Conference ulysse::rdb_vms_competition

666.0. "Opposed to Oracle agreement?" by 31964::HODGES () Tue Jun 12 1990 23:16

    
    Below is the text of a letter that I plan to send to a VP who is
    resisting  the Oracle agreement.  I would like to include with in the
    text (see last paragraph) the name, location and job title of as many
    people as possible.  Please send me mail if you are willing to have
    your name be included!
    
    Thanks!
    
    Maryann (who hates to give up a fight!)
    
                  I N T E R O F F I C E   M E M O R A N D U M

                                        Date:     12-Jun-1990 01:27pm EDT
                                        From:     MARY ANN HODGES
                                                  HODGES.MARY ANN
                                        Dept:     SALES SUPPORT
                                        Tel No:   264-3526


Subject: Oracle relationship

To Whom it may concern (and I believe that is ALL of us!)

As a 17 year veteran at Digital, I am extremely concerned about the 
recent announcement by the FABS group of an agreement with Oracle
Corporation in Belmont, CA.  I am a senior consultant with HQ Sales 
Support, specializing in Database/OLTP; prior to this I was with VAX 
Information Architecture Engineering.  Between these two assignments I 
have been involved with VAXen in commercial accounts for almost 10 
years.  So I have a great deal of first hand knowledge about Oracle as 
a competitor!  Based on this experience I believe this agreement is 
wrong for the following 3 reasons:  

      1)  Loss of account control 
      2)  Poor quality of the applications themselves
      3)  Conflicting ethics of the two corporations 

Oracle's niche in the market place is in it's support of MANY 
platforms; it is therefore in the best interest of the Oracle sales 
team to make sure that there are multiple platforms in every customer
site.  This way that customer is LOCKED into Oracle.  There are 
many documented sites where VAXen have been replaced by other 
platforms at the suggestion of Oracle - BASED on the portability of 
Oracle.  Many, many other loyal VAX users have had their first exposure 
to SEQUENT and/or NCUBE as Oracle's answer to their performance problems 
with Oracle applications running under VAX/VMS. Once these other 
platforms are installed, Digital's account control and our access to 
add-on business is SEVERELY limited.

The Oracle Financial applications themselves are of VERY poor quality.  
This has been well documented in the press.  Dick Cross, manager of 
programming at Cellular Inc. in Englewood, Colorado was quoted in
InformationWEEK (3/26) "There are so many bugs, so many omissions in 
the program that it just CAN'T BE SUPPORTED."

But perhaps the most compelling argument to me involves the ethics of 
the two corporations.  Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle has been quoted 
regarding his view of competition, "It is not enough that we win; ALL
OTHERS MUST LOSE!"  (emphasis is mine!)  Digital is recognized around 
the world as being an organization that can be trusted as a business 
partner.  Oracle, on the other hand is famous for announcing products 
it can't deliver and promising anything "in 6 months" or "definitely 
in the next release".  

I've recently been involved in an account situation (Glaxo in Research 
Triangle Park, NC) where Oracle promised that referential integrity and 
audit trails would be part of the product "within 6 months."  This was 4 
years ago; at a recent Oracle Pharmaceutical Users Group meeting, Glaxo
was told it was now "under development".  When questioned about these tactics 
by the Wall Street Journal (5/31/89), "Mr. Ellison mischievously concedes that 
'sometimes I think out loud or get my verb tenses mixed up' about product 
plans and delivery timetables, 'but that just makes things more provocative.' "

I could go on about their derisive advertising, how they've used 
Digital proprietary information in print, and the tactics of their 
sales force.  In the interest of brevity, I will close with a list of 
other field people who feel equally strongly that this agreement is a 
serious mistake for Digital Equipment Corporation.

Sincerely,
Maryann Hodges
US HQ Sales Support

so you could add me to the list.

Hal,

as an "Rdb veteran" I think you have the right to be put in the list... :-)

What do you think, Maryann?

Max

    ABSOLUTELY!!!  In fact I've been trying to attach to this conference
    for 2 days to say that my intent was NEVER to restrict the signers, so
    please feel free to contact me, even if you're not in the field.  I've
    added two more columns to the original memo, one for FORMER FIELD
    people, like Hal and one for Marketing/Corporate folks (Hal could be
    here as well!)      B>)
    
    BTW, I've received around 70 responses so far; more than half from
    OUTSIDE the US . . . .
    
    Maryann

    Wow, what any interesting note number "666"- the Sign of Satan.
    
    Well, put me down.  I back this more than you may know.
    
    
    chuck

    You can certainly put me down. Also, take a minute to read my response
    in the NODEMO::MARKETING conference as note 1212.210.
    
    Bob
    EIS - North Central District