Why is/was Oracle such a successful company?
Hoping for serious answers. Please bear with me as I’ve only been in the tech industry for about 7 years. I’ve noticed that many, many large enterprises have a significant Oracle footprint - primarily databases but occasionally some business platforms like Hyperion(?) and Peoplesoft(?). These products appear to be extremely expensive - enterprises pay something like $50,000 _per core_(!) for the database. My question is: why? There is a blind meme that Oracle has crap technology. I’m pretty sure they didn’t make the first relational database. I’m pretty sure they weren’t the first to offer support on databases. Why are so many companies using Oracle, despite the extreme cost? What made Oracle so much better back in the day?
Shady business practices to lure customers.
Its use to be successful due to its database capabilities.. lets see what cloud holds for them in future
Yeah their db used to actually be great. And they have a host of HR Software too… their business practice was aggressive and hostile to customers (sales would force you into long contracts, licensing agreements that were hostile etc) which is why their reputation is bad now. Every company goes through their “oracle problem” phase where they migrate off but it’s a big investment often.
You use one product of theirs and get stuck in their ecosystem, they abuse the concept of vendor lock-in (similar to microsoft).
The CIA literally funded Ellison to create one of the first relational databases.
Most interesting answer so far, thanks. Research turned up: https://gizmodo.com/larry-ellisons-oracle-started-as-a-cia-project-1636592238
Sounds like a pyramid scheme
It's called Oracle because Larry Ellison can predict the future, like the Oracle of Delphi. With that kind of power, making 💰 is a piece of 🍰.
I always find it interesting to see how they are always up to date with changes in technology landscape just by adding minor features to the database. Stored procedures, oo, Java, internet, xml, grid, multi tenancy, cloud, machine learning. Those guys know how to sell the same 40 years old software in a new shiny box every few years. It’s a living proof that in technology nothing changes - everything has already happened, the new is just a buzzword and a minor tweak of the old under a new name.
Yeah, some of the tech giants can easily crush them
Lock in. You will see the same story 10 years later with AWS etc.
Replace oracle with salesforce 🙈