infoTECH Feature

March 20, 2012

Oracle Continues to Smooth Out the Wrinkles in its Cloud Prospects

It’s unclear as to whether Oracle’s (News - Alert) acquisition strategy will work as well in the cloud as it did for on-premise enterprise applications. Oracle is known for its enterprise applications, such as its SQL Database, software and the company has had much success with its other proprietary software. But as Oracle moves to the cloud, questions have been raised.

Many analysts feel that the company needs to outline its course of action better. In a recent Piper Jaffray research survey, analyst Mark Murphy noted that 47 percent of Oracle partners thought the company’s cloud computing strategy hasn’t gained adequate traction. Another 38 percent said the company’s adoption of cloud processes and its success was limited. The problem seems to be that Oracle is seen as being behind with its cloud strategy and the company is trailing its competitors who have had more success.

However, there are some who feel Oracle’s Cloud Computing is gaining traction as clients are struggling to secure and retain IT talent with the necessary skill sets to manage these environments. As the technologies for implementing cloud platforms continue to mature, Oracle is trying to stay relevant with both software and hardware solutions. The range of skills as well as related cloud knowledge requires a level of technical expertise that spans several areas. For example, while sensitive data in the cloud requires extra scrutiny, it’s also increasingly clear that Oracle has the potential to offer viable solutions that meet this level of scrutiny.

One solution is the company’s push for its Fusion applications, which will be a major focus in 2012 and beyond. Most customers associate Cloud Computing with a SaaS (News - Alert) model. From an applications perspective, Oracle makes it clear that Siebel is available as SaaS. However most are not aware that other applications can be available in a SaaS solution as well, albeit sometimes through business partners. These partners, however, appear to be confused about Fusion applications and the cloud strategy behind them. The types of situations where aspects of the company seem to be functioning at cross purposes make Oracle’s cloud prospects complicated.

However, according to Piper Jaffray’s survey, Oracle is likely to deliver an inline quarter. Forty-nine percent of Oracle partners say they were above plan for the February quarter with 29 percent at plan. In addition, 56 percent of partners are seeing a better pace of Oracle business. That outlook may mean Oracle’s quarter is on target.





Edited by Jennifer Russell
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