Highlights and lowlights from this year's show: Cloud talk eclipsed by real-life rain, too many #oow09 tweets, not enough specifics about Fusion or Java plans, and an action-packed visit by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Impressions from Oracle's annual get-together: Ellison disses IBM; Where are Fusion Apps?; Charles and Safra on Red Stack integration.
Oracle's annual gathering will have some foxes in the hen house and many recession-weary customers. Can Larry Ellison possibly top his recent rant on cloud computing? Will there be more answers than questions on the Fusion Apps Suite?
Rimini Street fired the latest salvo in the ongoing war over software maintenance this week, announcing that it has expanded the number of SAP applications it supports.
Oracle has launched a high-end database and storage system that it co-developed with Sun Microsystems, the companies' first joint product since announcing their plans to merge almost five months ago.
Despite its recent acquisition of second-tier virtualization software developer Virtual Iron, Oracle has yet to move into the century of the virtual server when it comes to the nitty gritty of supporting and licensing Oracle software running on virtual servers, analysts say.
Oracle argues that its purchase of Sun will lead to better integrated and more efficient data centre appliances -- with all the user-friendliness of Apple iPhones. But analysts are not so sure.
Oracle plans to stay in the hardware business following its planned US$7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems, CEO Larry Ellison has said, adding more detail to earlier statements made by the company.