ACADEMIA

Oracle today announced increased global adoption of Oracle On Demand. First fiscal quarter bookings increased by 108 percent compared to that of Q1 FY05. The Oracle On Demand customer base continues to expand across the world, include customers of all sizes, and span many industries, business processes and Oracle products. Oracle customers continue to select Oracle On Demand -- the Company's applications management and Software as a Service offering -- to help them achieve a better total cost of ownership, while increasing the value of their investment in Oracle software. Customers can focus more on their core competencies. "With Oracle On Demand, customers can gain a considerable advantage over their competitors by focusing on their business and having Oracle provide and manage their Oracle software solutions," said Juergen Rottler, executive vice president, Oracle On Demand and Oracle Support. "The momentum for Oracle On Demand continues as customers seek to drive both increased efficiencies and business value in how they deploy, manage, operate, and evolve their software investments. Customers benefit from Oracle's six years of experience in pioneering Software as a Service and know that Oracle has the experience to balance standardization at the software level and commoditization at the IT infrastructure level with customer affinity and flexible service levels that allow the solution to evolve along with the customer's business." Global Customer Adoption The growing number of customers that have selected Oracle On Demand include, among others, Atento, Agencourt Bioscience, Grupo Abril (Brazil), COPESA (Chile), Jurong Port Pte Ltd., Manitowoc Foodservices Group, McCarthy Building Companies, Mercury Computer Systems Inc., Rochester Institute of Technology, SATO, Source 42 Limited, Sunkist Growers, Inc., and Whirlwind Steel Buildings Inc. "When Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. launched a major initiative to upgrade its ERP tool set, we selected Oracle's E-Business Suite for all business areas," said Steve Nigzus, CIO at Mercury Computer Systems. "Furthermore, we wanted to have our ERP system managed by Oracle, knowing that Oracle On Demand would help us to leverage our investment effectively. We've worked with Oracle over the last 5 years and we look forward to continuing the relationship." "By adopting Oracle software, we are streamlining and automating our business processes globally," said Gary Marshall, director of Information Technology, Markem Corporation. "Every day, we have access to worldwide business intelligence based upon up-to-date, accurate information presented to make key operational and strategic decisions. With Oracle On Demand, we're accelerating this process and don't have to manage the technology so we can spend time moving the company forward." Oracle On Demand simplifies enterprise computing by reducing the need to handle software upgrades, patches, and the day-to-day maintenance required to keep customer solutions available and secure. Oracle On Demand builds operational partnerships with customers and provides capabilities to support the complete solution lifecycle.