Vendor Rating: Oracle

Overall Rating: Positive as of 16 August 2004

View Ratings Definitions

Initiative	Rating	Status
Corporate Viability

Strategy	Positive

Financial	Promising

Marketing	Positive

Brand	Strong Positive

Product Alignment	Caution

Organization	Promising

Market Offerings

Products/Service	Promising

ERP II	Positive

SCM	Promising

Healthcare Applications	Promising

DBMS	Strong Positive

CRM Application Suite	Promising

Oracle Warehouse Builder	Promising

BI Tools	Caution

Application Server	Caution

Collaborative Suite	Promising

Technology/Methodology	Positive

Pricing Structure	Caution

Customer Service/Support

Sales/Distribution	Promising

Sales Tactics	Strong Negative

Direct Sales Channel	Promising

Distribution Channels	Positive

Partner Support	Promising

Partnership Relations	Caution

Support/Account Management	Promising







Market Share: ERP Software, Asia/Pacific, 2003 4 August 2004 Yanna Dharmasthira The enterprise resource planning software market in Asia/Pacific recovered in 2003, with 9 percent license revenue growth. The top three vendors, SAP, PeopleSoft and Oracle, had a combined market share of 47 percent. IT Vendors Must Use Restraint in Marketing SOX Solutions 20 May 2004 Laura McLellan Some IT vendors are overpitching products and services to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We advise marketing to use restraint. User Survey: E-Support and Support Automation Solutions, North America, 2003 7 May 2004 Bob Igou Ron Silliman Users report increased use of support automation solutions and identify cost savings as the biggest e-support benefit. Market Share: Business Intelligence Software, Asia/Pacific, 2002 19 April 2004 Louisa Liu Fabrizio Biscotti Colleen Graham In 2002, the business intelligence software market grew 3.5 percent to $88.37 million. Australia accounted for 31 percent of new license revenue, followed by South Korea and Singapore with 15 percent each. Magic Quadrant for Horizontal Portal Products, 2004 30 March 2004 Gene Phifer Ray Valdes David Gootzit Kim S. Underwood Joanne M. Correia Whit Andrews The segmentation of the portal product market has moved slowly. Because most enterprises still request "a portal" and most vendors still sell a "portal product," we have updated the single-segment Magic Quadrant. Database Design Tool Market Vendor Details, 2004 26 March 2004 Michael J. Blechar New service-oriented architectures require more integrated modeling, using business process analysis, Unified Modeling Language and database design tools. Magic Quadrant for Database Design Tools, 2004 26 March 2004 Michael J. Blechar Jim Duggan Despite the rapid growth in business process analysis and Unified Modeling Language tools, database design tools will remain the most-popular and broadly deployed modeling technology. Sales Magic Quadrant and MarketScopes: 1H04 Overview 23 March 2004 Robert P. Desisto Although Siebel leads in the Customer Relationship Management Sales Suite Magic Quadrant, Oracle and SAP are challenging its position. In addition, many best-of-breed vendors offer compelling solutions. Magic Quadrant for Learning Management Systems, 1H04 18 March 2004 James Lundy Waldir Arevolo De Azevedo Filho Enterprises eventually will need an e-learning suite, but for now, they're still looking to deploy a learning management system as their primary e-learning software application. Magic Quadrant for E-Learning Suites, 2004 15 March 2004 James Lundy Waldir Arevolo De Azevedo Filho Enterprises are recognizing the value of e-learning suites and starting to make suite functionality part of their evaluation criteria. Magic Quadrant for Business-to-Consumer CRM Suites 12 March 2004 Gareth Herschel John Radcliffe Kimberly Collins Michael Maoz Siebel Systems remains a leader in the B2C Customer Relationship Management Magic Quadrant. E.piphany and PeopleSoft are visionaries. Despite progress, Amdocs, Chordiant Software, Oracle and SAP remain niche vendors. Updated Advice for PeopleSoft Enterprise Clients: 5 March 9 March 2004 Brian Zrimsek Jeff Comport As Oracle's bid for PeopleSoft evolves, we have updated our guidance for PeopleSoft Enterprise clients. The legal block of the acquisition by the U.S. Department