Vijay Tatkar's Blog

Oracle and Cloud Computing: bluster v offerings

We all know and have read that Oracle and particularly Larry and the Cloud Computing hype have been somewhat at odds.  Some examples:

• Larry dismissing it as the latest fashion in an industry more fashion-driven than women's fashion.
• Redefining cloud computing to including everything that we (Oracle) already do. 
• Dismissing  it as vapor  during a recent Churchill Club appearance.

Undoubtedly there are several other assertions to this effect. Granted, Larry doesnt seem to like the term. And many of Cloud Computing's avid followers do admit that he has a point. Yes, googling for Ellison+Cloud+Computing yields millions of hits.

Does this mean Oracle refuses to do Cloud Computing? Not at all. Follow the money trail instead. Google for Oracle+Cloud+Computing and you can see a very different picture. I was impressed by the prominent presence of On-Demand versions of all Oracle products at the OOW DEMOgrounds. Virtually, all products (at least ones I know about) had On-Demand versions on display. And talking to various product managers reinforced this feeling. Oracle may be influenced by Larry's disdain for the Cloud Hype and Hyperbole, but it is run by how much money is on the table. As it should be. And in this regard, it has plenty to offer. Consider these broad references:

• Oracle Cloud Computing Center and FAQ and wiki
• Architectural Strategies for Cloud Computing (PDF preso)
• Oracle's partnership with Amazon and presence on EC2

Oracle had a preso at the recently concluded Oracle OpenWorld where the presenters outlined Oracle's On-Demand portfolio, "including Oracle's cloud, software as a service (SaaS), and on-demand vision to outline how customers can use unparalleled flexibility to their advantage in the purchase, deployment, support, hosting, and managing of their Oracle solutions" (words from their abstract). It makes for an interesting reading (requires membership or fees to access). Moreover, Salesforce.com had a HUGE and prominent presence in Moscone West.

My conclusion: forget the hype and the bluster surrounding Larry and Cloud computing. Focus on where Oracle is delivering products, datacenter services and a very flexible set of offerings. My guess from reading Oracle's 10K is that it makes a ton of money (in the hundreds of millions of dollars) on it and expects this trend to grow. So, expect more from Oracle, not less, in this regard. The company knows there is plenty of money to be made by showing leadership in this domain and it isnt going to ignore such a juicy opportunity.

Posted by tatkar ( Oct 23 2009, 02:08:43 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Cloud Computing peaks in Gartner Hype Cycle Study
Gartner's 2009 Hype Cycle is shown here. Some interesting trends among the 1600+ technologies they examined:
Cloud computing and Ebooks lead the pack among "Technologies at the Peak of Inflated Expectations"
Social software and Microblogging (Twitter, ...) have tipped over and are entering the trough of disillusionment
RFID and 3-D printing are on a track for being longer-term transformational technologies
Gartner Hype Cycle is explained here in greater detail.
If you dont want to buy the book, a simpler explanation is found in Wikipedia here.

Posted by tatkar ( Oct 22 2009, 05:05:28 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]