ACADEMIA

Oracle today launched The Oracle Grid Index, which will provide regular snapshots to measure attitudes and progress towards, and adoption of, Grid-related technologies in Europe. The Oracle Grid Index consists of a single number, derived from research into grid technologies in companies across Europe. With 0 signifying a low score and 10 signifying a high one, the overall Oracle Grid Index for Europe for Autumn 2004 is 3.1(1). The research is being conducted by Quocirca, a leader in Business and IT analysis in Europe, who questioned 603 Corporate IT management respondents from Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, the Nordics, Spain and the UK. Responses to the first survey suggest that Grid Computing is following similar adoption patterns to the Internet. As with the Internet, technology thought leaders already have a strong understanding of the concept and there is a clear correlation between their understanding of the technology, their appreciation of its benefits and their companies' commitment to it. The survey shows that a community of thought leaders(2) is delivering benefits to European business by driving the move toward Grid Computing. Notable research findings: * Thought Leaders are five times more likely than those with a low level of knowledge to appreciate the benefits of Grid technologies (Benefits Index 6.5 versus 1.2). * Companies with a euro 1 billion turnover or 10,000 employees have a higher overall Grid index than companies with euro 100 million turnover or 1,000 employees (3.2 compared to 2.9). The larger companies also have a higher degree of commitment to Grid-related technologies (Commitment Index 2.0 compared to 1.4). * Commitment levels based on activity, investment plans and incorporation of Grid into overall IT strategy are nearly 8 times higher for thought leaders (commitment index 5.4 versus 0.7). * Commitment to its adoption also ranks highest among retail, financial services and utility companies, which is not surprising as these industries often have the greatest pressure on their IT infrastructures. * Benelux, France, Germany and the UK were countries with above European average commitment to grid technology. The research also sheds light on some of the decisions to adopt Grid- related technologies. Of the respondents with a high level of commitment to Grid, over 40 percent said that the overall loading and utilisation of their IT infrastructures was above average, which suggests that balancing infrastructure capacities will be an early driver for uptake. The majority of the respondents (51 percent) also stated that the ability of grid technology to reduce overall IT capital expenditure and operational costs was its main benefit. "It is encouraging to see, even at this early stage, that many European CIOs understand the benefits of Grid technology and in some cases are already getting tangible ROI," said Sergio Giacoletto, executive vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Oracle Corporation. "The information revealed as part of the Oracle Grid Index survey should act as an inspiration for other CIOs to take up the opportunity. At Oracle we are committed to Grid Computing, because we are convinced by the benefits it can give our customers -- and thought leading companies out there clearly agree. In today's global market where IT has an integral role in the overall business success of companies, it is the innovative companies who stay ahead of their competitors. We believe Grid, as the Internet before it, offers the next major opportunity for our customers to get ahead of their rivals." Many have already made an implicit start - standardisation and consolidation Surprisingly, there were even encouraging signs from those companies who are not yet explicitly adopting Grid Computing; the Oracle Grid Index survey shows they are already putting the building blocks in place to adopt the technology. More than half the respondents said they have already finished, or are in the process of, standardising and consolidating key elements of their infrastructures, including their database systems -- and Oracle regards standardisation and consolidation as the two critical first steps on the journey to Grid Computing. Less surprisingly, the survey also reveals that grid adopters are further down the road to standardising and consolidating their IT systems with 65 percent already having standardised their database environments and a further 62 percent having consolidated those environments. "There is strong and clear evidence that those who have proactively investigated Grid Computing and related virtualisation technologies generally regard the benefits in terms of operational efficiency and improved service to users as compelling enough to drive adoption," said Clive Longbottom, service director for Quocirca Ltd. "This is not surprising given the widespread pain and wasted resource associated with fragmented uncoordinated infrastructures that have grown organically over time. Once IT professionals understand that the Grid approach addresses these problems directly, its adoption quickly moves up the list of priorities." Awareness is the key The feedback indicates that lack of awareness of Grid technology and its benefits is a major factor affecting adoption rates. Among the general population of European IT executives, including thought leaders, there is some understanding of application server and storage pooling/virtualisation (35 percent and 33 percent respectively), but knowledge of Grid Computing is lower (22 percent) clearly showing that outside the early adopters there is still a need for an education programme. Furthermore, those surveyed see the concept primarily as an emerging area of discussion in vendor marketing materials and media/industry analyst comment, which provides Oracle with a clear mandate to drive awareness and adoption of the technology among more general audiences. With Europe's IT thought leaders showing the way, Oracle believes that many companies are already making a start by standardising and consolidating key elements of their IT infrastructures, which will enable them more easily to integrate Grid-related technologies. As a result, Oracle is confident that the Oracle Grid Index indicates that Europe, as with the Internet, is embarking on the right path to adopting the Grid, as an ever-increasing number of customers recognise the cost efficiencies and improvements to their networks.