of Justice prompts this revision. MarketScope: E-Service Suites, 1H04 27 February 2004 Esteban Kolsky The e-service suite vendor offerings have evolved into well-integrated suites of functionality. Choose vendors based on today's benefits, with an eye on how the players will best enable the customer interaction hub of tomorrow. MarketScope: Customer Service Contact Center Software, 1H04 26 February 2004 Michael Maoz The new generation of customer service contact center software applications offers a reasonable alternative to homegrown, custom-built applications. BI Tools Software: Stand-Alone and Composite Views Explained 25 February 2004 Fabrizio Biscotti Colleen Graham Louisa Liu A shift is occurring in the business intelligence market as vendors are producing tools that are being sold as additional functionality embedded in products not traditionally classified as business intelligence. MarketScope: Expense Management Software 24 February 2004 James Holincheck Expense management solutions have proven benefits, but clients must understand the strengths, weaknesses and positioning of vendors to make good decisions. EBIS and Reporting Convergence: Almost There 23 February 2004 Howard J. Dresner The enterprise business intelligence suites and robust reporting realms have continued to converge, making it possible to select a single vendor for both feature sets. MarketScope: Customer Relationship Marketing, 1Q04 19 February 2004 Gareth Herschel John Radcliffe E.piphany, Teradata and Unica have Positive ratings, whereas DoubleClick and SAS Institute are rated Promising for their interesting visions, but slower adoption rates. Users should use Caution as they evaluate other solutions. Magic Quadrant for Marketing Resource Management, 2004 18 February 2004 Kimberly Collins Aprimo remains the Leader in the MRM Magic Quadrant; Oracle and SAP remain as Challengers. SmartPath, Veridiem, Elateral and Unica are Visionaries. Carefully evaluate the viability and functionality of Niche Players. How Four Top Software Vendors Are Embracing SOBAs 16 February 2004 Charles Abrams Whit Andrews Yvonne Genovese Jeff Comport Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP and Siebel are making services-oriented business applications key elements in their products. Niche application vendors may be slower to react, even though Web services are becoming mainstream. MarketScope: Consumer Goods Industry SFA, 1H04 13 February 2004 Dale Hagemeyer The consumer goods industry sales force automation market continues to be dominated by the SFA suites, particularly among the larger consumer goods companies. Magic Quadrant for CRM Field Service Management, 2004 3 February 2004 Michael Maoz Superior field service management will drive profits in key industries, yet only one vendor leads, none challenge, large-enterprise application vendors have immature offerings and small specialists face economic challenges. Magic Quadrant for CRM B2B Large-Enterprise Suites, 2004 29 January 2004 Robert P. Desisto Michael Maoz Business-to-business customer relationship management suites are changing to handle extraenterprise partner relationships. Leading CRM suites can serve as the backbone for this broader range of B2B relationships. Magic Quadrant for CRM Sales Suite Vendors, 2004 28 January 2004 Robert P. Desisto Joe Galvin Siebel Systems continues to lead, Oracle has improved its execution, and SAP holds its challenger position in the customer relationship management sales suite market Magic Quadrant. MarketScope: Direct Sales Technologies, 1H04 28 January 2004 Joe Galvin Direct sales technologies have matured to the point of functional commoditization. Market leaders are best able to address a wide variety of complex issues for sales processes, roles and structures. MarketScope: Sales Incentive Compensation, 1H04 28 January 2004 Joe Galvin The sales incentive compensation market is poised for growth. Best-of-breed vendors Callidus, Synygy and Centive maintain their functional superiority over enterprise application vendors Oracle, Siebel, PeopleSoft and SAP. Oracle Could Change PeopleSoft BI and CPM Product Plans 17 June 2003 Bill Hostmann Brian Wood Frank Buytendijk If Oracle's takeover bid