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The corporation has arguably become best-known for its flagship product, the Oracle Database. The
company also builds tools for database development and systems of middle-tier software, enterprise
resource planning software (ERP), customer relationship management software (CRM) and supply chain
management(SCM) software.
As of 2010, Larry Ellison, a co-founder of Oracle Corporation, has served as Oracle's CEO throughout its
history. Ellison also served as the Chairman of the Boarduntil his replacement by Jeffrey O. Henley in
2004. Ellison retains his role as CEO. On August 22, 2008 the Associated Press ranked founder Larry
Ellison as the top-paid chief executive in the world.
History
Ellison took inspiration[7] from the 1970 paper written by Edgar F. Codd on relational database
management systems (RDBMS) named "A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks". [8] He
had heard about the IBM System R database from an article in the IBM Research Journal provided by Ed
Oates (a future co-founder of Oracle Corporation). System R also derived from Codd's theories, and
Ellison wanted to make Oracle's product compatible with System R, but IBM stopped this by keeping the
error codes for their DBMS secret. Ellison co-founded Oracle Corporation in 1977 with Bob Miner and Ed
Oates under the name Software Development Laboratories (SDL). In 1979 SDL changed its name
to Relational Software, Inc. (RSI).[9] In 1982, RSI renamed itself Oracle Systems[10] to align itself more
closely with its flagship product Oracle Database. At this stage Bob Miner served as the company's senior
programmer. In 1995, Oracle Systems Corporation changed its name to Oracle Corporation.[11]
Part of Oracle Corporation's early success arose from using the C programming language to implement
its products. This eased porting to different operating systems(most of which support C). This gave Oracle
Corporation an advantage over companies using operating-system-specific languages. [citation needed] Oracle
Corporation programmers wrote the first C compiler for the IBM mainframe platform in order to port to that
platform.[citation needed]
[edit]Overall timeline
June 16, 1977: Software Development Laboratories (SDL) is incorporated in Santa Clara,
California[1] by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.
1978: Oracle Version 1, written in assembly language, runs on PDP-11 under RSX, in 128K of
memory. Implementation separates Oracle code and user code. Oracle V1 is never officially released.
[12]
The nameOracle comes from the code name of a CIA project which the founders had all worked on
while at the Ampex Corporation.
June 1979: SDL is renamed to Relational Software Inc. (RSI)[9] and relocated to Sand Hill
Road, Menlo Park, California. Oracle 2, the first version of the Oracle database software, as
purchased by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, runs on PDP-11 hardware. The company decides to
name the first version of its flagship product "version 2" rather than "version 1" because it believes
customers might hesitate to buy the initial release of its product.
October 1979: RSI actively promotes Oracle on the VAX platform (the software runs on the VAX
in PDP-11 emulator mode).
1981: Umang Gupta joins RSI, where he writes the first business plan for the company and
serves as Vice President and General Manager.
February 1981: RSI begins developing tools for the Oracle Database, including the Interactive
Application Facility (IAF), a predecessor to Oracle*Forms.
1982: RSI renames itself Oracle Systems Corporation in order to align itself more closely with its
primary product.
March 1983: Oracle Database is rewritten in C for portability and Oracle version 3 is released.
November 1984: Oracle database software is ported to the PC platform. The MS-DOS version
(4.1.4) of Oracle runs in only 512K of memory. (Oracle for MSDOS version 5, released in 1986, runs
in Protected Mode on 286 machines using a technique invented by Mike Roberts, among the first
products to do so.)
April 1985: Oracle version 5 is released — one of the first RDBMSs to operate in client-
server mode.
1986: Oracle version 5.1 is released with support for distributed queries. Investigations into
clustering begin.
March 12, 1986: Oracle goes public with revenues of $55 million USD.
August 1987: Oracle founds its Applications division, building business-management software
closely integrated with its database software. Oracle acquires TCI for its project management
software.
1988: Oracle version 6 is released with support for row-level locking and hot backups. The
developers embedded the PL/SQL procedural language engine into the database but made no
provision to store program blocks such as procedures and triggers in the database - this capability
came in version 7. Users could submit PL/SQL blocks for immediate execution in the server from an
environment such as SQL*Plus, or via SQL statements embedded in a host program. Oracle included
separate PL/SQL engines in various client tools (such as SQL*Forms and Reports).
1989: Oracle moves its world headquarters to Redwood Shores, California. Revenues reach
US$584 million.
1990: In the third quarter, Oracle reports its first ever loss [citation needed]; it lays off hundreds of
employees. Ellison hires Jeffrey O. Henley as CFO and Raymond Lane as COO.
June 1992: Oracle 7 is released with performance enhancements, administrative utilities,
application-development tools, security features, the ability to persist PL/SQL program units in the
database as stored procedures and triggers, and support for declarative referential integrity.
1993: Oracle releases its "Cooperative Development Environment" (CDE), which bundles Oracle
Forms, Reports, Graphics, and Book.
