Oracle's Agile PLM gains popularity

I recently spoke to Oracle about their Agile Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution, which has crowned them the leader in the PLM market -- or so they kept on repeating. Here is some information on what it is and how it can be of benefit to an enterprise:

* After its acquisition and integration of Agile Software Corporation, Oracle has been able to provide an integrated PLM solution for enterprises. PLM refers to the management of a product through the different stages in its lifecycle, from the initial concept to disposal.

* Oracle's Agile PLM provides a set of technologies for companies with a large collection of products that can be complex to manage. The solution helps companies manage information related to their products, such as customers, costs, suppliers, manufacturing, design, service, compliance and new products.

* Product information is usually dispersed across different global systems. Oracle’s Agile PLM supports collaboration between these systems and protects sensitive information with attribute-level security.

* Integration with other crucial systems such as CRMs, ERPs and CAD is also a feature of this PLM solution.

* Oracle has focused on specific industries such as foods, electronics, medical, aerospace and automotive, thus providing industry-specific expertise to companies operating in these sectors.

Overall this integrated PLM solution is meant to simplify product management throughout its lifecycle and consequently lets enterprises improve efficiency and deliver better quality products.

Is that really how it works? What experiences have you had with Oracle products beyond their database offerings? Let us know in the comments below.

Author: Lana Kovacevic @ www.builderau.com.au

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Oracle expected to post gains despite economy

Oracle Corp. is expected to report significant profit and sales gains when it posts third-quarter earnings next Wednesday, despite the difficult economic environment encountered recently by many of its corporate customers.

Analysts on average expect Oracle to post earnings excluding special items of 30 cents a share for the period ended in February, and $5.4 billion in revenue, according to FactSet Research.
That compares with earnings excluding special items of 25 cents a share and $4.41 billion in revenue in the same period a year earlier.

Software maker Oracle, which has numerous customers among the U.S. companies thought to be affected by the economic slowdown, has so far managed to turn in recent quarterly results that have met or exceeded Wall Street's expectations.

JMP Securities analyst Patrick Walravens wrote in a note to clients last week that he expects Oracle to again deliver a "solid" quarter Wednesday that includes earnings excluding special items of between 29 cents and 31 cents a share.
"Oracle appears to be benefiting from the consolidation of the software industry," Walravens wrote.

Oracle's ongoing acquisition spree has had it rolling up a variety of significant business software companies, most recently BEA Systems Inc., a maker of so-called "middleware" for which Oracle agreed to pay $8.5 billion in January. Middleware is software used by sprawling businesses to connect disparate networks and programs. The BEA deal "truly does open up a whole new set of enterprise license agreement opportunities," Walravens wrote.

Bear Stearns analyst John DiFucci wrote in a note to clients last week that Oracle is likely to meet expectations for its third quarter, and "likely benefited from a strong seasonal December month."

However, DiFucci noted that Oracle is unlikely to "show the magnitude of upside it has in recent quarters," and "may be experiencing effects of a deteriorating macro environment," though he doesn't expect any surprises in the company's outlook.

Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brendan Barnicle wrote in a note to clients Tuesday that checks on Oracle's business have been "a little weaker than earlier in the year." While results from Oracle's middleware business have been mixed, its applications business has been stronger than expected, Barnicle wrote.

More importantly, Barnicle wrote that its BEA acquisition will pay off well for Oracle soon.
"Oracle is likely to get a much bigger benefit from BEA than we had expected," Barnicle wrote, adding that if Oracle closes the acquisition earlier than anticipated it will likely see up to $200 million in additional revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter, rather than waiting until its fiscal first quarter.

"As a result, Oracle could grow [fourth-quarter] revenue by 17%, rather than by 14%, which is the current expectation," Barnicle wrote.

Author: John Letzing @ www.marketwatch.com

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Oracle taps into Grey Matter

Oracle has enlisted the help of VAR Grey Matter to capitalist on the growing demand for service-oriented architecture (SOA), business intelligence and security technologies.

Under the partnership, Oracle is hoping to encourage more ISVs to migrate to an Oracle technology platform, by tapping into Grey Matter's skills in the area.

Together with Oracle, Grey Matter will deliver a single access point for ISVs and developers looking to build their products on an Oracle database or using Oracle Fusion Middleware.

The partnership follows Oracle's dedicated ISV recruitment drive, which saw over 200 ISVs join its PartnerNetwork in 2007.

Alan Hartwell, vice president technology solutions and channels at Oracle UK, Ireland and Israel, said: "We are experiencing significant demand from ISVs looking to adopt Oracle. This is largely due to growing market demand for SOA, business intelligence and security. Technology like Oracle Fusion Middleware enables partners to deliver SOA for customers in heterogeneous computing environments.”

“ISVs and developers are quickly realising the value of Oracle’s technology suite and its role in allowing them to deliver more efficient standards-based solutions to their customers and the initiative with Grey Matter provides a user-friendly avenue for ISVs to become Oracle enabled,” Hartwell added.

Andrew King, managing director of Grey Matter said: "This is very much a demand driven development. We service one of the largest ISV communities in the UK and are seeing a move toward Oracle as a preferred technology and development platform. Our key driver is to ensure our ISVs have fast and concise access to information about Oracle, migration facilities and ongoing enablement and support.”

Author: Sara Yirrell @ www.vnunet.com

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