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Oracle Database QA

1) Oracle has always been associated with very large database applications. What is Oracle doing with their 10g product to make it more attractive to the medium and small size company?

Oracle offers a standard version of their 10g database that sells at about $149 per user (5 user minimum) as opposed to the Enterprise edition which starts at $40,000. This would be an incentive for smaller business to test the Oracle waters. Oracle has also joined Microsoft, IBM and MySql in the freeware database market by offering Oracle 10g Express. In order to keep up with the open source database market these big database companies are testing the freeware market. Like SQL Server Express and DB2 Express, Oracle 10g Express is not open source but is free to use and no doubt with much less features.

2) Oracle has always charged a premium for their database engine. What features does Oracle have that other competitors don't have that command such a premium for their software?

Oracle db truly has the ability to handle extremely large amounts of data very quickly and has been in the business for 20+ years aggressively targeting large enterprises. It also provides advanced upgrades that can be purchased leading to a database system in the $100,000 range. Oracle also has a fairly steep learning curve and has enough features that it requires trained and usually certified professionals to make changes and upgrades. It has good reviews and is constantly making the necessary changes and upgrades to keep up in the database war and keep customers happy. It's a pretty complex system with good clustering and scalability, and it has complex security features like kerobose security,

3) Why has Oracle been able to succeed as a database company while other companies have not fared as well (i.e.: Ingres, Sybase). Does Oracle face any threats in the near future from competition?

Oracle entered the databases war early and it has a good reputation and a strong loyalty base. It also consistently reviews extremely highly in database reviews. Oracle has stayed intensely competitive in terms of aggressive marketing of its database system and is supported on the main enterprise OS's. Oracle seems to have a somewhat bad reputation of alienating their users with unfriendly features. As for as competition, Oracle faces competition from IBM's DB2. In a 2000 review, DB2 fared just 1% less than Oracle in growth and sales. The open source database market is also increasing in popularity so that the large database companies have to take notice and Oracle has now purschased Mysql perhaps recognizing this. MySql Enterprise editions starts at just about $600 dollars. There are indeed many up and coming database servers that would just love to take over should companies like Oracle drop their vigilance. The big 5 databases are Oracle. DB2, MSSQL, Informix and Sybase. Sybase ranks last for features. Oracle scores last for pricing because it's so expensive.

4) What impact does e-commerce have on the economy?

Ecommerce has a great impact on the economy. As more and more people continue to shop online a lot of transactions are being by ecommerce and the internet. Some states are starting to require that ecommerce such as book sales should be taxed even though the vendors do not physically reside in the state. Online Vendors like Amazon.com are able to save millions in taxes through ecommerce; however this produces a problem for state taxes.

Ecommerce is now a major force in the economy because million of US dollars are exchanged yearly over the internet in the form of sales and taxes.

5) In order to further the topic of Oracle, find a resource on the web in regards to Oracle that you find interesting. Provide the link to that resource and describe why you feel it is important in regards to the Oracle database.

http://www.informationweek.com/815/database.htm

This 2000 article compares various databases and names Oracle as the then leader with DB2 just behind it. MSSQL came next and Informix and Sybase and Ingres are way back. It provides an insight into the intensely competitive world of Database systems and shows the different players in the field and where they stack up.

Oracle 10g Express free

http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/x e/index.html

It's very interesting to note and see big companies like Oracle, Microsoft and IBM finally capitulate and offer simple versions of their expensive databases for free.