1994: Oracle acquires the database-product DEC Rdb (subsequently called Oracle Rdb)
from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Oracle Rdb operates only on the OpenVMS platform (also
a former product of DEC).
June 1, 1995: Oracle Systems Corporation announces the merger of Oracle Corporation into
Oracle Systems Corporation. This transaction eliminates the holding company structure and
streamlines the operating company, Oracle Corporation, with the public holding company, Oracle
Systems Corporation. As part of the merger, Oracle Systems Corporation is renamed Oracle
Corporation and is the surviving entity incorporated as a Delaware corporation.
June 21, 1995: Oracle Corporation announces new data-warehousing facilities, including parallel
queries.
November 1995: Oracle becomes one of the first[citation needed] large software companies to
announce an Internet strategy when Ellison introduces the network computer concept at an IDC
conference in Paris.
June 1997: Oracle 8 is released with SQL object technology, Internet technology and support for
terabytes of data.
September 1997: Oracle Corporation announces a commitment to the Java platform, and
introduces Oracle's Java integrated development environment, subsequently called
"Oracle JDeveloper".
January 1998: Oracle releases Oracle Applications 10.7 Network Computing Architecture (NCA).
All the applications in the business software now run across the web in a standard web browser.
October 1998: Oracle 8 and Oracle Application Server 4.0 are released on the Linux platform.
May 1999: Oracle releases JDeveloper 2.0, showcasing Business Components for Java (BC4J),
a set of libraries and development tools for building database-aware applications.
2000: OracleMobile subsidiary is founded. Oracle 9i and Application Server is released. In May,
Oracle announces the Internet File System (iFS), later re-branded as Oracle Content Management
SDK.[13]
2001: Ellison announces that Oracle saved $1 billion by implementing and using its own business
applications.
December 13, 2004: After a long battle over the control of PeopleSoft, Oracle announces that it
has signed an agreement to acquire PeopleSoft for $26.50 per share (approximately $10.3 billion).
January 14, 2005: Oracle Corporation announces that it will reduce its combined workforce to
50,000, a reduction of approximately 5,000 following the take-over of PeopleSoft.
September 2005: Oracle Corporation announces that it has agreed to acquire the private
company Global Logistics Technologies, Inc., a global provider of logistics and transportation
management software (TMS) solutions, through a cash offer.
September 12, 2005: Oracle Corporation announces its purchase of Siebel Systems, a producer
of CRM technologies and a provider of business intelligence software, for $5.8 billion.
October 18, 2005: A serious security vulnerability in Oracle database password management is
published by Joshua Wright of the Sans Institute and Carlos Cid of the University of London. [14] Oracle
Corporation replies that existing safeguards and following good industry practices were sufficient
defenses.[15] Oracle didn't close the underlying security hole until its release of the 11g DBMS in 2007.
[16]
April 12, 2006: Oracle Corporation announces its acquisition of Portal Software, Inc. (OTC BB:
PRSF.PK), a global provider of billing- and revenue-management solutions for the communications
and media industry, at $4.90 per share, or approximately $220 million.
November 2, 2006: Oracle Corporation announces that it has agreed to acquire Stellent, Inc.
(NASDAQ: STEL), a global provider of enterprise content management (ECM) software solutions,
through a cash tender offer for $13.50 per share, or approximately $440 million.
March 1, 2007: Oracle announces an agreement to buy Hyperion Solutions Corporation (Nasdaq:
HYSL), a global provider of performance-management software solutions, through a cash tender offer
for $52.00 per share, or approximately $3.3 billion. The acquisition officially took place on July 1,
2007.
March 22, 2007: Oracle files a court case against a major competitor, SAP AG, in the Californian
courts for malpractice and unfair competition.[17]
October 16, 2007: Oracle confirms the impending departure of John Wookey, senior vice
president for application development and head of its applications strategy, raising questions
concerning the planned release and future of Oracle's Fusion Applications strategy.
