Ellison talks up Web business

NEWS Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison, is claiming all his company's software will be sold exclusively over the Web within a year. The outspoken IT veteran was addressing the iDeveloper conference held in California yesterday. He claimed the plans are part of Oracle's strategy to become a complete e-business company. He also said Oracle's pilot Internet division, Business online, will eventually become larger than Oracle itself. Robin Bloor, CEO of Bloor Research, put the comments down to Ellison's tendency to overstate strategic plans to create attention around the company. "Ellison is clearly exaggerating as usual," he said. However, Bloor admitted the revelation does fall in line with ongoing announcements surrounding Oracle's Web strategy. "He has been hinting at this sort of thing for some time now," he said. "What he's trying to tell us is that all Oracle's software will be distributed over the Web. It doesn't mean that all sales will go over the Web and it certainly doesn't suggest there will be no sales force," added Bloor. Bloor drew a parallel between Ellison's claims and claims made by PC manufacturer Dell recently that it has secured a $7bn sale solely through its Internet channel. "This is clearly not a Web sale - a company wouldn't commission $7bn worth of computing equipment based on how much they like the Web site." Oracle's UK representatives were unable to comment.