succeeds, PeopleSoft's business intelligence and corporate performance management products will likely go into maintenance mode. We believe Oracle will focus on its own solutions and product stack. Oracle/PeopleSoft Deal Would Greatly Affect ERP Market 10 June 2003 Karen Peterson Yvonne Genovese Lee Geishecker Betsy Burton If it goes through, Oracle's proposed acquisition of PeopleSoft will force PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards' enterprise resource planning customers to rethink their ERP strategies. Oracle's Bid for PeopleSoft Won't Alter Its CRM Position 10 June 2003 Robert P. Desisto Michael Maoz Oracle, SAP and Siebel Systems will benefit from Oracle's proposed acquisition of PeopleSoft. PeopleSoft CRM prospects and customers will likely find the acquisition unsettling. Oracle CRM Service Solutions 20 May 2003 Rochelle Shaw Cynthia R. Lubrano Oracle's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Service series, part of the E-Business 11i Suite, coordinates and optimizes service activities from initial customer contact to final issue resolution. Dell and Oracle Aim to Drive Migration to Linux Servers 9 May 2003 Andrew Butler George J. Weiss Betsy Burton Dell's analyst conference in April 2003 promoted the benefits of running Oracle9i cluster software on Linux-based servers. The companies hope to define a path for those migrating from traditional, high-end Unix servers. EAM/CMMS Best-of-Breed Vendors Face Threat From Suites 12 March 2003 Kristian Steenstrup They serve a diverse market of global customers, but many vendors in the Enterprise Asset Management/Computerized Maintenance Management System Best-of-Breed Magic Quadrant are struggling for survival in 1Q03. Asset-Intensive ERP II Suite Vendors Expand Offerings 12 March 2003 Kristian Steenstrup Customers can reap the benefits of continued vendor investments as providers in the Asset-Intensive Enterprise Resource Planning II Suite Magic Quadrant respond to competitive pressures with integrated functionality. Healthcare Provider Predictions: IT Advances for 2003 11 December 2002 Thomas Handler, M.D. Michael Davis Barry Hieb, M.D. In 2003, provider organizations must pay attention to tighter integration of clinical and financial systems. Computer-based patient record systems to reduce medical errors and improved supply chain management are also top priorities. Oracle Software License — 10 Issues Worth Negotiating 24 September 2002 Jane Disbrow Oracle's license agreements have more balanced terms and conditions than those from many other software vendors. However, before you sign the final agreement, you'll need to address several contractual issues. OracleWorld Europe 2002 29 July 2002 Laurent Lachal Oracle's latest European conference mostly repeated earlier events. Oracle needs to keep a finer balance between its infrastructure products and pitch its marketing messages (and "battles") more carefully. Oracle Has a Chance to Challenge in the Collaboration Market 12 July 2002 Simon Hayward Joyce Graff Maurene Grey The new Oracle Collaboration Suite has many of the components of what Gartner terms the "smart enterprise suite." But to succeed in this market, Oracle must demonstrate long-term commitment. Oracle's Purchase of Steltor Will Benefit Customers 12 July 2002 Joyce Graff Maurene Grey Simon Hayward Oracle acquired Steltor and will incorporate its calendar functions into the Oracle Collaboration Suite. The move will make the Suite more competitive, and Steltor customers will benefit from the resources of a much larger vendor. Oracle Hopes Red Hat Linux Will Jump-Start Oracle9i RAC 10 June 2002 Donna Scott George Weiss To allay fears about Linux support, Oracle added enterprise functions to Red Hat's Linux operating system (OS) and will support it and the Oracle9i RAC database -- the first time Oracle takes full responsibility for an OS. Oracle's E-Business Pricing: Simplicity at a Price Models 24 May 2002 Alexa Bona Lee Geishecker Kristian Steenstrup Oracle's new pricing alternatives for its application software attempt to simplify the pricing. This new pricing model, effective for some enterprises but not suited to all, is still being refined by Oracle. Oracle AppsWorld 2002: The Game