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    Oracle’s 2012 Integration Story: The Enterprise Apps

    Going to Oracle’s OpenWorld must be like shopping at a warehouse: Big, distracting and really annoying when you realize you forgot to grab bread — half a mile ago.

    I’ve never been, mind you. But I can’t help notice that the reports from Oracle’s annual user conference are seldom focused on analysis or even context. It’s more like they’re jotting down as much as possible as quickly as possible.

    Over the years, I’ve noticed integration is always a theme for Oracle, although the details vary. In 2009, Oracle was touting its own integration story, which, given its then-59 acquisitions, was noteworthy.

    In 2010, CEO Larry Ellison focused on “vertical integration,” meaning integration of Oracle’s software with its newly acquired Sun hardware. The experts were a bit skeptical.

    You may also remember Oracle’s “iPad for the enterprise” (yes, they said that), aka Enterprise Manager 11g, which offered integration of IT management across the stack.

    Then last year, Ellison unveiled vertical integration in the guise of Big Appliances such as Exalytics and Exadata. He also announced a Big Data Appliance, which actually arrived this year.

    I suppose integration is an obvious talking point, when you’ve acquired as many companies as Oracle has.

    So, what’s being integrated at Oracle this year? The enterprise applications interfaces and services, report SiliconAngle and ZDNet.

    “Our goal is to streamline data flows, process flows and interface, to relive the strain on IT departments,” Jason Blessing, vice president of products and technology at Oracle Taleo, said during a panel discussion.

    That panel, by the way, included representatives from many of Oracle’s acquisitions, such as J.D. Edwards, PeopleSoft, RightNow and, obviously, Taleo.

    What I found funny about all this is that despite the fact the focus will be on integration between these platforms, ZDNet actually offers an overview of future plans by the individual platforms.

    Speaking of Oracle and integration, Oracle released version two of the GoldenGate 11g data integration software in late August. If you missed it, check out Mike Vizard’s discussion on how Oracle’s making data stored in its databases more available with this release.

    Loraine Lawson
    Loraine Lawson
    Loraine Lawson is a freelance writer specializing in technology and business issues, including integration, health care IT, cloud and Big Data.

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