Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
Webcast: In the Google Apps Cloud: How to Achieve Your Business Objectives
Dec 3rd, '09, 1 - 2 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Council member Brent Hoag, Director, Global IT, at JohnsonDiversey, as he discusses the adoption of Google Apps which has helped meet four corporate goals; sustainability, simplification, increased employee productivity and global collaboration.
Webcast: Collaboration Initiatives: Benchmarks & Best Practices
Dec 15th, '09, 4 - 5 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Council members Ruth Thorpe, VP & CIO at the U.S. Pharmaceutical Operations of Sanofi-Aventis, and Gary Kuyper, CIO at Bethany Christian Services, as they speak about their collaboration initiatives and experiences in how and why they chose the social networking and collaboration tools they are using and their business goals for collaboration, and facing culture change challenges.
Data Overview: Collaboration Initiatives Field Guide: Benchmarks & Best Practices
This appendix to the Council Field Guide provides an analysis which discusses benchmarks for collaboration IT implementation costs, adoption rates and payoffs. The overview identifies top IT and business goals and satisfaction rates for collaboration initiatives as well as best practices and lessons learned for implementing collaboration IT.
Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »October 26, 2006 — CIO —
Oracle, an enterprise software firm, on Wednesday said it would offer technical support for Linux software at cheaper rates than those of Red Hat, a top Linux distributor—a move that plots the two firms against each other in a battle for market share in the space, Reuters reports.
Larry Ellison, Oracle chief executive and chairman, said the move is meant to resolve a number of issues that are keeping big businesses from embracing Linux, according to Reuters.
Ellison also stressed that the firm’s pricing will significantly undercut Red Hat, Reuters reports.
“Our support costs less than half what Red Hat charges,” Ellison said at the yearly OracleWorld event in San Francisco, Calif., according to Reuters.
Red Hat spokespeople did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for information.
Linux is the most popular and widely used variation of open-source software, which allows developers and programmers access to its code to build their own add-ons and additional features. Some add-ons and customized options cost money, but the base software itself is free and open to modification.
In the past, Oracle has served mostly as a database and applications vendor, but it will now offer an operating system as well and will have what is commonly referred to in the industry as an entire “software stack,” Reuters reports.
The move will likely provide some healthy competition for software giant and Oracle competitor Microsoft’s Windows operating system, but it could also erode some of the “spirit of cooperation”—as Reuters puts it—currently felt in the open-source space due to the introduction of strong competition and the potential to rake in big money.
When asked about the possible effects the firm’s entry into the Linux space may have on Red Hat, Ellison responded with candor, according to Reuters.
“This is capitalism; we are competing,” he said, Reuters reports. “We are trying to offer a better product at a lower price.”
Oracle will now fix bugs in current and older versions of Red Hat Linux, offering similar support that it currently does for users of its databases and other applications, according to Reuters.
Red Hat shares dropped more than 16 percent to $16.32 in after-hours Nasdaq trading on Wednesday, while Oracle shares increased slightly to $18.71 from $18.62, Reuters reports.
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