Is Called Upgrading 29 April 2002 Esteban Kolsky In what became the conference's theme, Oracle described the reasons to upgrade to 11i and what Oracle is doing to help its customers. We see the upgrade message, echoed by vendors, partners and clients, as a positive one. Oracle in Higher Education 2002 12 April 2002 Doug Hurley Marti Harris Ron Yanosky Michael Zastrocky Oracle's often-delayed student system has caused uncertainty for current and prospective customers. Oracle must deliver a full-function integrated system in 2002 or it will lose credibility as an ERP vendor for higher education Oracle Negotiations - Converting to New License Models 5 March 2002 Jane Disbrow Betsy Burton Many Oracle customers are trying to determine whether they should convert their older licenses to Oracle's "per-processor" model. This analysis covers the conversion factors enterprises need to know. Oracle AppsWorld Europe: Steady Progress With 11i 25 February 2002 Nigel Rayner Fabrizio Biscotti Alexa Bona John Radcliffe Ed Thompsone There were no major announcements at Oracle's AppsWorld Europe conference, but there was evidence of solid progress with 11i deployments. More functionality announcements reinforced the E-Business Suite message. ERP II SAP/Oracle Escalation Wake-up Call 14 November 2001 Derek Prior Betsy Burton Some enterprises with large-scale SAP/Oracle systems have experienced an Oracle DBMS bug, which has exposed problems with the vendors' support escalation processes. We provide advice on how to avoid downtime. Oracle Consolidation: Multi-instance vs. One Database 11 February 2002 Jon Rubin Enterprises that are considering migrating separate, dedicated Oracle servers to a single, shared platform face the choice between ease of implementation and optimal resource utilization. Oracle Pursues ETL Market With Warehouse Builder 3i 14 November 2001 Ted Friedman Warehouse Builder 3i represents an improvement in functionality and value over previous versions. However, perhaps its most compelling characteristic is the extremely low price point. Oracle Web Services: An Applications Opportunity 8 November 2001 David Smith Oracle's "software as services" vision was primarily aligned with the ASP model of computing. With Web services, Oracle has an opportunity to show vision by opening up Oracle Applications to Web services. Extended Support for Oracle 10.7 Should Help With Upgrades 26 October 2001 Yvonne Genovese Oracle has extended support for all versions of Oracle 10.7 enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications. This will give customers time to upgrade and also improve Oracle's customer care reputation. Navigating the Oracle Applications Upgrade Path 10 September 2001 Jenni Lehman Bruce Bond Yvonne Genovese Brian Zrimsek Nigel Rayner Oracle's decision to halt support for Applications release 10.7 has customers resisting; however, even those Oracle 10.7 customers most opposed to the upgrade should start planning for it now. 2000 DBMS Market Size, Trends and Forecast (Executive Summary) 20 August 2001 Colleen Graham Gartner Dataquest provides its key statistical findings about the 2000 DBMS market as well as describing some of the growth drivers and inhibitors for the market. It presents new license revenue estimates for the most significant DBMS segments and platforms as well as leading vendor shares. This document also presents the overall DBMS forecast by region, and delves into the forecast for key segments. Oracle Under Fire 17 August 2001 Betsy Burton This is a Letter From the Editor for the "Oracle Under Fire" issue in the Powerhouse Vendors Spotlight. Oracle CRM: Better, but Still Room for Improvement 15 August 2001 Scott Nelson Oracle is now a CRM challenger. It has some execution problems and its product has shortcomings, but it is gaining momentum. Prospective customers should realize 11i needs at least one more revision to fulfill Oracle's claims. A Checkpoint on Oracle9i Real Application Clusters 14 August 2001 Betsy Burton We discuss the status of Oracle9i RAC and Oracle delivering on its stated benefits of Real Application Clusters, including high availability, near-linear scalability, cost savings and the ability to run package applications.

