The lab at the Oracle Research & Development Center operates in close partnership with China-based technology provider and Oracle PartnerNetwork program member, Legend Group Limited. A team of engineers from Legend and Oracle China will carry out development activities at the lab, with the primary focus on tight integration of Oracle9i Real Application Clusters with Legend server technology to create a more scalable, manageable, reliable and cost-effective clustered database platform for e-businesses. Oracle and Legend will also look at new joint engineering opportunities, training for sales and technical staff as well as building market awareness for clustered solutions to drive market adoption in China.

This initiative is expected to deliver value to customers in China by enabling them to make more efficient use of critical information technology (IT) resources by speeding up deployment of cutting-edge technology, enhancing systems performance and meeting the scalability demands of e-businesses, while at the same time dramatically helping to reduce the cost and risk of implementing clustered solutions.

Kevin Walsh, vice president, Platform Technologies Division, Oracle Corporation, said, "Oracle's goal is to bring the most advanced clustering technology to our customers in China. Companies in China are looking for ways to save costs and reduce inefficiencies and Oracle9i Real Application Clusters is an excellent option for customers because they can start small and add more capacity as their business grows. Our partnership with Legend, which is widely recognized as a technology leader in China, will help us ensure that businesses of all sizes can reap the benefits of capacity on demand and efficiently respond to the fluctuating workloads in an e-business environment."

Ouyang Xiangyu, assistant vice president of Legend Group Limited, said, "Legend is co-operating with Oracle - the leader in global e-business solutions and information technology - in the Oracle Research & Development Center. By combining Legend's local expertise and position as the largest IT product provider in China with Oracle's leading technology and global presence, Legend will enhance its capability to develop advanced technology and solutions as well as provide better support and service that meet the needs of users in China. I believe this is a "win-win" partnership that will boost China's IT development standards and infrastructure."

Inauguration of the Oracle Research & Development Center in Shenzhen
Today's opening of the Oracle Research & Development Center, which is located in the Shenzhen Hi-Tech Industrial Park, marks another milestone in Oracle's plan to accelerate investment in China to help local businesses achieve growth and return-on-investment through the use of software solutions and services that cater to their unique needs.

Shenzhen vice mayor Liu Yinli, who was present at the inaugural opening of the brand new Oracle development facility, said, "For post-WTO China to be competitive, each company and industry must be highly efficient and innovative. We are pleased to witness the establishment of Oracle Research & Development Center as a part of the Shenzhen Hi-Tech Industrial Park family. We hope Shenzhen-based enterprises can take the advantage of these locally available world-class management tools and collaborative research capacity to sharpen their competitive edge."

Having operated in China for more than ten years, Oracle has built a strong customer base including such well-known Chinese enterprises as AsiaInfo, Beijing Da Tang Power Generation, China Banknote Printing & Minting Corporation, China Southern Airlines, Chengde Iron and Steel Company, GuangZhou Metro Corporation, HangZhou Motorola, Shanghai Hitachi and Xiang Tan Steel Corp.

About Oracle9i Real Application Clusters
Oracle9i Real Application Clusters is Oracle's next-generation cluster technology, and is the result of more than ten years of development. Based on Oracle's CacheFusion architecture, Oracle9i Real Application Clusters delivers near-linear scalability and unbreakable reliability for all applications. It also provides transparent application scalability by quickly and efficiently sharing frequently accessed data across all the computers in the cluster.

About Oracle
Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, visit our Web site at .

Trademarks
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. The Oracle Research & Development Center has been registered as Oracle Research & Development Center (Shenzhen) Co Ltd.