January 16, 2008: Oracle announces it will buy BEA Systems for $19.375 per share in cash for a
total of "$7.2 billion net of cash".[18]
September 24, 2008: Oracle announces it will market servers and storage in a co-developed and
co-branded data warehouse appliance named the HP Oracle Database Machine. [19]
March 17, 2010: Oracle launches Enterprise Manager Ops Center, a platform for managing
physical and virtual Sun environments.[20]
April 16, 2010: Oracle agrees to acquire Phase Forward for approximately $685 million.[21]
July 29, 2010: Oracle is indicted for fraud by the US Department of Justice. [22]
[edit]Technology timeline
2002: offers the first database to pass 15 industry standard security evaluations
2005: releases its first free database, Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (XE)
Rdb Division
October
of Digital Equipment Relational database N/A
1994
Corporation
August
IRI Software OLAP products $100
1995
Thinking Machines
June 1999 Darwin, datamining technology N/A
Corporation
January
TopLink Object-relation mapping technology N/A
2002
January
Indicast Voice portals N/A
2002
January
NetForce Adverse event reporting system N/A
2002
January
SiteWorks Solutions Clinical trials management N/A
2004
January
PeopleSoft Enterprise software $10,300
2005
March
Oblix Identity management N/A
2005
September
G-Log Transportation management solutions N/A
2005
November
Thor Technologies Enterprise-wide user provisioning solutions. N/A
2005
November
OctetString Virtual directory solutions N/A
2005
December
Temposoft Workforce-management applications N/A
2005
January
360Commerce Retail-industry solutions N/A
2006
January
Siebel Systems Customer relationship management $5,850
2006
February
HotSip Communications infrastructure solutions N/A
2006
Communications-industry service-delivery
Net4Call April 2006 N/A
platform
August
Sigma Dynamics Real-time predictive analytics software N/A
2006
October
Sunopsis Enterprise-integration software N/A
2006
October
MetaSolv Software Communications-service provider solutions $219
2006
November
Stellent Content-management solutions $440
2006
March 1,
Hyperion Solutions Enterprise-performance management $3,300
2007
July 18,
Bharosa Identify theft $495
2007
September
Bridgestream Enterprise role-management N/A
5, 2007
October 9,
LogicalApps Compliance software N/A
2007
December
Moniforce End-user experience management software N/A
6, 2007
January
BEA Systems Middleware software company $8,500
16, 2008
January
Captovation Document-capture software N/A
16, 2008
March 27,
Empirix (Web) Web-application testing-software N/A
2008
June 23,
Skywire Software Insurance software N/A
2008
October 9,
Primavera Systems Project portfolio management software N/A
2008
October
Haley Limited Policy-modeling and -automation software N/A
29, 2008
May 13,
Virtual Iron Software Server-virtualization management software N/A
2009
February
Convergin Communications services brokerage $85
10, 2010
May 20,
Secerno Data protection hardware and software N/A
2010
October 5,
Passlogix Enterprise single sign-on N/A
2010
[edit]Various databases
In 2004 Oracle Corporation shipped release 10g (g standing for "grid") as the then latest version of Oracle
Database. (Oracle Application Server 10g using Java EE integrates with the server part of that version of
the database, making it possible to deploy web-technology applications. The application server comprises
the first middle-tier software designed for grid computing. The interrelationship between Oracle
10g and Javahas enabled the company to allow developers to set up stored procedures written in the
Java language, as well as those written in the traditional Oracle database programming
language, PL/SQL.)
Oracle Rdb, a relational database system, runs on OpenVMS platforms. Oracle acquired Rdb in 1994
from Digital Equipment Corporation. Oracle has since made many enhancements to this product and
development continues today.
MySQL, a relational database management system licensed under the GNU General Public License,
initially developed by MySQL AB.
Some database administrators (DBAs) use Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) to manage the DBMS.
With Oracle Database version 10g, Oracle Corporation introduced a web-based rewrite of OEM called
"Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control". Oracle Corporation has dubbed the super Enterprise
Manager used to manage a grid of multiple DBMS and Application Servers as "Oracle Enterprise
Manager Grid Control".
Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (SES), Oracle's enterprise-search offering, gives users the ability to
search for content across multiple locations, including websites, file servers, content management
systems, enterprise resource planning systems, customer relationship management systems, business
intelligence systems, and databases.
[edit]Oracle Beehive
Released in 2008, the Oracle Beehive collaboration software provides team workspaces (including wikis,
team calendaring and file sharing), email, calendar, instant messaging, and conferencing on a single
platform. Customers can use Beehive as licensed software or as software as a service.[23]
Oracle Collaboration Suite (OCS) contains messaging, groupware and collaboration applications. Oracle
Beehive has superseded OCS.[24]
[edit]Development software
Oracle Corporation's tools for developing applications include (amongst others):
Oracle Designer
Oracle Developer - which consists of Oracle Forms, Oracle Discoverer and Oracle Reports
Oracle JDeveloper
NetBeans
Many external and third-party tools make the Oracle database administrator's tasks easier.
[edit]Hardware
The Sun hardware range acquired by Oracle Corporation's purchase of Sun Microsystems
Besides databases, Oracle also sells a suite of business applications. The Oracle E-Business
Suite includes software to perform financial- (Oracle Financials), manufacturing-, enterprise resource
planning and HR- (Human Resource Management Systems) -related functions (Oracle HR). Users can
access these facilities through a browser interface over the Internet or via a corporate intranet.
Following a number of high-value acquisitions beginning in 2003, especially in the area of applications,
Oracle Corporation currently maintains a number of product lines:
PeopleSoft Enterprise
Main article: PeopleSoft
Siebel
Main article: Siebel Systems
JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
Main article: JD Edwards
JD Edwards World
Development of applications commonly takes place in Java (using Oracle JDeveloper) or through PL/SQL
(using, for example, Oracle Forms and Oracle Reports). Oracle Corporation has started[citation needed] a drive
toward "wizard"-driven environments with a view to enabling non-programmers to produce simple data-
driven applications.
