I just stepped out of Larry Ellison’s keynote speech at OpenWorld to let you in on the latest news. Oracle has teamed up with Hewlett-Packard to jointly develop the HP Oracle Database Machine. The new device marks the first time that Oracle has ever sold a hardware device.
The HP Oracle Database Machine combines a super-fast storage array with database servers (all based on Intel processors) in a single rack. What distinguishes the DB Machine is the intelligence that Oracle puts into the storage servers. Unlike other storage servers, Oracle’s servers can return query results to the database servers instead of entire data blocks. This increases query performance by 10 to 100 times compared to conventional storage arrays.
That said, there are some limits to what you can do with Oracle’s new toy. Most importantly, you can only run Oracle Database on the device. You also have to use Oracle Enterprise Linux for now, though other operating systems will be supported in the near future.
While the HP Oracle Database Machine will undoubtedly gain a lot of positive attention, it could also put a strain on Oracle’s relationships with other server and storage vendors such as IBM, EMC, and Teradata. It will be interesting to see how these and other vendors respond to Oracle’s entry into the hardware business over the coming days.
Word here at OpenWorld has it that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is going to make an announcement today that could be a “game changer” in what the software giant sells. Even if you’re not here at the conference, you can hear it from Ellison’s mouth right along with the rest of us. Just click over to the Keynotes section of the OpenWorld web site, click on the “Live Keynote” link under Larry’s picture, and join us. Just be sure that you have Flash Player 9 installed beforehand. The broadcast will begin around 2:30PM Pacific coast time today; it is likely that Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd will speak before Ellison.
One more thing…if you read this after Ellison’s speech, you will still probably be able to watch the broadcast, as Oracle usually keeps the speeches posted on the OpenWorld site for many weeks afterwards.
I’m writing from the floor of Oracle OpenWorld and as you can imagine, the news is flying fast and furious here. Since I only have a few minutes before I dash off to my next meeting, here are the hottest stories I wanted to share with you.
- Earlier this afternoon, Oracle Group VP Lenley Hensarling announced to a packed session that EnterpriseOne 9.0 and EnterpriseOne Tools 8.98 are generally available this month. EnterpriseOne 9.0 features a new module for Project and Government Contracting, while Tools 8.98 offers features such as Oracle Enterprise Linux support.
- At the same session, World General Manager John Schiff announced the availability of an integration between World A9.1 and Demantra Demand Management. In addition, User Productivity Kits for 15 World A9.1 modules are also being shipped.
- During the morning keynote sessions, Oracle’s top brass unveiled Oracle Beehive, a unified collaboration and communications platform that works with (but also competes with) Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino/Notes.
Of course, we’ll be offering further coverage on these and other hot OpenWorld topics in future posts, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, I gotta run!
If you’re going to OpenWorld, I have some advice for you. Actually, I have several pieces of advice. As someone who has crawled through the innards of this massive event for the last four years, I know a thing or two about how the beast operates. So here are my tips for getting the most from your OpenWorld experience.
Tip #1: Stay close to the hotel where most of the JD Edwards sessions take place. Every year, the JD Edwards team books out one of the hotels near the Moscone Convention Center for its sessions. Last year, the gang from Denver used the San Francisco Hilton, which is a painfully long walk from “the Moscone”, as we Bay Area residents call it. This year, it’s at the Intercontinental Hotel, a brand new destination just one block away on Howard Street. (Could this be a sign that JD Edwards is a rising star in Oracle’s sky?) If you want to trade ideas with fellow JD Edwards customers and the Denver team, plan events that keep you in or around the Intercontinental. Once you leave the area, you will find it harder to meet conference goers with common interests.
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It has been a slow month for news coming out of Oracle. That’s typical in the days leading up to OpenWorld, as the software giant starts stockpiling announcements that it can unleash on conference goers. Still, some interesting tidbits have leaked out of the company in recent weeks. Here is a quick rundown on what we have been following.
Hot Papers on the Next EnterpriseOne Releases
Earlier this week, Oracle quietly posted two papers about JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 9.0 and EnterpriseOne Tools 8.98 on its Customer Connection web site. The documents, known as Release Value Propositions, provide detailed information about the enhancements in these unannounced releases. If your organization intends to evaluate either release, these documents are excellent starting points for your review. Just click on the above link, enter your Customer Connection login/password, and look for the two documents at the top of the page.
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Among the technology projects that companies are pursuing today, one of the most risky, expensive, and failure-prone among them is building a data warehouse. While data warehouses can deliver enormous benefits, creating and maintaining one on your own is fraught with difficulties that can easily undermine your efforts. In this article, I will explain why this is the case. I will also offer a way to implement a data warehouse that can deliver greater benefits than a homegrown warehouse with considerably less risk.
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