Success….Oracle and Sun a Reality

The story of the day has to be the information that the Oracle Sun deal may finally be coming to a close.

So what are the sign? The first was this morning when ComputerWorld that the European Union has cleared the deal that will allow Oracle and Sun to complete the deal and get on with business. The other was an invitation to be at Oracle HQ in Redwood Shores next week when we will get an update on the “progress” of the deal.

I feel that I have a vested interest in this deal finally being completed as it was envisioned as I had the great privilege to speak on the Oracle user’s behalf at the EU Competition Commission as part of the Oracle team. Being in the room on that day, I had been convinced that this was right decision and that the vision was nearly unanimous that this a good deal to go ahead with. It is an industry that loves to go their own way and competition will continue and open source will continue to be open.

I am so happy for Safra Catz who lead the Oracle team through this journey. I have the chance to see her leadership and now have a better appreciation for the tough job she has and how successfully she does it. I have to thank Oracle for allowing me to strike off one more thing on my list of “1000 Things To Do Before You Die”. I still have some Belgium Chocolate left….maybe I should bring it next week. Might be good for the celebration.

So it looks like everything is finally a go. You should expect to see more about it next week as I will be blogging from Oracle HQ. As well COLLABORATE 10 will have sessions on MySQL. It’s a good time to be part of the Oracle community.

Another Day Closer to Brussels

Friday and another day closer to me going to Brussels to speak at the EU. In a way it seems a little surreal at this point in time.I continue to work on my presentation to get ready for next week and still have to do my day job to do and boy are things getting busy these days at Thoughtcorp as we build momentum in the Enterprise Data Group during this time of a BI explosion. Always good to be busy.

My logistics are done and I am looking forward to seeing Brussels if only for a short time. I’ve been to Belgium before. I plan to see what I can in the evenings, this is a country with long history and we are going to be in the core of Brussels close to the old city. There are a number of UN Heritage Sites in the city which I look forward to seeing during the holiday period. I always loved the way London comes alive during the holidays. I seem to always time my European trips during the Fall and Winter, not sure how it works out, but one day. A few years back I had the chance to attend the UKOUG conference in Birmingham and if I am not mistaken it rained 8 out 9 days. A perfect week in the UK in December, so hopefully it will be better next week in Brussels.

One thing that has been interesting to see the reaction of people when you let them know that you are going away next week. This must be important as I have to miss hockey next week and I don’t like to miss hockey. Being the goalie you need to be there. So I told the team last night, and this is a team where I am on the older side of the Bell curve and most of the guys are in their 20’s. When I tell the story of how I was going to speak at the EU, the reactions ranged from disbelief to amazement. I play hockey with these guys but they don’t really understand what I do in my job let alone the IOUG. I am still trying to figure out how I am going to be part of this process but one thing is that I am going to soak up the experience.

Right now my wife is planning her days while I will be sequestered at the EU. Belgium and Brussels of course is known for its chocolate. I think she plans a tour and tasting of each in the city. And Belgium has a connection to Canada via the poem that in Canada symbolizes the sacrifice of our soldiers have made for us and I can remember hearing it every Remembrance Day growing up. We even have a part of the poem on our $5 bill. Finally they tell me that I need to eat waffles, French fries and beer……so I look forward to a fun gastronomic experience.

So the wheels are in motion and the experience of a lifetime is getting closer. At least I have two hockey games between now and when I leave to keep my mind clear. The weekend pack and plan before I know it I will be looking in the souvenir shops looking to add to my travel snow globe collection.

Oracle acquires Sun

Mondays seem to bring a lot of things. I met someone this morning dreading the start of the week as she was off to a meeting. I suggested that it was a great chance to get your week off on the right foot. It was an opportunity. Then I arrive at my desk and open my email and what do I find that Oracle has purchased Sun for $7.4 Billion. This is what makes today a great opportunity.

So today starts a new evolution in the Oracle world. For years Larry Ellison has created a company that provides almost all of the technology stack. They provided applications, middleware and database. To a certain extent they also supported hardware by providing Linux support and the launch of the Oracle/HP Database Machine. This now changes a lot of things. Firstly Oracle now like IBM can control their entire technology stack and provide single-vendor solutions from soup to nuts. How will this change the direction of the Exadata is not known, but I expect that in some form it will continue, it looks like we should expect some changes in this area.

Of course one of the biggest prizes from Oracle’s perspective must be the open source components of the company. Oracle now becomes the Java company, they have always been a market leader in the area and now will own the basic building blocks. Consider Ellison’s statement from this morning conference call announcement where he said `` Java is the foundation of Oracle’s Fusion Middleware and the single most important software we have acquired``. In addition there is MySQL, what will happen here? How will Oracle deal with this database which is a rival of its own?

This acquisition raises some interesting scenarios but at the basic level we are look at what Oracle strategy is for buying companies is are the best. Larry stated it today by saying `` One of the reasons Oracle is so successful is that we buy companies that are number one.``. We have seen it with Peoplesoft, BEA among many other where the company was the leader. It will also be great to see how Larry Ellison and Scott McNealy get along now that they have to work together everyday? These pioneers have always seemed to be allies; now that Scott works for Larry it will be fascinating to see how it works out. These guys have lots of energy and are superior thought-leaders, I expect that this combination could be a very powerful and visionary one, or it could upset the balance of power in the executive ranks. Acquisitions can be a tricky thing.

From an IOUG perspective we look forward to welcoming the Sun technology community. As this acquisition progresses the IOUG will keep everyone in the loop. It will be exciting to see how the to this purchase will change things at Oracle.

I love Mondays...you just never know what can happen.