[edit]Third-party applications
Oracle Corporation works with "Oracle Certified Partners" to enhance its overall product-range.
The variety of applications from third-party vendors includes database applications for archiving, splitting
and control, ERP and CRM systems, as well as more niche and focused products providing a range of
commercial functions in the areas of human resources, financial control and governance, risk
management, and compliance (GRC)
Vendors include:
Aquire
Hewlett-Packard
HighJump Software
Human Concepts
Q Software Global Ltd, an Oracle Certified Partner specializing in the development of software in
the areas of governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) solutions for the JD Edwards
World and EnterpriseOne applications.[26]
Solix Technologies
UC4 Software
[edit]Services
Oracle Academy (training in computing and commerce in partnership with educational institutions)
[27]
Oracle Consulting
Oracle Support
Product support: Oracle Corporation identifies its customers and their support
entitlements using CSI (Customer Support Identifier) codes. [29] Registered customers can submit
Service Requests (SRs)[30] — usually via the web-accessible MetaLink interface or (as from
September 2008) from its super-set: "My Oracle Support". [31]
Critical Patch Updates: since 2005, Oracle Corporation has grouped collections
of patches and security fixes for its products each quarter into a "Critical Patch Update" (CPU),
released each January, April, July and October.[32]
Oracle Financing
[edit]Marketing
[edit]Sales practices
In 1990 Oracle laid off 10% (about 400 people) of its work force because [citation needed] of a mismatch
between cash and revenues. This crisis came about because of Oracle's "up-front" marketing strategy, in
which sales people urged potential customers to buy the largest possible amount of software all at once.
The sales people then booked the value of future license sales in the current quarter, thereby increasing
their bonuses. This became a problem when the future sales subsequently failed to materialize. Oracle
eventually had to restate its earnings twice, and also settled (out of court) class-action lawsuits arising
from its having overstated its earnings. Ellison stated in 1992 that Oracle had made "an incredible
business mistake".[33]
[edit]Competition
Although IBM dominated the mainframe relational-database market with its DB2 and SQL/DS database
products, it delayed[when?]entering the market for a relational database on UNIX and Windows operating
systems. This left the door open for Sybase, Oracle, and Informix (and eventually Microsoft) to dominate
mid-range and microcomputers.
Around this time[when?], Oracle technology started to lag technically behind that of Sybase.[citation needed] In
1990–1993 Sybase became the fastest-growing database company and the database industry's darling
vendor[citation needed], but soon fell victim to its merger mania and to technical issues with System X. [citation
needed]
Sybase's 1993 merger with PowerSoft resulted in its losing its focus on its core database
technology. In 1993, Sybase sold the rights to its database software running under the Windows operating
system to Microsoft Corporation, which now markets it under the name "SQL Server."
In 1994, Informix Software overtook Sybase and became Oracle's most important rival. The intense war
between Informix CEO Phil White and Ellison made front-page news in Silicon Valley for three years.
Informix claimed that Oracle had hired away Informix engineers to disclose important trade secrets about
an upcoming product. Informix finally dropped its lawsuit against Oracle in 1997. [34] In November 2005 a
book detailing the war between Oracle and Informix appeared, [35] providing a detailed chronology of the
battle of Informix against Oracle, and how Informix Software's CEO Phil White landed in jail because of
his obsession with overtaking Ellison.
Once it had overcome Informix and Sybase, Oracle Corporation enjoyed years of dominance in the
database market until use of Microsoft SQL Server became widespread in the late 1990s and IBM
acquired Informix Software in 2000 (to complement its DB2 database). Today Oracle competes for new
database licenses on UNIX, Linux, and Windows operating systems primarily against IBM's DB2 and
Microsoft SQL Server (which only runs on Windows). IBM's DB2 still dominates the mainframe database
market.
In 2004 Oracle's sales grew at a rate of 14.5% to $6.2 billion, giving it 41.3% and the top share of the
relational-database market (InformationWeek - March, 2005), with market share estimated at up to 44.6%
in 2005 by some sources.[36][dead link] Oracle Corporation's main competitors in the database arena
remain IBM DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server, and to a lesser extent Sybase and Teradata [37][dead link],
with open-source databases such as PostgreSQL and MySQL also having a significant[citation needed] share of
the market. EnterpriseDB, based on PostgreSQL, has recently made inroads [38] by proclaiming that its
product delivers Oracle compatibility features[clarification needed] at a much lower price-point.
