Oracle To Give Sneak Peek Of DatabaseOracle To Give Sneak Peek Of Database

Oracle will give a sneak peek of the next release of its flagship database at its Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco next month. The preview of Oracle9i Release 2 comes as the vendor wrestles with slowing database software sales and increasing competition from IBM and Microsoft.

Oracle is building workflow and event management capabilities into its database, according to Roger Bamford, principal architect, Oracle database architecture. While such functions are usually built into higher-level applications and application server software, Bamford says Oracle's ongoing strategy is to move such functionality into the database. For example, Oracle9i, which began shipping in July, includes online analytical processing and data-mining technology that Oracle previously offered only as separate products.

Oracle is developing software to extend the high-availability capabilities provided by its Real Application Clusters software to enterprise applications, Bamford says. RAC is the clustering technology Oracle debuted with Oracle9i. Oracle is also developing software that will make it easier to manage clustered systems. Company executives are expected to discuss these projects at the conference during the week of Dec. 3. But Bamford would not say whether any of these features, including workflow and event management, would be part of the Oracle9i Release 2 announcement.

There are indications that Oracle9i has been slow to take off. Not surprising, perhaps, given that it began shipping just as the economy skidded into a deep slump. For its quarter ended Aug. 31, Oracle reported that new database license revenue was down 8% from the same period a year ago while combined revenue from new database licenses and license updates was down 2%.

During a presentation at the Gartner Symposium last month, analyst Betsy Burton asked attendees to raise their hand if they had upgraded to Oracle9i. "Only one out of about 400 had it installed and in production," she says. Burton also says RAC has been slow to catch on and predicts that only 10% of Oracle's customer base will be using the clustering software by 2006. An Oracle spokesman says the company is satisfied with Oracle9i and RAC sales, but would not disclose sales numbers.

Nevertheless, companies are planning on moving to Oracle9i at some point. Rexall Sundown Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., has tentative plans to uprade around the end of next year's first quarter. Alan Gloyne, VO of IT, says the Multi-vitamin maker is considering using RAC for disaster recovery. "We see some major benefits there," he says.