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Technology Stocks : Oracle Corporation (ORCL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bipin Prasad who wrote (15331)	2/21/2001 4:07:14 PM
From: A.L. Reagan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19079

From Robbie Stephens: Oracle Corporation (Nasdaq: ORCL) $23.13 Long-Term Attractive Eric Upin, Business-to-Business eCommerce "This week, Oracle is hosting AppsWorld, a user conference focused on the company's 11i applications suite, in New Orleans," said Upin. The five-day event features presentations by Oracle executives, customers, and partners, as well as product demonstrations and topical break-out sessions. The company held a similar event in Paris last week. Thus far, there have been no major new customer or product announcements. However, management provided updated 11i metrics, including: 1) 2,500 signed customers 2) 180 live customers and 3) progress of Oracle's internal roll-out of 11i. However, we believe the 11i product cycle is still relatively early in terms of functionality, market adoption, live implementations, and customer references. At an analyst briefing on Tuesday evening, CFO Jeff Henley maintained his positive outlook and guidance of 75% year/year growth in applications and 15-20% year/year growth in database servers for both the February and May quarters. Although Oracle has executed well on its compelling vision thus far, we believe there is risk to the numbers over the near-term given the aggressive ramp in application licenses in the May quarter, coupled with greater macroeconomic uncertainty and the early stages of the company's major new product cycle. Therefore, we maintain our Long-Term Attractive rating on the stock at this time."

To: Bipin Prasad who wrote (15331)	2/22/2001 5:22:35 PM
From: tech101	Respond to of 19079

Oracle AppsWorld: Ellison says hands off our apps By George A. Chidi NEW ORLEANS -- Stop modifying Oracle applications. Stop complementing Oracle applications with third-party software. Stop building applications in-house. That's the message from Oracle's Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison to Oracle customers. "Let us finish our software. Don't do it for us," Ellison said during a keynote at the Oracle AppsWorld developer's conference here. Describing a fundamental change for Oracle's relationship with its customers, Ellison said e-business processes must become more standardized and simplified, and to do so customers should trust and rely on Oracle. Business software patched together with applications from a variety of vendors will not work as well and is less cost-effective than using an integrated suite from a single vendor, such as Oracle's own 11i ERP (enterprise resource planning) suite, Ellison said. Ellison said Oracle's 11i applications suite lets customers use the Internet to meet 70 percent to 85 percent of their business needs without the need to make software code changes. Oracle's service crew can tweak and modify the applications to meet the rest of the customers' needs. "It's a new way of working together, and it means we need to do a better job of understanding your business," Ellison said. Businesses "are better off with an 80 percent solution in place in six months than fantasizing about a 100 percent solution complete in 2 years after writing a lot of code," Ellison said, referring to companies that build these applications in-house. Customers get trapped behind old, heavily modified versions of Oracle software, making upgrades difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Ellison wants customers to rely on Oracle's services. "We have more than 100 percent of what you need. We don't have 100 percent of what you want," Ellison said. In wide-ranging and characteristically candid remarks following his address, Ellison asserted that the computer industry is about to become boring. "The computer companies are finally beginning to deliver on their promises," Ellison said. Although computing made Ellison one of the richest men in the world, he said if he had to start his life over he would go into molecular biology and genetics research. Ellison owns a biotech research company in Israel, he said. Ellison denied rumors that former President Bill Clinton would be invited to join Oracle's board of directors, although he did not categorically eliminate the possibility. "It never occurred to me, and it never occurred to him," Ellison said, noting that no discussion of a board appointment had taken place. And although not directly addressing some of Clinton's recent scandals, Ellison said, "I think the president is quite busy right now." Ellison also reiterated his belief that Oracle, in Redwood Shores, Calif., will save $2 billion this year by using its own e-business software and that it will save $3 billion in the following year. Rival software maker Microsoft has disputed the size of Oracle's claimed savings. Microsoft and Oracle have gone a few rounds in the ring of public media combat as well as in commercial competition, and Ellison did not pass up the opportunity to jab at his opponents. Ellison said he does not expect any difference in the posture of the U.S. Department of Justice in its antitrust case against Microsoft under the Bush administration. "Microsoft has consistently broken the law," he said, describing the company's alleged effort to drive Netscape Communications out of business and extend its software monopoly to new markets. Although he does not think Oracle is going through Microsoft's garbage any more, as it was revealed that Oracle operatives had been doing before, Oracle will continue to monitor Microsoft's competitive behavior, Ellison said. "Because Microsoft is so aggressive in the marketplace, we feel we have to pay special attention to them." Oracle AppsWorld continues through Friday at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. George A. Chidi is a Boston-based correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. infoworld.com