The overall Oracle Grid Index score for businesses across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific is 4.41, on a scale of 0 to 10. Analysis of underlying indices and comparison with the overall figure of 3.1 unveiled at the European launch in September 2004 indicate growing progress toward global adoption of Grid Computing. Europe showed considerable advancement, and Asia Pacific is well-placed to make rapid progress in adoption of this ground-breaking technology. However, the results showed that no one region enjoys an outright lead on the path to Grid Computing - indeed, the findings point to a finely balanced leadership race.

Many organizations understand Grid; fewer are taking action
While organizations are increasingly aware of Grid Computing and its benefits, the research suggests that most have yet to act on this understanding.

"Visionaries and early adopters of Grid Computing are already enjoying increased efficiencies in their core business systems, such as ERP, CRM and SCM," said Oracle President Charles Phillips. "The next stage is for this technology to enter the mainstream. Oracle's Grid Computing solution is well ahead of any other on the market in terms of its sheer practicality, and we are working with key partners to make it even more compelling. Oracle's sights are set on taking Grid Computing mainstream."

Europe makes progress - Nordics are world leaders in Grid adoption
While Europe demonstrated strong overall progress on the road to Grid Computing, knowledge of Grid Computing and its benefits has not translated proportionately into commitment and action. The European Knowledge Index increased from 2.74 to 5.81, and the Benefits Appreciation Index from 2.25 to 4.58 -- increases of over 100 percent. By comparison, the Commitment Index went from 1.75 to 2.70 and the ROI Index from 1.17 to 2.10 in the same period.

Other European specifics include:

Rapidly increasing interest in blade servers. The number of European respondents who consider blade servers to be an important technology has quadrupled in six months, from 8 percent to 33 percent.

"It's very pleasing to see the progress Europe is making on this important journey," said Sergio Giacoletto, executive vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Oracle. "It's particularly gratifying to note that Europe has a world leader in the adoption of Grid Computing, in the shape of the Nordic countries. However, enterprises also need to understand the wider implications of Grid Computing. Using Grid to respond to increasing global competition is essential if Europe is to improve its level of economic competitiveness. This is no time for complacency. Oracle's research indicates that standardization and consolidation - the essential building blocks for Grid Computing - are already widespread in the Asia Pacific market, which could provide that region with clear competitive advantage. Europe has the knowledge. Europe has the skill base. Add a Grid Computing infrastructure to the mix and Europe has the opportunity, too."

Global Knowledge Leaders are changing the perception of related technology
Oracle's research, independently conducted by Quocirca, a leader in Business and IT analysis, also carries useful information about technologies that are closely related to Grid Computing, such as Service Oriented Architecture and Blade Servers. Last September's Oracle Grid Index for Europe showed that organizations that understand Grid Computing tend to be thought leaders who drive their companies toward adoption. Today's research reveals a community of global knowledge leaders - about 10 percent of all those surveyed - who are leading the charge in enabling their organizations to achieve benefits from Grid Computing.

"At Quocirca, we have long seen a strong link between SOA and Grid Computing," added Clive Longbottom, Research Director, Quocirca. "Approaching major business problems in 'bite-sized chunks' is the fastest and most cost-effective way to implement IT systems that flexibly adapt to changing business needs. An SOA approach can deliver this most effectively. Furthermore, this technology enjoys a clear synergy with Grid Computing, which marshals 'bite-sized chunks' of computing power into an overall system. Our research, which underpins the latest Oracle Grid Index, confirms that those in the know understand and act upon this principle. These Knowledge Leaders are also moving towards a blade server architecture, gaining economies with the implementation of compute power across deployments of Grid Computing systems. Further proof of such benefits comes from the research: two thirds of those organizations that are most committed to Grid Computing are able simply to re-tune and re-balance their IT infrastructure to address system overloads. Others currently need to re-engineer, purchase new capacity or simply struggle through."

About Oracle
Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com.

###

Trademarks
Oracle, J.D. Edwards, and PeopleSoft are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Notes to Editors
Quocirca conducted 1356 interviews with senior IT influencers and decision makers, completed in March 2005. 300 of these were conducted in North America, 600 in Europe and the remainder (456) in Asia Pacific. Respondents were from a mixture of large multinationals and medium to large national organizations across a broad cross section of industry sectors.