OpenWorld 2013: Oracle’s Cup Surely Runneth Over

by Chris Preimesberger

Oracle never does anything in a modest way. This year’s OpenWorld conference took full advantage of the closure of Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets to connect both conference halls and provide huge HD television screens inside an open-air lounge under perfect fall weather for everybody. Attendees watched the America’s Cup races each day, and American spectators cheered when Oracle’s team won the Cup on Sept. 25 over New Zealand, nine races to eight.

CEO and co-founder Larry Ellison introduced the company’s most strategic new product, the M6-32 “Big Memory Machine,” on opening night, extolling its analytics virtues for a full-house audience.

Ellison told the crowd that no application changes need to be made for the M6-32 to become operational within a data center. The software is able to find all data nodes and go right to work. Oracle didn’t give specifics on when the new appliance will be ready for prime time or what it might cost.

Oracle Senior Vice President for Server Technologies Thomas Kurian pinch-hit for Ellison Sept. 25 to introduce a new option for customers to obtain 12c database functionality through a cloud service, the first such service ever offered by the company.

The Oracle OpenWorld 2013 show floor didn’t seem quite as populated or as busy as in previous years, but that might have been a result of so much nice weather and outdoor activity this time. In this curious exhibit, San Francisco-based enterprise software discovery provider iQuate operates an oxygen bar—an aroma therapy setup in which attendees sample various fragrances. iQuate audits complex software contracts and helps its customers manage and control these costs.

For four years, Menlo Park, Calif.-based Delphix has provided a valuable asset for Oracle’s databases: It virtualizes them, which enables DB admins to not have to take a working database out of production while fixes or updates are made to it. Changes are made to the virtualized copy, and then when the time is right, the virtualized version replaces the production version—with not a hiccup in the system. Delphix’s was a popular booth at this year’s OOW.

People may be accustomed to seeing portrait artists on the street corner, folks who will draw your likeness for a few dollars. The conventional artists, of course, all used some sort of paper. No so anymore, however, as artists using special styluses were quite busy drawing faces on iPads and other tablet PCs.

Oracle competitor SAP—which is in an escalating international battle for in-memory database market share with its HANA system—had a modest presence on the show floor, providing a quiet rest area and not even attempting to sell any of its products. This was akin to saying, “Hi, don’t forget about us!”

Noriyuki Toyoki, corporate senior vice president of longtime Oracle partner Fujitsu, discussed how his company and Oracle have teamed up to provide innovation in the data center for more than 25 years.

The America’s Cup, won the previous day by Oracle’s sailing team a few miles away on San Francisco Bay, joined captain Jimmy Spithill and a few team members on stage Sept. 26 in celebration of the international sailing championship. Trailing 8 to 1 a week ago, Oracle sailed away from Emirates Team New Zealand by 44 seconds to retain the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in international sports, in a winner-take-all finale. Later in the day, Ellison announced that the next America’s Cup will be held in San Francisco in 2016.