Cloud computing and Oracle
Oracle is a California based software development company specializing in the development of database systems.
Started in 1977, Oracle has been both a major driver and beneficiary of the computing revolution that has taken place during the last three decades.
In the year 2008, Oracle’s total revenues stood at $22 Billion, out of which the company made a net income of $5 Billion.
Through a series of strategic acquisitions, Oracle has, over time, grown into a formidable entity, becoming the world’s third largest software maker by the year 2007—after which it made even more strategic acquisitions, which could put it in the second spot as of mid-2009.
Oracle’s workforce stands at more than 74,000 employees, making it one of the largest employers in the software sub-sector.
Oracle’s Products
Oracle is best known for its database application by the same name, though the company also has interest in the development of other business applications, including a human resource management application and a financial management application known as Oracle financials.
For businesses in the manufacturing sector, Oracle provides an ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution.
Apart from its ready-made database and business products, Oracle also provides tools for software development to people who want to develop their own applications, with popular examples being the Oracle SQL Developer and the SQL Designer tools.
Oracle also offers software consultancy through its Oracle Consulting arm and software development training through its Oracle University program, which offers various certifications in software development.
Oracle Cloud Computing
Cloud computing seems to be where the future of enterprise computing lies and as one of the leading players in the field of enterprise computing, Oracle has taken a proactive approach to the opportunities offered to it by the cloud.
The company, for instance, just announced the release of a product line that is tailor-made for the cloud.
These products allow users to not only conveniently deploy their Oracle applications in the cloud, but to also back up their Oracle databases in the cloud, just as they would on an in-house server.
This is something that Oracle is doing in partnership with Amazon through their web services arm, whose cloud computing service (known as Elastic Cloud Compute) has proven to be one of the first real successes in this emerging field.
Oracle promises to team up with other cloud platform providers in the near future, in a complementary role (where the other providers offer the platforms, while Oracle offers the kind of applications that are able to withstand the demands of the cloud).
Oracle’s rate is competitive with the license fees that are required to use in-house application servers, but users get to save money on the actual costs of running the servers.
Oracle’s one to five years licensing requirements might seem like a killjoy for users who would have liked shorter-term licenses, but it would seem that Oracle wants to get into the cloud while still keeping its feet on the ground.
Of course, it might be just a matter of time before Oracle is forced to start offering shorter term licenses for its users in the cloud, since cloud idealists foresee a future when one will be able to pay for a single session’s use of a given a software application on the cloud.
Many analysts also see Oracles ventures into the cloud, though enthusiastic, as more of a way of attempting to protect its enterprise computing turf, since there is a real risk of a client switching software providers during their migration into the cloud, if their current provider doesn’t develop applications that can run in the cloud.
The Future of Cloud Computing at Oracle
With the early forays it has made into cloud computing, Oracle seems to have secured its future in the face of the computing ‘revolution’ that is shaping up in the cloud.
Of course it would be naïve to imagine that Oracle’s competitors are being left in the dust, as the reality is that they are deep in development of their own products for the cloud; but how Oracle responds to that could go a long way in determining its own success in the cloud.
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Category: Oracle
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