
The Closed World of Oracle Open World
Insofar as I characterized Oracle Open World as a communications disaster in my last blog post, I think it’s fair to explain why I feel this way and what it means for Oracle and the market. Oracle Open World is singularly the worst customer event I attend every year, a forced march so large and […]

The Customer Comes Second…..Oracle’s Software Stack Engineered for Investors
I spent much of last week sorting through the absolutely overwhelming communications disaster called Oracle Open World in search of some clarity on Oracle’s vision for its customers, and have come to the following conclusion: Oracle’s applications customer strategy just isn’t about making things better for its customers. The problem with the Oracle of today […]

Oracle OpenWorld 2011: 10110101010…No, Really
Oracle, Oracle, Oracle. WHAT am I going to DO with you? On the one hand, you have certain parts of you that are very, very good. Word is (from a colleague or two who spends time talking to your customers) that your customers are generally content with you, though not ecstatic. All in all, you […]

CEO battle: Oracle and Salesforce leaders play chess
The battle between Marc Benioff and Larry Ellison takes a surprising and interesting turn.

Oracle OpenWorld Dispatch 1: Overload, Openness, Fragmentation, Glimpses of Some Solid Applications
I spent two completely scheduled days at Oracle OpenWorld this week (apologies to everyone else I know in the area who I did not have a chance to visit, but I can’t recall packing so many things into 48 hours before). Even though I’ll …

Oracle Fusion gets its due
by Oracle_Photos_Screenshots Larry Ellison could have been somber – if he knew of his friend Steve Jobs dying he did not let on. He could have been pissy about the Marc Benioff incident in the morning. He could have been lethargic – the Infosys session that preceded his put the lady sitting next to me […]

Oracle Buries the Lead
by Oracle_Photos_Screenshots At his second and final keynote address to the 2011 Oracle OpenWorld user meeting, Larry Ellison finally gave the rabid software oriented audience something to savor. Throughout the week the Oracle CEO and his minions had spent large amounts of time telling us about hardware or some other aspect of the business leaving […]

Open World Day 1 #OOW11
Oracle is a big company and that point gets driven home when you start to go in-depth on their products. At a show like OpenWorld which is dedicated more or less to touching on every aspect of the business, you can quickly get out of your depth. Since the opening keynote on Sunday the talk […]
The Cloud Must Go On. Watch the Banned Benioff Keynote Live.
The best thing that may have happened to Salesforce.com at Oracle Open World is getting CEO Marc Benioff’s keynote cancelled. Oracle and Larry Ellison are now officially the Bad Guys (opinions are split on whether Larry is the Emperor, Darth Vader or God), @Benioff is the oppressed Folk Hero, Salesforce.com got thei $1M keynote […]

Larry and Marc Round 2 or Is It Round 3? #OOW11
Ahh, what a difference a good night’s sleep makes. The Greeks are still threatening default on their bonds, the economy is still in the loo, the major stock indices are teetering on a bear market precipice and Marc Benioff is still going to speak at Oracle OpenWorld or at least next door. But there is […]