February 23rd, 2007
Microsoft to launch new consortium aimed at Oracle users
Microsoft plans to announce on February 26 the formation of a new group designed to focus on the needs of joint Microsoft and Oracle customers.
According to Microsoft estimates, there are thousands of customers who use both Oracle and Microsoft technologies.
The newly minted "Microsoft Technology Consortium for Oracle Applications Users," will have three goals, according to the Softies:
* Ensure that customer voice and the needs of the community are organized and shared with both Microsoft and Oracle
* Facilitate an ongoing dialog among the large community of customers that depend on our products and technology
* Provide our customers the guidance and best practices they need to be successful
Microsoft plans to kick off the formation via a LiveMeeting Web conference that will be hosted by Dewey Forrester, director of Microsoft's Oracle Strategy and Partner Team. Microsoft plans to use the meeting to cover a handful of key topics, including "customer investments, concerns about products/roadmaps and formation/structure of the Technology Consortium."
(Forrester did not respond to a request for additional information on the consortium by the time this entry was posted.)
Microsoft also is planning to foster a discussion around Oracle's plans for "Applications Unlimited" and "its implications for joint Oracle Application and Microsoft customers." Oracle announced its Applications Unlimited strategy – its plan to enhance JD Edwards, Oracle, PeopleSoft and Siebel applications on an ongoing basis — in the spring of 2006.
Microsoft is planning to convene an in-person meeting of Technology Consortium members at the Oracle Applications Users Group Collaborate 07 conference in Las Vegas in mid-April. There, Microsoft is planning to highlight how Oracle Applications and Microsoft's SharePoint Server 2007 product can work together. SharePoint server will "light up your Oracle Applications with rich collaboration, workflow and Excel Integration," according to Microsoft's pre-conference materials.
Thoughts on other topics might be of interest to the joint Microsoft-Oracle customer base? How about implications for Microsoft customers of Oracle's Red Hat support program, for one?
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