As Published In February 2007

Committing to Our Customers
By John Wookey

Understanding Oracle's Unique Apps Strategy

Have you ever noticed that when someone does something new, it can be hard for people to understand it or believe it can be achieved? I've been thinking about this quite a bit in light of Oracle's applications strategy. Our Applications Unlimited commitment to keep improving the capabilities of our existing applications—even as we simultaneously develop and offer a next-generation suite of applications—is unique in the industry. So it's vital that we explain why this strategy is so important to our customers and how we are uniquely positioned to execute it.

Applications architecture is in a continual state of evolution, and there is usually a significant shift every five to seven years. We've seen technology move from file-based systems to databases and from 3GL and 4GL to object-oriented programming. More recently we've witnessed the advent of client/server technology and the evolution of internet-based applications.

Shifts in technology impact both vendors and customers. Vendors need to decide how they will transition their products to the new technology, and customers need to balance the benefits of implementing new technology with the cost of moving to it. Historically, customers have a limited window of opportunity to decide when or how they will adopt new technologies because vendors do not provide a choice for moving to it. When vendors decide to adopt a new technology, they typically stop offering products on prior technologies. This puts customers in the position of deciding whether to move to the new technology—regardless of how ready they are to make the transition—or sacrifice innovation (functional or technical) to stay on the known technology.

We think the right way for our customers to move from a current generation of technology to the next generation is based on a careful evaluation of the business value inherent in the shift. This brings us back to our strategy. We are going to continue to enhance our products in the Oracle, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, and Siebel lines while we simultaneously deliver a next-generation product to the marketplace.

Today our customers are very successfully running their businesses on products that we've delivered from Oracle, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, and Siebel. They want to get continued value from these products, which means we need to do more than just fix their bugs. We will continue to advance the functionality in these applications in a way that helps their business maintain competitive advantage. Our new general manager model brings focus by putting people who are passionate about these products in charge of advancing their market leadership. People like Doris Wong from PeopleSoft and Ed Abbo from Siebel have a long history with the products they manage, and they care deeply about both their products and their customers. Their leadership will ensure that the future of these apps is indeed unlimited.

We are committed to delivering for customers on current products, while also providing long-term business protection by delivering an industry-leading next-generation product. This strategy is compelling to Oracle because it means that we'll enter the next era of applications technology with a large group of very successful customers who will trust us to take them through this transition. For our customers, this strategy ensures that business strategy drives technology—not the other way around. Additionally, it underscores one of the biggest benefits of being an Oracle customer: access to industry-leading innovation.

When a company takes a different path, people may have trouble understanding it and competitors can create FUD around it. Putting passion and investment behind extending the current software and simultaneously evolving the next generation isn't the way applications companies usually do business. But it should be.