Last week I asked Oracle users to write in and tell me what they think about Oracle’s support services — and boy did they comply. Here are three of my favorite comments that came in which range from a very bad review of Oracle support to a very good one, with some interesting advice in between.

Which one of these guys do you agree with?

From Cliff Palmer:

“Oracle support is simply terrible. It takes days to get even moderately complex problems resolved, and the resolution is usually found by the customer, not the new hire with the metalink account that is a ’support analyst.’”

From Daniel Morgan:

“My experience with Oracle support over the years has run the range from ‘they’ve got to be kidding’ to ‘fantastic.’ For the last couple of years I have been extremely happy with Oracle support and the metalink services in general. What I have found is that most of the time when DBAs and developers complain about the service it is because they are either asking for a free tutorial (I bought the car please teach me how to drive it) or they didn’t do their homework (what’s an RDA?). DBAs who follow ‘best practice’ guidelines and present clear and coherent explanations of what is wrong and attach an RDA get good service from someone with an appropriate level of expertise. The other guideline I use, and teach, is when opening an SR always attach a spool file that demonstrates what you’ve done to define the scope of the problem.”

From Roger Rosenblum

“My experience with Oracle Support is very positive. The SR’s are addressed quickly (if not I am kept informed why not) and the staff are very professional, courteous and very knowledgeable. It’s always a pleasure to work with them via web conference or email, or phone or just via the SR.”

Howard Rogers at Dizwell Informatics claims, with a sort-of apology to everyone he’s “unintentionally” insulting, that the Oracle ACE program, which used to mean something, “has been rendered almost completely worthless.”

Says he:

There’s a bunch of complete nobodies who nominated themselves for starters and got approved despite a paucity of any demonstrated technical skill or community contribution at all. […] In fact, it turns out that you can be a technically incompetent looney and still be an ACE, because all you now have to do to be an ACE is present a lot, write a lot, have OCP certification and be on the beta program … and there’s no mention of anyone, anywhere actually vetting any of that writing or presentation for technical accuracy. […] I am reminded of the fact that there was once a time when, albeit briefly, OCP actually meant something, too.

Ouchy. Sounds like Oracle certifications and awards are undergoing something akin to degree inflation, whereby “degrees are conferred on people who have not learned all they should have learned in order to earn their degrees” – and furthermore, it eventually becomes a necessity to have these credentials as a baseline (just to get hired), so that more and greater qualifications are required in order to stand out from the crowd.

What do you think? Is the Oracle ACE designation effectively meaningless now? Does it say anything about real technical knowledge and ability?

-Elisa

Over the past few months I’ve heard some mixed reviews from Oracle end users about Oracle’s support services.

Some folks I’ve spoken with say they get upset with certain Oracle support representatives who seem to be inexperienced. One person even went so far as to say that he purposely tries to get his problems elevated quickly so he can move up the ranks of Oracle support personnel. Others have said that they’re highly satisfied with Oracle on the support front.

Well, I’m writing a new article on the topic and I need to know what you think. Have you had a good experience with Oracle support overall or a bad one? Is Oracle support too expensive, or fairly priced? And would you ever consider going with a third party support provider like SAP’s TomorrowNow arm for your support needs? Why or why not?

Post your comments here and I’ll likely contact you to ask a few more questions for the article. Hope to hear from you soon.

– Mark

The question of whether Oracle will become bigger than Microsoft has Oracle users talking. And it was a bit  surprising to see so may readers responding to my recent blog post on the topic. It seems that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s belief that his company will indeed overtake Microsoft caught the imaginations of more than a few. Here’s a slightly edited sampling of what some of our readers had to say:

From Rishi Raj Rastogi:

“It depends on what Larry means by becoming bigger. In terms of revenue, yes, it is possible for Oracle to move ahead of Microsoft in a few years time looking at the acquisitions. But if you look at the popularity or even the brand recognition factor then Microsoft is way ahead and will stay ahead of Oracle for many years to come. The reason being is very simple - Oracle is into specialized softwares/packages and a common man using a PC may/may not be aware of Oracle, but Microsoft has the advantage of the Windows OS and MS Office suite, which makes it known to even a simple PC user.”

From Sivadas Madhavan:

“I heard Larry Ellison speak at two Oracle OpenWorld conferences. Both times I came back thinking this guy has a chip on his shoulder. He simply hates being not as rich as Bill Gates. At least his yacht is bigger and better than Gates’s if he has one. As for Oracle bigger than MS? It ain’t going to happen anytime soon. Of course, Oracle can try to acquire MS. Now, won’t that be exciting!

From Tim Smith:

“I have worked on SQL Server 2005 writing stored procedures and I have worked on Oracle 9i doing the same and I will take Oracle any day. It’s the best. And all the applications and platforms that Oracle runs on makes it an awesome choice for companies of all sizes to use and grow with as the company expands. As far as Oracle getting bigger than MS, you bet it can! How many more new Operating Systems and Office suites can MS push out the door, with the advent of Open Source OSes and Offices? My bet is on Oracle.

From M. R. Wietelmann:

“It was not too many years ago that IBM was the dominant force in computers and IT. History has taught us anything can happen! Oracle PC’s? Hmm.”

Jack Loftus at the Enterprise Linux Log asks, “Does Oracle 11g mean more Linux?” I.e., why did Oracle choose to release the new Database 11g on Linux first? Sure, Linux is “here to stay” (blah blah), but can we dig a little deeper?

