More and more organisations worldwide are advancing towards grid adoption, but Europe must be careful it doesn't fall behind. That is the conclusion of Oracle's latest Grid Index report, based on 1,466 interviews with senior IT influencers and decision makers worldwide.

Sergio Giacoletto, executive vice president EMEA Oracle, said: "I am pleased to announce that the results from the latest research indicate that Europe continues to make progress on the grid journey. However, the results contain a warning for European organisations - this region is growing the slowest. North America is streaking ahead and the USA has now caught up with the Nordic countries, who held the lead alone in the last survey. I believe that European organisations should be concerned that the research underlines the increasing risk of Europe falling even further behind the rest of the world in key areas of technology exploitation."

He added: "Grid Computing will change the way that organisations use technology. The Oracle Grid Index research underlines that companies are already focusing first on implementing Enterprise Grids within their own organisations. But I believe that in these times of increasing globalisation, European boards need to change their attitudes to information technology in order to keep pace with the rest of the world. Europe cannot afford to fall behind in its use of technology."

The global Grid Index now stands at 5.2 out of 10 in the September 2005 report, up from 4.4 in April 2005. On a global level, the overall Grid Index number shows steady progress on the journey to grid computing. It indicates an early market, where awareness, knowledge and interest are widespread. IT communities continue to become increasingly interested in and aware of the technologies. The Foundation Readiness Index of 6.7 shows that most organisations have a significant degree of standardisation and consolidation in their IT infrastructures, putting them in a strong position to progress.

North America (with an Overall Grid Index of 5.80) has made significant progress in the period and can be seen accelerating away from Europe (5.10) and Asia Pacific (4.90). Europe's move to implement grid technologies is gathering pace and Asia Pacific is trailing the other two regions.

The Adoption Lifecycle Index, derived from intentions and plans for virtualisation and grid, as well as actual investment and implementation activity, shows positive developments, particularly in the North American markets which registered an increase of 43 percent from 2.7 to 3.9. Europe is moving more slowly but making steady advances with a 32 percent increase in adoption between April and September 2005. Asia Pacific lags considerably at 2.0, but shows an increase of 28 percent in the same period.

All European indices increased between April and September 2005, but the Knowledge and Interest Index grew more slowly than the Adoption Lifecycle Index, by just 15 percent. To stimulate foundation level activity, Europe needs to build on its education and interest in virtualisation and grid technologies.

The Nordic region leads Europe in adoption of grid technology with an Adoption Lifecycle Index of 4.1. The Nordics are in second place globally behind the USA's score of 4.3. Germany is in third place with 3.7, followed closely by the UK on 3.6. Italy finishes last in Europe with a score of 2.2.

By industry sector, utilities are early adopters with an Adoption Lifecycle Index of 4.3, followed by science/research (3.5), telecoms (3.5), financial services (3.4) and industrial (3.4). Retail (2.5) and travel/transport (2.3) scored lowest.

The full 14 page Oracle Grid Index Report November 2005 includes all the Grid Index results and a case study of European publisher Trader Media, which found an Oracle Grid Computing environment would be five times more cost effective than a mainframe and that it would generate a return on investment of 170 percent.