S' is ORCL Woche....

Dec 11,2000


Oracle Takes Shot at Microsoft
By Unveiling Internet Services on Monday
By Rebecca Buckman
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Call it Oracle.NET.

In a move that mirrors Microsoft Corp.'s ballyhooed Microsoft.NET Web initiative, computer database-maker Oracle Corp. Monday will unveil its own set of Internet services for businesses.

The plan, dubbed the Dynamic Services Framework, will allow companies to link up with other online marketplaces and access a range of services, from currency conversion to online travel, said Oracle Senior Vice President Jeremy Burton.

Oracle, of Redwood Shores, Calif., also is expected to unveil a new portal Web site that it hopes businesses will use as their corporate home page on the Internet, as well as an online service to help software developers build applications.

Oracle's vision is part of a broader industry trend to use common Internet standards to link services and computer applications across the Web, allowing companies to work faster and save money. Such technologies are helping companies set up automated links with suppliers to buy goods and sell products or excess inventory.

Oracle's announcement is an example of the continuing bad blood between it and archrival Microsoft. Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., pounced on early reports in trade publications of Oracle's announcement to decry it as a me-too move; Oracle, in turn, criticized Microsoft's plan as all talk and no action.

"The interesting thing about Dynamic Services is that it's available on Monday," Mr. Burton said in an interview Friday. "Developers have a choice: They can wait for Microsoft.NET, or they can get Oracle.now."