The results of a new Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG) survey suggest that the majority of Oracle-based enterprises intend to upgrade to Oracle’s Fusion middleware infrastructure within the next two years.

Now, that’s not particularly surprising. But this is:

The survey, which generated 449 responses from OAUG members, also found that two out of every five Oracle-based enterprises will increase spending on middleware in 2008, despite the fact that many enterprises still aren’t sure of middleware’s true value to their operations.

Taken together, the results suggest to me that at least some companies out there are spending money on middleware without fully understanding the reasons for doing so.  And with Oracle’s acquisition of middleware giant BEA Systems Inc. still fresh on our minds, I think the issue deserves further examination.

I’m researching a new article on the OAUG survey for publication later this week and really need to rally the SearchOracle.com troops in an attempt to understand this potential phenomenon. Do the results make sense to you? Why or why not? And why is middleware important, or unimportant, at your organization?

Maybe it’s simply a matter of business folks getting ahead of the IT groups, or vice versa. Or maybe the survey results simply don’t hold water. Whatever it is, I want to hear from you.