In the software-applications market, Oracle Corporation primarily [citation needed] competes against SAP. On
March 22, 2007 Oracle sued SAP, accusing them of fraud and unfair competition. [39]
In the market for business intelligence software, many other software companies — small and large —
have successfully competed in quality with Oracle and SAP products. Business intelligence vendors can
be categorized into the "big four" consolidated BI firms such as Oracle, who has entered BI market
through a recent trend of acquisitions (including Hyperion Solutions), and the independent "pure play"
vendors such as MicroStrategy, Actuate, and SAS.[40]
From 1988 Oracle Corporation and the German company SAP AG had a decade-long history of
cooperation, beginning with the integration of SAP's R/3 enterprise application suite with Oracle's
relational database products. The marketplace[who?] regarded the two firms' products as complementing
one another, rather than as substitutes. Despite the current SAP partnership with Microsoft, and the
increasing integration of SAP applications with Microsoft products (such as Microsoft SQL Server, a
competitor to Oracle Database), Oracle and SAP continue their cooperation. According to Oracle
Corporation, the majority of SAP's customers use Oracle databases. [41]
In recent years, however, competition between Oracle and SAP has increased, and as a result, the rivalry
between the two companies has grown, even developing into a feud between the co-founders of the two
companies, where one party would frequently voice strong negative comments about the other company.
In 2004 Oracle began to increase its interest in the enterprise-applications market (in 1989, Oracle had
already released Oracle Financials). A series of acquisitions by Oracle Corporation began, most notably
those of PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems and Hyperion.
SAP recognized that Oracle had started to become a competitor in a market where SAP had
the leadership, and saw an opportunity to lure in customers from those companies that Oracle
Corporation had acquired. SAP would offer those customers special discounts on the licenses for its
enterprise applications.
Oracle Corporation would resort to a similar strategy, by advising SAP customers to get "OFF SAP" (a
play on the words of the acronym for its middleware platform "Oracle Fusion for SAP"), [42] and also by
providing special discounts on licenses and services to SAP customers who chose Oracle Corporation
products.
Currently Oracle and SAP (the latter through its recently acquired subsidiary TomorrowNow) compete in
the third-party enterprise software maintenance and support market. On March 22, 2007, Oracle filed a
lawsuit against SAP. The complaint alleged that TomorrowNow, which provides discount support for
legacy Oracle product lines, used the accounts of former Oracle customers to systematically download
patches and support documents from Oracle's website and to appropriate them for SAP's use. [43] Some
analysts have suggested the suit could form part of a strategy by Oracle Corporation to decrease
competition with SAP in the market for third-party enterprise software maintenance and support. [44][45]
On July 3, 2007, SAP admitted that TomorrowNow employees had made "inappropriate downloads" from
the Oracle support web site. However, it claims that SAP personnel and SAP customers had no access to
Oracle intellectual property via TomorrowNow. SAP's CEO Henning Kagermann stated that "Even a single
inappropriate download is unacceptable from my perspective. We regret very much that this occurred."
Additionally, SAP announced that it had "instituted changes" in TomorrowNow's operational oversight. [46]
[edit]Slogans
For the Oracle Database: "Can't break it, can't break in" [citation needed] or "Unbreakable"[47]
Oracle Corporation produces and distributes the "Oracle ClearView" series of videos as part of its
marketing mix.[48]
[edit]Controversies
[edit]Trashgate
In 2000 Oracle gained attention from the computer industry and the press after hiring private
investigators to dig through the trash of organizations involved in an antitrust trial involving Microsoft.
[49]
The Chairman of Oracle Corporation, Larry Ellison, staunchly defended his company's hiring of an East
Coast detective agency to investigate groups that supported rival Microsoft Corporation during its antitrust
trial, calling the snooping a "public service". The investigation reportedly included a $1,200 offer to janitors
at the Association for Competitive Technology to look through Microsoft's trash. Asked how he'd feel if
others were looking into Oracle's business activities, Ellison said: "We will ship our garbage to Redmond,
and they can go through it. We believe in full disclosure." [50]
At one point, Oracle Corporation marketed many of its products using the slogan "Can't break it, can't
break in", or "Unbreakable".[51] This signifies a demand on information security. Oracle Corporation also
stresses the reliability of networked databases and network access to databases as major selling points.
However, two weeks after its introduction in 2002, David Litchfield, Alexander Kornbrust, Cesar
Cerrudo and others demonstrated a whole suite of successful attacks against Oracle products. [52]
[53]
Commentators[who?] criticized the slogan as unrealistic and as an invitation to crackers, but Oracle
Corporation's chief security officer Mary Ann Davidson portrayed the criticism as unfair. Rather than
representing a literal claim of Oracle's products' impregnability, she saw the campaign in the context of
fourteen independent security evaluations[54] that Oracle Corporation's database server had passed.
In 2004, then-United States Attorney General John Ashcroft sued Oracle Corporation to prevent a
contract acquisition. In 2005, Oracle hired Ashcroft's lobbying firm, The Ashcroft Group, LLC. Oracle, with
Ashcroft's lobbying, then went on to acquire the contract, a multi-billion dollar intelligence application. [55]
[edit]Recent news
[edit]Acquisition of Sun Microsystems
On January 27, 2010, Oracle announced it had completed its acquisition of Sun Microsystems - valued at
more than $7 billion - a move that transformed Oracle from solely a software company to a manufacturer
of both software and hardware. The acquisition was delayed for several months by the EU
Commission because of concerns about MySQL, however was unconditionally approved in the end.