Lead Analyst Jeff Comport

16 August 2004	Overall Rating: Positive
Jane B. Disbrow Gartner finds that clients do not understand the compliance risks with their Oracle infrastructure software licenses. Clearly address these eight exposures in your license agreement. Prevent Oracle Software License Compliance Issues 9 August 2004

2 June 2004	Overall Rating: Positive
Robert P. Desisto Oracle advances in specific sales components, such as sales configuration, incentive compensation and e-commerce, but it still needs more traction in others, such as marketing, mobile sales force automation and business-to-consumer environments. Vendor Rating Update: Oracle CRM 27 May 2004

28 April 2004	Overall Rating: Positive
Howard J. Dresner Oracle declined slightly in the BU Suite Magic Quadrant because it engaged in the unproven and potentially confusing plan of trying to sell its own BI products (such as Discoverer) while partnering with Business Objects. Magic Quadrants for Business Intelligence, 1H04 19 April 2004

20 April 2004	Overall Rating: Positive

Jeff Comport With its tender offer for PeopleSoft, Oracle is attempting to gain more control over broader markets. Gartner advises how this offer could affect you. Oracle's Bid for PeopleSoft: Update 13 April 2004 13 April 2004

23 March 2004	Overall Rating: Positive

Brian Zrimsek As Oracle's bid for PeopleSoft evolves, we have updated our guidance for PeopleSoft EnterpriseOne and World clients. This revision comes after the legal block of the acquisition by the U.S. Department of Justice. Advice for PeopleSoft EnterpriseOne Clients: 5 March 2004 15 March 2004

11 March 2004	Overall Rating: Positive

Jonathan Mein Pricing changes for Oracle Standard Edition and Standard Edition One will affect small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs), but not large enterprises. New Oracle DBMS Prices Will Benefit SMBs 6 February 2004

29 January 2004	Overall Rating: Positive

Betsy Burton With its tender offer for PeopleSoft, Oracle is attempting to gain more control over broader markets. Gartner advises how this offer could affect you. Oracle's Bid for PeopleSoft: Update 28 January 2004 28 January 2004
Jeff Comport Larry Ellison will give up his role as chairman of Oracle, but he will remain as CEO and a board member while continuing to set the company's vision. By giving more visibility to operational managers, Oracle can better execute its strategies. Executive Changes Will Not Alter Oracle's Strategy 14 January 2004
Massimo Pezzini The latest version of Oracle's application platform suite (APS) has many new features beyond its much-advertised readiness for grid computing. But enterprises should not rush any evaluation. Oracle Builds Many New Features Into Application Server 10g 17 December 2003

15 Oct 2003	Overall Rating: Positive

Betsy Burton Jane B. Disbrow Kevin H. Strange By extending Error Correction Support, Oracle has given customers of its Oracle 8i database management system (DBMS) an extra year to migrate to the Oracle 9i or 10g DBMS. Oracle Gives Customers Another Year to Migrate Off 8i by Extending Support 9 October 2003

18 June 2003	Overall Rating: Positive

Betsy Burton With its tender offer for PeopleSoft, Oracle is attempting to gain more control over broader markets. Gartner advises how this offer could affect you. Oracle's Bid for PeopleSoft: Update 16 June 16 June 2003

6 June 2003	Overall Rating: Positive

Betsy Burton Lee Geishecker Gartner believes that Oracle's offer to buy PeopleSoft goes well beyond application markets and is a broad market control move, including applications and infrastructure. Oracle Moves for Market Control With PeopleSoft Bid 6 June 2003

23 April 2003	Overall Rating: Positive

Kristian Steenstrup Oracle Complex Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) is a maintenance module developed for civil and military aircraft maintenance. The unproven product faces an uphill battle for adoption by a conservative industry. Aircraft MRO Module Should Appeal to Oracle Application Customers 23 April 2003

2 April 2003	Overall Rating: Positive

Michael Davis Although Oracle has shown a short-term promising commitment to the healthcare market, it will need at least five to seven years of additional investment before it can truly be labeled as "committed to healthcare." Oracle Healthcare Application Shows Promise 2 April 2003

27 January 2003

Overall Rating: Positive

Ted Friedman
Oracle continues to improve Oracle Warehouse Builder (OWB) through regular releases, and customer successes are becoming more prevalent. Price remains a major driver for adoption, but functionality and ease of use are beginning to attract Oracle customers as well. As a result, we upgrade OWB's rating to "promising."
Oracle's Warehouse Builder ETL Tool Continues to Improve
27 January 2003

Ratings Changes

Oracle Warehouse Builder	up from Caution

21 November 2002	Overall Rating: Positive

Maurene Grey Oracle's new Collaboration Suite Outsourcing follows the trend toward hybrid messaging services that potentially offer enterprises cost savings and greater flexibility in meeting e-mail needs. Flexible E-Mail Outsourcing Options Grow With Oracle Offering 18 November 2002

29 October 2002	Overall Rating: Positive

Brian Wood Oracle Customers Online is designed to help users to better manage customer information. Although not a new concept, Oracle does offer some new and efficient ways of accomplishing these goals. OCO: Data Quality and a Single View of the Customer 14 October 2002

10 October 2002

Overall Rating: Positive

Betsy Burton
The past 18 months have been tough for Oracle. However, Oracle is striving to re-establish its marketing luster and customer loyalty.

