Oracle (ORCL) has launched its new "database management system" software’s latest version. But, a number of customers have indicated that they will not upgrade, maybe for a couple of years. The software has a lot of new security improvements but, at large companies, installing all of the complex components can take several quarters. And, Microsoft’s (MSFT) competing SQL Server can cost much less than the latest Oracle upgrade.
The enterprise software company’s new version "11g" has not even launched and word is that companies either don’t need it right away or don’t want the hassle of upgrading. At least for now.
The whole thing sounds a little bit like Microsoft’s (MSFT) Vista launch. PC users are buying the software, but large enterprises are in no rush to make wholesale upgrades. The older version of Windows is hardly out of date, so why sweat?
The PC industry started to run into the problem of selling more computing power as Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD) made substantially more powerful chips a year ago. Consumers and businesses wondered if the additional computing power was needed for most tasks. The processors made the PCs more expensive, but did it make them more useful? For some buyers the answer was "probably not."
Now it is the software industry’s turn. Have Oracle and Microsoft built better mouse traps? Probably. But, the IT world may think its mouse problem is already under control.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected].
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