Addi and all:
Check this out (from Oracle thread). See what SUN may benefit from
Oracle new movement for next year - NO client/server architecture,
everything is on the (SUN) server!!!
Cheers.
Lin
Oracle is unique. In its ambition, and its focus. Here's a short
interview with Ellison from Computerworld that says a lot.
SUBJECT: ORACLE CEO/ NCS ARE THE FUTURE
SOURCE: ComputerWorld via First! by Individual, Inc.
DATE: November 10, 1997
INDEX: [3]
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ComputerWorld via Individual Inc. : Oracle Corp. is turning its guns on
Microsoft Corp. The weapons of choice: network computers and the Oracle8
database management system, which Oracle claims is now robust enough to hold
all corporate data. Computerworld Editor Paul Gillin interviewed Oracle
Chairman Larry Ellison last week at Ellison's Atherton, Calif., home.
CW: Are there any mountains left to climb in database?
ELLISON: Oracle's major challenge right now is the NT file system. We
believe it is cheaper to put everything in the database [rather] than
dumping it on your hard disk.
Here's a difference between Oracle and Microsoft. We believe what is
precious is your data. Let organizations store all their data in a coherent
way, whether it's PowerPoint presentations or transactional data. With
Microsoft, all the data goes into the NT file system. The company that will
win will be the one that offers the most economical data management.
CW: Microsoft has made some gains with SQL Server. Does that keep you up
at night?
ELLISON: Microsoft keeps me up at night but not with SQL Server. They can
pick off some stuff at the low end. They've got a fabulous brand, and
they're practically giving stuff away.
CW: Your database business grew in the single digits in the most recent
quarter. Is that market slowing down?
ELLISON: It's a tough comparison. The previous year's growth was huge. I
know what our growth forecast is this quarter, and it's very high.
CW: With the demise of the Sedona object tools, could you clarify the
Oracle tools strategy, particularly as it relates to Java?
ELLISON: It's very simple. We have our main set of tools Developer/2000
and Designer/2000 that we have moved off the desktop and onto the
applications server. This is the single most important thing that's new
about our network computing architecture: There are tools that let you build
Web-like applications where the application runs on the server. All the
applications built over the last decade can be redeployed onto an
applications server without any reprogramming.
As far as Java, Oracle InForms and Designer and Discoverer all have Java
front ends. That works today. With Oracle 8.1, you will have Java stored
procedures. We have a project called Aurora that is building this big,
scalable, multiuser heavyweight Java for writing stored procedures.
CW: How likely are you to move your applications entirely to an
applications server architecture?
ELLISON: It's very likely that Oracle will not even offer its applications
in client/server mode sometime next year. We're so convinced that having the
application and data on the server is better, even if you've got a PC. We
believe there will be almost no demand for client/server as soon as this
comes out.
We've already told our application customers that we'll be [doing this],
and if there is demand, we'll do client/server. But we don't think there
will be.
CW: Is it a reasonable goal for you to overtake SAP AG in applications in
the next three to five years?
ELLISON: Absolutely. I can make a case that our most important competitor
is SAP, not Microsoft.
The [IT infrastructure] business can't continue as long as it's so labor-
intensive. It takes three $150,000-a-year people to run [a $20,000 server].
Infrastructure is going to have to look more like a utility, and the bulk
of the dollars will be spent in applications systems and services.
CW: What are the implications of that on IS organizations?
ELLISON: They can redeploy resources to build applications. We don't want
them to have to worry about making sure that all of the right font files are
in all PCs. When a desktop machine breaks, make it as replaceable as a
television.
CW: But the network computer doesn't seem to be resonating much with
corporate IS at this point.
ELLISON: Version 1 [network computers] haven't been everything we want
them to be. The new versions coming out [from Oracle's Network Computer,
Inc. subsidiary] will run all of the Oracle applications, will have 200-MHz
processors, and will have broad support from Intel and others. |