Ratings Changes

SCM	up from Caution

CRM Application Suite	down from Positive

Sales Tactics	down from Caution

6 August 2002	Overall Rating: Positive

Louisa Liu Betsy Burton Increased competition, a lack of local ties and the need for more vertical offerings hamper Oracle's latest initiative in China. Oracle's Expansion in China Faces Obstacles 23 July 2002

17 July 2002	Overall Rating: Positive

Jane Disbrow Kevin Strange Oracle's multiplexing definition for the Oracle database management system product has many of its customers out of compliance with their license agreement. Oracle's Multiplexing Clause Creates Confusion and Costs 27 June 2002

26 Mar 2002	Overall Rating: Positive

Betsy Burton We are hearing from clients that, in cases, Oracle sales staff has inappropriately imposed extra licensing fees. Although Oracle's corporate management may not condone this practice, we believe these reported fee impositions are highly inappropriate. Based on these issues, we reiterate our "caution" rating on Oracle's pricing model and sales tactics. Gartner Warns Oracle Customers to Check License Fees 25 March 2002

19 Mar 2002	Overall Rating: Positive

Nigel Rayner Users must understand the underlying reality before moving ahead with Oracle's Daily Business Close. It should be considered in the context of a broader corporate performance management strategy. Based on this, we rate Oracle's Daily Business Close a "Caution". Rating Oracle's Daily Business Close 19 March 2002

5 Mar 2002	Overall Rating: Positive
Nigel Rayner Despite no major application news at Oracle's AppsWorld Europe conference, Oracle created a lot of interest in the Daily Business Close. This was positioned as something new and unique -- the first time that an application provider has allowed executives to get a daily insight into their business. Marketing messages for the Daily Business Close were oversimplified and users must understand the underlying reality before moving ahead with the Daily Business Close. Daily Business Close, Oracle.com and Pricing at AppsWorld 25 February 2002

22 Feb 2002	Overall Rating: Positive

Kristian Steenstrup Due to its late market entrance, Oracle customers purchasing asset management products have almost universally acquired best-of-breed products. Given Oracle new offering, Oracle clients should evaluate the new module, at upgrade times, and compare it with the best-of-breed choices to see whether its implicit integration benefits outweigh the module's limited product scope and maturity. Oracle Takes Another Step Toward a Complete ERP II Solution 17 January 2002

9 Jan 2002	Overall Rating: Positive

Yefim Natis Oracle is promoting Oracle9i DBMS and Oracle9iAS Email services as "unbreakable" (i.e., a more-scalable and available data store alternative to Microsoft Exchange). Oracle has yet to prove its claims regarding Oracle9i's scalability. We rate Oracle9iAS Email as "caution," because of the lack of functional richness, lack of partners and high cost. Oracle9iAS: A 'Dark Horse' in the Application Server Race 8 January 2002

31 Dec 2001	Overall Rating: Positive

Maurene Grey Oracle is promoting Oracle9i DBMS and Oracle9iAS Email services as "unbreakable" (i.e., a more-scalable and available data store alternative to Microsoft Exchange). Oracle has yet to prove its claims regarding Oracle9i's scalability. We rate Oracle9iAS Email as "caution," because of the lack of functional richness, lack of partners and high cost. Despite Oracle Claims, Enterprises Will Keep MS Exchange 28 December 2001

22 Oct 2001	Overall Rating: Positive

Betsy Burton Oracle is trying to transform itself into a complete e-business solution provider. The gamble it�s taking is whether its customers are willing to trust Oracle to support their complete applications, infrastructure and service requirements. The presentation below examines the tension between Oracle�s focus on its e-business product strategy and the company�s credibility challenges with its customers. Download PowerPoint (.ppt) presentation

Entire contents © 2004 Gartner, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The Gartner vendor ratings contained herein are based solely on Gartner's opinion of a vendor's vision and ability to execute regarding a specific product, service or performance area. The Gartner Vendor Ratings do not compare vendors to their competitors. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Gartner shall have no liability for the opinions, errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The reader assumes sole responsibility for the selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.