[56]
This acquisition was important to some in the open source community and also to some other
companies, as they feared Oracle might end Sun's traditional support of open source projects.[57] Some
now believe that these fears have been confirmed, as Oracle is apparently planning to
discontinue OpenSolaris and also announced a lawsuit against Google over their newly
acquired Java patents from Sun.
[edit]Justice Department Lawsuit
On July 29, 2010, the United States Department of Justice filed suit against Oracle Corporation alleging
fraud. The lawsuit argues that the government received deals inferior to those Oracle gave to its
commercial clients. The DoJ added its heft to an already existing whistleblower lawsuit filed by Paul
Frascella, who was once senior director of contract services at Oracle. [58]
On August 11, 2010, Phase Forward, a company that developed data management systems for the
pharmaceutical industry, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oracle Corporation. [59] Some analysts
believe this acquisition has a huge impact on the healthcare and life sciences software market. For
example Loraine Lawson writes that "health care isn't just another vertical. It's the vertical to watch, an
area where spending has stayed strong despite economic turmoil in other sectors. It's also primed for
growth in the United States, where it's the focus of major government reform efforts." [60][61]
On August 12, 2010, Oracle announced a lawsuit against Google concerning patent and copyright
infringement of Java in Google's development of Android. Oracle claims that "Google’s Android competes
with Oracle America’s Java" and that "Google has been aware of Sun’s patent portfolio ... since Google
hired certain former Sun Java engineers".[62][63] Oracle acquired the Java patents when it bought Sun
Microsystems in January 2010. Google had developed the Android platform using Java features and
concepts that are apparently not compatible with standard Java libraries. This may have been a violation
of conditions under which Sun granted OpenJDK patents to use open source Java.[64] As of August 2010,
the lawsuit is ongoing and may take several years to reach a conclusion. [65]
[edit]Discontinuation of OpenSolaris
On August 13, 2010, an internal Oracle memo leaked to the Internet cited plans for ending
the OpenSolaris operating system project and community.[66] Apparently Oracle now plans to
develop Solaris only in a closed source fashion.[citation needed] Some observers were not surprised by this
move, as Oracle had kept delaying the release of OpenSolaris 2010 (which was subsequently never
released).[citation needed] However a fork of OpenSolaris development now continues as a project
called Illumos, started by former OpenSolaris developer Garrett D'Amore. [citation needed]
[edit]Hurd replaces Phillips as President
On September 6, 2010, Oracle announced that former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd is
replacing Charles Phillips as Oracle Co-President. Apparently Phillips had wanted to leave Oracle since
December 2009. "Oracle is clearly capitalizing on this opportunity to get someone strong from a top
hardware company," said Forrester analyst James Staten. "In terms of how this helps Oracle against IBM,
there is reason to be optimistic."[67]
On September 7, 2010, HP announced a civil lawsuit against Hurd "to protect HP’s trade secrets". [68]
[edit]People
Larry Ellison: CEO since he co-founded the company in 1977, and Chairman from 1990 to 2004.
In 1997, Ellison became a director of Apple after Steve Jobs came back to that company.
Ellison resigned from the Apple board in 2002, saying that he did not have the time to attend
necessary formal board meetings.
On February 14, 2010, Ellison's yacht USA 17 won the second race (in the best of three
"deed of gift" series) of the 33rd America's Cup, after winning the first race two days earlier.
Securing a historic victory, Ellison and his BMW Oracle team became the first challengers to win
a "deed of gift" match. The Cup returned to American shores for the first time since 1995. Ellison
was a crew member for the second race.[69]
On August 4, 2010, Ellison announced that he intends to give away most of his wealth to
charity as part of Bill Gates' and Warren Buffett's "Giving Pledge" initiative. Ellison wrote: "Many
years ago, I put virtually all of my assets into a trust with the intent of giving away at least 95
percent of my wealth to charitable causes. I have already given hundreds of millions of dollars to
medical research and education, and I will give billions more over time. Until now, I have done
this giving quietly--because I have long believed that charitable giving is a personal and private
matter."[70]
On August 9, 2010, Ellison denounced Hewlett-Packard's board for firing CEO Mark
Hurd, writing: "The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on
the Apple board fired Steve Jobsmany years ago." One month later, Ellison hired Hurd as Co-
President of Oracle. Ellison and Hurd are close personal friends - Hurd often plays tennis at
Ellison's house.[71]
Bob Miner: Co-founder of the company and co-architect of Oracle Database. Led product design
and development for Oracle Database from 1977 to 1992. Spun off a technology group within Oracle
in 1992. Oracle board member until 1993.
Bruce Scott: One of the first employees (number 4) at Oracle (then Software
Development Laboratories), Scott served as the co-author and co-architect of Oracle V1, V2 and
V3.