Loftus spoke to an analyst about whether Oracle is just “making bank off Linux” (a “huge moneymaker” for Oracle) or if it’s positioning itself against Microsoft (whose SQL Server offering is hot right now). According to Forrester Research analyst Noel Yuhanna, Windows customers are a “lost cause” to Oracle – they’re happy with SQL Server and aren’t likely to switch. So Oracle may be angling for more Linux customers (and more Unbreakable Linux support revenue), while at the same time avoiding any more lost market share to Microsoft SQL Server.

Read Loftus’s full post.

And if you’re not totally sick of 11g yet, check out Eddie Awad’s list of 40+ links to blogs on Oracle 11g.

-Elisa

Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison had no shortage of things to talk about on his recent trip to Israel. Speaking to reporters, the outspoken head of industry said that open source software is no big threat, that Web 2.0 is more than just a passing fad and — now this one really got me — that he believes Oracle will be bigger than Microsoft one day.

Wow. Oracle bigger than Microsoft? Now there’s something that never occurred to me. Maybe it’s just human nature, or maybe it has to do with the fact that I’ve been working with Windows products since I was a young lad, but it’s hard to imagine any software company becoming bigger or more recognizable than Microsoft.

But on second thought, why not? Oracle has been on an acquisition tear in recent years. Isn’t it possible that one day they could purchase their way into being bigger than Microsoft? What do you think? Will Oracle become the biggest software company one day?   

– Mark

On its home page a few weeks ago, Oracle highlighted new Gartner data showing that its DBMS has a 47.1% market share — more than its two closest competitors combined and a healthy 15% increase in revenue from the previous year. In a $15.2 billion market, that’s a nice chunk of change.

The report reminded me of the “database wars” of old, which now almost seem like a quaint tussle compared to the current ferocious “apps wars.” For the past few years, the market appears to have settled into a semi-comfortable steady state, with Oracle #1, followed by DB2 and SQL Server, and Sybase and Teradata pulling up the rear in the single digits.

Or has it? A closer look reveals that Microsoft continues to have by far the highest growth rate: a whopping 28% increase compared with 2005. If present trends continue, SQL Server may even soon overtake DB2 and vault into second place. At an OpenWorld a few years ago, Larry Ellison jokingly mocked Microsoft as a “game manufacturer” — this was soon after the release of XBox — but he may have to put Microsoft back on his radar, especially in the small/medium-sized business market. It’ll be interesting to see how the new Database 11g will affect Oracle’s position in 2007/2008.

For the time being though, Larry is obviously preoccupied with SAP, who is leading Oracle in the apps market by roughly twenty percentage points. Our ace News Editor Mark Brunelli has written some interesting case studies recently describing what it’s like in the trenches of the apps wars:

• Oracle edges out SAP at logistics firm
• Oracle and SAP passed over by water desalination firm
• Siebel to help Jenny Craig slim down CRM
• SAP beats Oracle in Jefferson County
• Oracle vs. SAP: The SOA factor

If you’re a manager getting the hard sell from Oracle and SAP, let’s hear about it! I’d be very interested in hearing your experiences and how you will make your choice.

Cheers,
Tim

Several in the Oracle blogosphere (including Doug Burns, Niall Litchfield and Paul Vallee) note that the Oracle WTF blog has been hijacked. Theory is that the blog was first marked as a spam blog by Google and subsequently deleted. Litchfield quotes the criteria for spam blogs (they “can be recognized by their irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text”) and wonders if “the whole purpose of blogging” isn’t irrelevant nonsense. Certainly posts full of SQL code might look repetitive and nonsensical to a dumb robot (or to me).

Ironically, according to a Computerworld article, Google recently mistook its own Custom Search Blog for a spam blog, allowing it to be similarly hijacked. Doh! Silly Blogger. . . .

And speaking of spam, our office is getting hammered with unusual amounts of it today – messages that are getting past our filters. Seems to be a global problem – Bob Sullivan at the Red Tape Chronicles describes how spammers have most recently gotten the best of all of us by hiding spam within Adobe Acrobat attachments. Doh! Those wily spammers. . . .

-Elisa

Oracle has posted a bunch of technical information and white papers about Oracle Database 11g, which should become available for the Linux platform sometime this month.

Most of the Oracle 11g white papers can be found here on Oracle’s Web site. This collection covers a variety of topics, including Oracle Database 11g Manageability and Real Application Testing, the Oracle Database 11g Flashback Data Archive, Oracle Database 11g Real Application Clusters and Oracle Database 11g Security.

Blogger LewisC also suggests that people check out this Oracle 11g white paper from Oracle’s public relations team. It’s an overview of Oracle 11g’s new features and part of a press kit. 

Just a quick heads up.

– Mark

A DBA recently wrote in to our Ask the Experts section with the following question:

How can I convince my top management that the time to upgrade all our production Oracle 9i (9.2.0.4) databases to Oracle 10g is now? They are looking for the top five reasons to upgrade. How can I prepare a convincing report?

Our expert’s response reminded me of the Doug Burns post I pointed to last week on workload metrics — wherein he wrote, “The reason you want the metrics will define your approach to gathering them.”

Michael Hillenbrand gets at the same thing when he writes, “In order to write a good business case for an upgrade, you need to know yourself why you want to upgrade.”

In other words, there is no definitive list of the top five reasons to upgrade your Oracle databases, because (all together now) it depends.

But Michael does supply a framework for building a business case to management, starting with the fact that managers want to see benefits weighed against cost in all cases. He also names support as a great reason to upgrade, since 9i will be desupported soon.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you go to management with your own list of reasons to upgrade:

• Are there bugs in 9i that are causing outages and/or business impacts?
• Are there features in 10g that would improve the bottom line of the business?
• Do you need to keep up with security patches for compliancy issues, such as SOX or HIPAA?

Sorry guys . . . no answers without more questions. Read Michael’s full response here.