Hands off our software! We know what we're doing. That was Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's message at AppsWorld 2001.
Apparently, customer customizations over the years have led the Oracle crew to the conclusion that only they should tinker under the hood. My God, you shouldn't be changing our computer code, said Ellison. It is our job to improve our software.
Oracle's thousands and thousands and thousands of engineers understand all the required business processes, according to Ellison, and have built all the necessary elements into 11i, the latest e-business suite. We have a hundred percent of what you need, not a hundred percent of what you want, Ellison stated. If a customer should find they need more, lobby us for additional features. Of course, there's no guarantee you'll get what you need unless enough businesses sign the same petition.
In the new hands off approach, Ellison is hoping to change one of the bread-and-butter functions of its consulting group. Local distributors and consultants should shift away from customizing suites for individual customers and focus on faster implementations, which theoretically will yield better results because consultants will sell more suites.
Never one to miss an opportunity, Ellison took a shot at competitor IBM. He claimed IBM's business division is shrinking while its number of consultants is growing. The reason: IBM is focused on selling the labor associated with customizing software rather than selling software itself. Oracle, on the other hand, is increasing its business division and reigning in its consulting group because they sell software, not labor.
