Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Database
    • Development

    Oracles Phillips Vows Lifetime Support in OpenWorld Keynote

    By
    Lisa Vaas
    -
    September 19, 2005
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      SAN FRANCISCO—Far into the future—or even into the misty reaches of forever—as long as one PeopleSoft customer wheezes over his beloved human resources application, and as long as one J.D. Edwards loyalist frets over a newly discovered flaw, Oracle will be there, President Charles Phillips announced during his opening keynote for Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco on Monday.

      The promise is encapsulated in what Oracle Corp. is calling its lifetime support program for all new and existing applications, including the myriad technologies acquired over the past 10 months: PeopleSoft Inc./J.D. Edwards, TimesTen Inc., Retek Inc., i-flex Solutions and, most recently, Siebel Systems Inc.

      “As long as someone is using one of our applications, there will be some level of support,” Phillips told a packed room that represented a good chunk of the 35,000 showgoers that have bulked up the city this week.

      Phillips gave no details as to what “some level of support” means. But he had on Sunday alluded to a gradual backing-off from product innovation during an address to the Oracle Applications Users Group.

      During that talk, Phillips said that after some five years, its likely that only critical product flaws will be addressed.

      In a question and answer session with the press following his keynote, Phillips told reporters that over time Oracle will figure out what applications need to retain their usefulness, just as it now does for continued support of products vis-à-vis issues including security and tax updates.

      But customers shouldnt expect a lot of change—particularly since they dont particularly want a lot of change, he said. “They dont want to update a lot,” he said. “Thats why theyre going to lifetime support.”

      During the Q&A session, Phillips said that the lifetime support program would be available on an annually renewable basis, although pricing details havent been ironed out yet.

      /zimages/2/28571.gifOracle pledges support for WebSphere but says DB2 support is under review. Click here to read more.

      In his keynote, Phillips said that the lifetime support program came out of feedback produced since the PeopleSoft acquisition 10 months ago.

      Oracle has since talked to over 4,000 customers, surveying them monthly.

      According to Oracle surveys, customer support experience has actually improved for both PeopleSoft and other Oracle customers post-merger.

      “Theyve been pleasantly surprised,” Phillips said. “Theyve learned that Oracle cares about customers.”

      Addressing customer concerns about product viability is, of course, crucial for Oracle, which faced a mountain of suspicion that it was purchasing PeopleSoft mostly to put its rival out of business.

      Phillips also announced a program to integrate support for ISVs.

      /zimages/2/28571.gifClick here to read eWEEK.coms preview of Oracle OpenWorld.

      The One Stop Support for ISVs program will be rolled out for select ISVs as a way to improve multivendor support and provide faster problem resolution.

      It will build on Oracles existing Services for ISVs program and will aim to eliminate missed hand-offs between Oracle and other ISVs as it tries to help customers figure out problems in their complex, multivendor environments.

      Next Page: Phillips outlines Project Fusion

      Phillips Outlines Project Fusion

      Project Fusion was another key theme of Phillips keynote.

      Fusion is a massive middleware undertaking in which Oracle is tying together its many technology acquisitions.

      Oracle envisions Fusion as the next step in an evolution that started with monolithic applications into which presentation logic, business logic and information stores were all wedged.

      From those monoliths technology went to client/server, which parsed presentation to a client and divided business logic between client and server.

      Then came the Internet with three-tier applications: presentation, application layer and databases.

      The next step in the evolution to modular components is Fusion, which relies on SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) based applications.

      At the base of the Fusion stack lies Oracles version of the database grid, where many computers function as one through Real Application Clusters.

      Oracle has been hyping this database bedrock since it rolled out its 10g architecture some two years ago, promising that grid would eliminate single points of failure, enable pay-as-you-go computing, provide load balancing, entail no application changes and ensure centralized management.

      The next layer above grid in the Fusion architecture, Phillips said, are the applications themselves, including those from Oracle, customized applications and applications from ISVs—essentially, any applications enterprises want to service-enable, Phillips said.

      /zimages/2/28571.gifOn security, will Oracle follow in Microsofts footsteps? Click here to read more.

      On top of the application layer is the Fusion service registry, where application services are published.

      On top of that is the Fusion service bus: the highway for message routing and transformation.

      Over that is the business level, where services can be orchestrated into different applications and where business processes can be discovered or changed.

      This SOA-based componentization will enable far greater visibility into what, exactly, applications are up to, Phillips said.

      “Applications in the past have been rough models of what actual business process was,” he said. “You couldnt see it all. Now you can see it all. We generate BPEL language with Oracle a native BPEL engine so you can improve [services].”

      The next layer up is the business benefit layer, or what Oracle is calling the Fusion effect. It includes BI (Business Intelligence) and activity monitoring and will provide real-time analytics and transactions with context.

      Finally, on top of everything is the unified portal.

      At this point, Fusion Middleware, which Oracle promises is hot-pluggable, is being used by some 26,600 customers, Phillips said.

      /zimages/2/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest database news, reviews and analysis.

      Lisa Vaas
      Lisa Vaas is News Editor/Operations for eWEEK.com and also serves as editor of the Database topic center. Since 1995, she has also been a Webcast news show anchorperson and a reporter covering the IT industry. She has focused on customer relationship management technology, IT salaries and careers, effects of the H1-B visa on the technology workforce, wireless technology, security, and, most recently, databases and the technologies that touch upon them. Her articles have appeared in eWEEK's print edition, on eWEEK.com, and in the startup IT magazine PC Connection. Prior to becoming a journalist, Vaas experienced an array of eye-opening careers, including driving a cab in Boston, photographing cranky babies in shopping malls, selling cameras, typography and computer training. She stopped a hair short of finishing an M.A. in English at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She earned a B.S. in Communications from Emerson College. She runs two open-mic reading series in Boston and currently keeps bees in her home in Mashpee, Mass.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×