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ORACLE

FEBRUARY 1999

Oracle's offering

Oracle has a concept, and architecture and focus. What they have delivered is very poor, but there are no real flaws with what they are doing. Their flaws are not in what they do but in what they don't. Oracle has no security expertise, and is not likely to be able to acquire any. Oracle's architecture is 100% oriented towards their database, and useless for anything else. Oracle products outside their core RDBMS business are lousy. Almost everytning is done better by small specialized companies. I don't think they take anything else seriously outside the RDBMS. Oracle's priority is likely to be vertical solutions based on the RDBMS, so the guys who are going to be in trouble are SAP and BAAN.

Oracle has defined a clear and well though out architecture wich it designates as NCA, alias Network Computing Architecture. It is one of the very few companies who demonstrate a clear understanding of the need to deliver a strong distributed framework that integrates vertical applications seeminglesly and transparently. The importance of Oracle's vision is not to be underestimated, it is the only possible approach to solving the looming crisis which results from the increasing complexity of computing systems and the inheritant limitations of current computing models in dealing with it.

By providing a robust architecture Oracle encapsulates functionality within well defined and robust software components which insulate users of the specific functionalities and services provided from their implementations and separates the different functional levels cleanly from each other. The whole approach lends itself optimally to dealing with large systems as small discrete components which can be improved, changed and/or replaced without any disruption to their service cosumers. This presents two fundamental benefits, the reduction of complexity to well defined and atomic humanly manageable levels, with all the benefits that that brings, and the ability to transparently incorporate new technologies as they become available and having them automatically made available throughout the whole archiotecture and all its components whether of structural or applicational nature.

In simple words, Oracle is very aware of what the future of computing will bring and has taken a fundamental step toward it by establishing a powerful and solid foundation on which to advance.

However Oracle appears to be highly focused on its core business in the RDBMS market - which is very sensible, and has demonstrated serious difficulties in delivering products and technologies in its other areas of business. Most noticeably in the area of Object Oriented technology which SEDONA's demise - after and immense investment effort, clearly demonstrated.

Oracle's difficulties in delivering technology outside its core RDBMS business, is not the only issue. NCA revolves around the Oracle RDBMS and its application outside that context is impratical. While this makes perfect business sense from their perspective, for users it means that NCA is an Oracle RDBMS architecture and framework and not a universal architecture with the capability of integrating all their resources into a single cooperating whole. Since its highly unlikely that any single organization's computer system requirements will be addressed totally by the Oracle RDBMS, then it's also unlikely that NCA will ever satisfy more then a specific piece of their users needs.

Finally, and with the RDBMS market reaching maturity and the unavoidable slowing down of growth that will result, Oracle is quite likely try to concentrate in areas more directly associated with its core business, alias what it designates as Industry Applications, which are currently dominated by SAP and BAAN. Increasing its market within these areas will require a very significant effort and is likely to divert resources from its secondary business pursuits.

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