Gavin Clarke (Editor @ The Register), Rob Janson (President @ Enterprise Java Australia) and myself are on Mark Jones’ The Scope this week.
For loyal Sun customers and industry watchers, it was almost unthinkable – Oracle buying Sun. Sun Microsystems is one of Silicon Valley’s iconic technology companies, and Oracle doesn’t do hardware. And Sun was proud to wear the underdog badge. But the proposed acquisition raises fresh questions about the long-term health of the industry’s dominant suppliers. What’s the future hold for Oracle & Sun customers?
- Oracle license inspections – costs to rise? What about Oracle’s famed licensing complexity. Will this get any better?
- Consolidation problems: Will customer service deteriorate and product innovation wane?
- What of Java – what’s Oracle likely to do with this prized jewel?
- Did Oracle buy more problems than opportunities? (Sun’s debt, poor revenues…)
- Enterprise app consolidation leaves CIOs with fewer choices: how will they bargain with suppliers now?
- Larry Ellison said he wouldn’t buy Sun, or a hardware company, back in 2003. What changed? Does this mean that Oracle is likely to divest itself of Sun’s hardware business once the acquisition is completed?
- What the growth engines for Oracle now – hardware/servers appear to have little headroom for serious growth.
About The Scoop
The Scoop is an open, free-flowing conversation between industry peers. It’s about unpacking issues that affect CIOs, senior IT executives and the Australian technology industry. The conversation is moderated by Mark Jones, The Scoop’s host and producer. More information about The Scoop, including a list of previous guests, can be found here: