Monday, January 23, 2006
Is Oracle's Fusion Coming Together?
Is Oracle's Fusion Coming Together?: "By Sarah Lacy"
A year ago, executives from software giant Oracle (ORCL ) stood before customers, analysts, and the press to announce Project Fusion. That's the name they gave an ambitious plan aimed at stitching together Oracle's own applications with software acquired in a $19 billion spending spree on companies including PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards (see BW Online, 1/19/05, "Oracle Lays Out Its Game Plan"). After a year of being pretty mum on details, Oracle marked the anniversary on Jan. 18 with a two-hour presentation, followed by a cocktail reception at San Francisco's City Hall. In many ways, it was characteristic of most Oracle events. There was a red carpet with the Oracle logo draped over the City Hall steps. Along walls hung banners emblazoned with effusive praise from customers about how Oracle's technology would take them into the future. And no one knew until the last minute whether Oracle's unpredictable chief executive, Larry Ellison, would show. At the very end, Oracle President Charles Phillips announced that Ellison had the flu and couldn't make it after all -- despite promises by staff just two hours earlier that he'd be there.
A year ago, executives from software giant Oracle (ORCL ) stood before customers, analysts, and the press to announce Project Fusion. That's the name they gave an ambitious plan aimed at stitching together Oracle's own applications with software acquired in a $19 billion spending spree on companies including PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards (see BW Online, 1/19/05, "Oracle Lays Out Its Game Plan"). After a year of being pretty mum on details, Oracle marked the anniversary on Jan. 18 with a two-hour presentation, followed by a cocktail reception at San Francisco's City Hall. In many ways, it was characteristic of most Oracle events. There was a red carpet with the Oracle logo draped over the City Hall steps. Along walls hung banners emblazoned with effusive praise from customers about how Oracle's technology would take them into the future. And no one knew until the last minute whether Oracle's unpredictable chief executive, Larry Ellison, would show. At the very end, Oracle President Charles Phillips announced that Ellison had the flu and couldn't make it after all -- despite promises by staff just two hours earlier that he'd be there.