He originated the sample schema "SCOTT" (containing tables like EMP and DEPT) with
the password defaulted to TIGER (named after his cat). [72]
Together with Umang Gupta in 1984, Scott co-founded and became VP Engineering
of Gupta Technologies, which later became Centura Software. Subsequently he founded
Inquiry.com, again in the role of VP Engineering, and PointBase, Inc., where he acted as
President and CEO. In 2005, he moved to SenSage, Inc. as VP Engineering, and in 2006
additionally joined the advisory board of Abrevity, Inc. In 2007, Scott became VP Engineering
at ParAccel, Inc.
Umang Gupta: Former Vice President and General Manager (joined in 1981). Wrote the first
business plan for the company. Current Chairman and CEO of Keynote Systems, Inc.
Jeff Henley: Current Chairman (since 2004). Previously CFO of Oracle (1991–2004).
Safra Catz: Co-President (since 2004). In 2009 she was ranked by Fortune as the 12th most
powerful woman in business.
On January 21, 2010, Phillips' ex-mistress YaVaughnie Wilkins posted billboards in New
York City, San Francisco and Atlanta, revealing their extramarital affair to the public. While the
billboards were taken down after a number of days, [73] the mainstream media had already run the
story. As a result, Phillips issued a statement on January 21 saying: "I had an 8½-year serious
relationship with YaVaughnie Wilkins. My divorce proceedings began in 2008. The relationship
with Ms. Wilkins has since ended and we both wish each other well." [73][74]
Before Oracle, Hurd was CEO, chairman and president of Hewlett-Packard. He was
responsible for turning HP into one of the world's largest and most profitable IT companies. He
accomplished this through large acquisitions and aggressive cost-cutting, including major
employee layoffs and pay cuts.
On August 6, 2010, Hurd resigned from all of his positions at HP, following discovery of
inappropriate conduct in an investigation into a claim of sexual harassment made by former
reality TV actress Jodie Fisher.[75]
On September 7, 2010, Hurd was sued by HP "to protect HP’s trade secrets".
Offices
Oracle Corporation has its world headquarters on the San Francisco Peninsula in the Redwood
Shores area of Redwood City, adjacent to Belmont, near San Carlos Airport (IATA airport code: SQL).
Oracle HQ stands on the former site of Marine World Africa USA, which moved from Redwood Shores
to Vallejo in 1986. Oracle Corporation originally leased two buildings on the site, moving its finance and
administration departments from the corporation's former headquarters on Davis Drive, Belmont,
California. Eventually, Oracle purchased the complex and constructed a further four main buildings.
The Oracle Parkway buildings featured prominently as the futuristic headquarters of the fictional company
"NorthAm Robotics" in the Robin Williams film Bicentennial Man (1999).
500 Oracle Parkway at the Oracle Corp. Oracle Aoyama Center Building, with Oracle HQ in Series
The Oracle Conference Center at the Oracle Fountain in the Oracle lake, Redwood Oracle Corporation have a major
Corp. headquarters in Redwood Shores, Shores business campus at Thames Valley Park
Oracle Corporation HQ
See also
San Francisco Bay Area portal
Companies portal
Oracle Applications
4. ^ Verberne, Balder (2008-08-07). "Software Top 100: Highlights".Software Top 100 website. Software Top
100 Foundation. Retrieved 2009-07-19. "The Top 10 saw little changes in 2008. [...] All companies in the
first 7 positions stayed in their seats. Microsoft leads the Software Top 100 as it has done for at least five
years in a row. The company extended its lead over IBM and Oracle. [...] Oracle –number 3- stayed on its
5. ^ NY Daily News: Oracle's Larry Ellison grabs top spot on best-paid list
6. ^ CEOWorld Magazine:University of Illinois drop out Lawrence J. Ellison of Oracle: highest paid Technology
CEO
8. ^ Codd, E.F. (1970). "A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks". Communications of the
9. ^ a b Niemiec, Richard (2003). Oracle9i Performance Tuning Tips & Techniques. New York: McGraw-
Vulnerability
customers
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17. ^ "Oracle Sues SAP". Oracle Corporation. Retrieved 2008-11-11. "On March 22, 2007, Oracle filed a lawsuit
in U.S. Federal District Court in the Northern District of California against SAP. Among the claims made
against SAP are violations of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and California Computer Data
Access and Fraud Act, Unfair Competition, Intentional and Negligent Interference with Prospective
18. ^ Oracle to Acquire BEA Systems Press release viaprnewswire.com Jan 16 2008
19. ^ Oracle Introduces The HP Oracle Database Machine: Delivering 10x Faster Performance Than Current
21. ^ "Oracle Buys Phase Forward". Taume News. 2010-04-18. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
23. ^ Eric Lai (2009-05-04). "Oracle aims at Microsoft with upgraded Beehive collaboration". Computerworld.
Retrieved 2009-05-15.
24. ^ "Oracle Collaboration Suite". Basex: TechWatch. Basex. 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-06. "We recently had
our first look at the new version of Beehive, Oracle’s collaboration solution and replacement for the Oracle
Collaboration Suite."
