moniforce's applications will help round out its Enterprise Manager application performance management suite, giving users the ability to detect and resolve end-user experience and application logic issues.

Moniforce's UXinsight software, developed by its UXTechnology subsidiary, detects errors in application logic and provides diagnostics and alerts for custom applications built on multiple software platforms.

"The transaction underscores Oracle's strategy of lowering total cost of ownership and delivering higher quality of service for customers running packaged or custom applications in Oracle or non- Oracle environments," Chuck Rozwat, Oracle's executive vice president of product development, said in a prepared release.
In a June research report, Forrester Research analyst Jean-Pierre Garbani wrote that Moniforce's webProbe software "forms a key element in managing service levels and supporting mission-critical Web applications. Although Moniforce is a European vendor, it offers a world-class suite of Web application management solutions."

In the past four years, Oracle has acquired more than 45 companies. During last month's OpenWorld conference, Oracle executives repeated the company's commitment to enter new markets such as virtualization and make strategic acquisitions to round out its enterprise software portfolio.

In the application performance management sector, Oracle competes against the likes of HP, which picked up Mercury Interactive for $4.5 billion last year, IBM, Corvil and Quest Software.

Oracle shares dipped 8 cents a share, or less than 1 percent, to $21.14 a share in Thursday afternoon trading after the deal was announced.

Author: Larry Barrett @ www.internetnews.com

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City of Las Vegas implements Oracle BPEL Process Manager

The City of Las Vegas has implemented Oracle BPEL Process Manager, a component of Oracle Fusion Middleware, to integrate various applications and business processes, as well as to provide a seamless user experience to city employees.

The city worked with Innowave, a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork, on the implementation. The City of Las Vegas first used Oracle business process execution language (BPEL) Process Manager to streamline business processes within its water pollution control facility. The facility recently implemented Oracle Utilities Work and Asset Management to enhance efficiencies in maintaining public assets and managing the respective city workforce.

The city used Oracle BPEL Process Manager to integrate the utilities solution with the Oracle E-Business Suite's financial, human resources, payroll and purchasing applications, delivering a comprehensive view of the facility's numerous infrastructure assets and enabling more strategic management decisions.

Fauerbach, enterprise project manager for City of Las Vegas, said: "We have been looking for ways to become more efficient, increase employee proficiency and make improvements to the physical plant as we strive to economize wastewater management. Oracle BPEL Process Manager and Oracle Utilities Work and Asset Management provided us the tools to do exactly that."

Source: www.cbronline.com

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