25. ^ Grancher, Eric (2009-05-15). "Oracle and storage IOs, explanations and experience at
CERN" (PDF). CERN-IT-Note-2009-005. Geneva: CERN. p. 4. Retrieved 2010-01-17. "The Oracle Exadata
storage server version 1 is a solution developed by Oracle and HP in which part of the processing, normally
26. ^ "Q Software: The JD Edwards Security People". Q Software Global Limited. 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
"Q Software is the first Oracle Certified Partner to provide security, risk management and compliance
29. ^ "Global Customer Support Security Practices" (PDF). Oracle Corporation. 2008-04-01. pp. 1. Retrieved
2008-08-25. "Your registration on MetaLink uses a unique Customer Support Identifier (CSI) linked to your
Support contract."
30. ^ "Global Customer Support Security Practices" (PDF). Oracle Corporation. 2008-04-01. pp. 1. Retrieved
2008-08-25. "GCS is a global operation, with Service Request (SR) management based on global
competencies"
31. ^ "Oracle Introduces Next-generation Customer Support Platform: My Oracle Support". Oracle Press
releases. California: Oracle Corporation. 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2008-09-25. "My Oracle Support integrates
Oracle's [...] support portal, Oracle MetaLink, with its [...] configuration management platform, Oracle
33. ^ Oracle cuts rewards for last-minute deals Gilbert, Alorie (2002-06-20). CNET News.com via zdnetasia.com
34. ^ Galante, Suzanne (June 9, 1997). "Informix drops Oracle lawsuit". CNet.
35. ^ The Real Story of Informix Software and Phil White Author: Steve W. Marting,
36. ^http://www.oracle.com/corporate/analyst/reports/infrastructure/dbms/idc-201692.pdf
37. ^ [2]
38. ^ Vonage places call for EnterpriseDB database Eric Lai, 20th Nov 2006, computerworld.com
39. ^ Karen Gullo and Connie Guglielmo (March 22, 2007). "Oracle Claims Rival SAP Stole Software and Data
40. ^ Pendse, Nigel (March 7, 2008). "Consolidations in the BI industry". The OLAP Report.
41. ^ "Oracle – the #1 Database for Deploying SAP Applications". Oracle Corporation. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
"Two thirds of SAP customers around the world, in every industry, choose to run their applications on Oracle
databases."
42. ^ Oracle Helping SAP Customers to get "OFF SAP" Oracle press release, 14th Jun 2005, oracle.com
44. ^ Gohring, Nancy; Elizabeth Montalbano. "Maintenance Contracts at Heart of Oracle, SAP Dispute". CIO
45. ^ The lawsuit As barometer: SAP finally scores big with TomorrowNow Joshua Greenbaum, 22nd Mar
2007,blogs.ZDNet.com
47. ^ Davidson, Mary Ann (February 2002). "Unbreakable: Oracle's Commitment to Security" (PDF). Redwood
Shores, California: Oracle Corporation. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-03-21. "Beginning in November 2001, Oracle
began a marketing campaign: Unbreakable. The security portions of the campaign reference Oracle’s 14
48. ^ "Executive Strategy Weekly Edition". Oracle Information inDepth Newsletters. Oracle Corporation. 2009-
01-07. Retrieved 2009-09-21. "In the first installment of the Oracle ClearView video series, host Richard
Levitt explains how Oracle Exadata—the combination of superfast HP hardware and supersmart Oracle
49. ^ Oracle Rethinks Its Dumpster-Diving Ways 29 April 2004, Lisa Vaas, eweek.com
50. ^ Swing Shift Column, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, California) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business
54. ^ Oracle list of major Security certifications Oracle list of major Security certifications
55. ^ Chicago Tribune: "Ashcroft breaks with tradition by lobbying, has earned $269,000"
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Times.
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08-15
66. ^ http://pastebin.com/YtuvZkUJ
70. ^ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20012631-56.html
71. ^ Vance, Ashlee (August 9, 2010). "Oracle Chief Faults H.P. Board for Forcing Hurd's Resignation". The
72. ^ Naudé, Frank. "So, who is Scott?". FAQ about Oracle Corporation. Oracle FAQ. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
"Bruce Scott was one of the first employees at [...] Software Development Laboratories [...] Bruce was co-
author and co-architect of Oracle V1, V2 and V3. The SCOTT schema (EMP and DEPT tables), with
password TIGER, was created by him. Tiger was the name of his cat."
73. ^ a b Kennedy, Helen (2010-01-22). "Billboard with Charles Phillips and mistress YaVaughnie Wilkins yanked
74. ^ May, Patrick (2010-01-22). "Oracle exec's dirty laundry hung up on Times Square". San Jose Mercury
77. ^ "Golden State Warriors, Oracle Reach Arena Naming Rights Agreement". October 20, 2006.
78. ^ Shankland, Stephen (February 16, 2010). "Ellison's team wins long-sought sailing trophy".