Showing posts with label Oracle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oracle. Show all posts

Friday, January 29, 2010

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Oracle to cut 1000 jobs at Sun

Oracle Corp CEO Larry Ellison cheered the closing of his company's $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems on Wednesday, vowing that Sun will immediately add to Oracle's profits.

He said layoffs won't be as severe as some industry analysts were predicting. Analysts had expected Sun to suffer huge job cuts once Oracle closed the acquisition. But Ellison said Oracle wants to bulk up Sun's staff to improve its sales -- a problem Sun has had trouble cracking since the dot-com meltdown a decade ago.

Oracle is hiring 2,000 people over the next few months for the Sun businesses, while layoffs from the acquisition will be about half that number, Ellison said.

"We're hiring, not firing. We're not cutting Sun to profitability," Ellison said at a conference with industry analysts at Oracle's headquarters here. "We think Sun's a growing business."

Ellison also confirmed that he's interested in buying the Golden State Warriors basketball team, a prospect that had been rumored.

"I'm trying," he said, in response to a question. "Unfortunately you can't have a hostile takeover of a basketball team." The line that got laughs because Oracle is a highly acquisitive company and won a bruising hostile takeover fight for rival PeopleSoft, a $10.3 billion deal Oracle closed in 2005.

Ellison had previously expressed interest in buying an NBA franchise and could take the Warriors if current top man Chris Cohan eventually decides to sell.

Oracle said Wednesday that it completed the Sun acquisition, one week after the European Union offered its long-awaited approval of the deal. European regulators determined the combined company would not harm competition in the database software markets, where Oracle dominates but a Sun division is a growing rival.

Sun was a dot-com highflyer that advanced the technology used to link computers, making them more useful as a network.

The deal with Oracle was announced last April. The US Department Justice cleared it four months later. With Sun, Oracle gets ownership of the Java programming language, which runs on more than a billion devices, and the Solaris operating system. Oracle also gets sophisticated server technology that it can bundle with its software. Sun is the world's No. 4 server maker.

One reason job losses may be limited is the fact Sun has already cut deeply because of its sagging finances. In October, Sun revealed plans to cut up to 3,000 jobs as the antitrust scrutiny dragged on. Sun has already cut about 7,600 workers in three previous rounds of layoffs.

Sun had 27,596 employees at the end of September. Previous Oracle acquisitions have been followed by deep job cuts.

Oracle fired some 5,000 workers after completing the PeopleSoft deal. Many of the layoffs came from PeopleSoft's 11,000-plus work force. The next year, Oracle cut about 2,000 jobs after absorbing Siebel Systems Inc, a company it bought for $5.85 billion and had 4,700 workers.
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Oracle closes $7.4 bn Sun deal

Software major Oracle Corp has completed the takeover of hardware company Sun Microsystems Inc for $7.4 billion.

The deal, which was announced nine months ago, would transform the IT industry, Oracle said in a statement yesterday.

The two companies, which have a significant presence in India, together employs more than 26,000 people in the country. Oracle has more than 25,000 employees in India while Sun Microsystem has 1,200 people.

The Sun Solaris operating system is the leading platform for the Oracle database, Oracle's largest business. With the acquisition of Sun, Oracle can optimise Oracle database for some of the unique, high-end features of Solaris.

"With the addition of servers, storage, SPARC processors, the Solaris operating system, Java, and the MySQL database to Oracle's portfolio of database, middleware, and business applications, we plan to engineer and deliver open and integrated systems--from applications to disk--where all the pieces fit and work together out of the box," Oracle said.

The European Union's antitrust watchdog has approved the Sun-Oracle transaction last week saying the deal would not would restrict competition in the database's market. The approval from the EU came after months of investigation.

In April last year, Oracle has agreed to buy Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion or $9.50 a share in cash.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Sun losing $100 mn a month: Oracle

Oracle Corp Chief Executive Larry Ellison said Sun Microsystems Inc is losing about $100 million a month as European regulators delay approving his company's $7 billion purchase of the struggling hardware maker.

Ellison also said it would not be necessary for Oracle to divest Sun's MySQL database software business to satisfy European regulators who have expressed concerns about his company's ownership of the unit.

"We're not going to spin it off," Ellison said in response to a question during a dinner at one of Silicon Valley's most prominent speaker's forums, the Churchill Club.

Ellison, the world's fourth-richest man according to Forbes, expects the deal will eventually be cleared by European regulators as it was in the United States, without any conditions.

The European Commission is conducting an in-depth probe into whether the competition would be stifled by the combination of Oracle's database, the world's top seller, and Sun's MySQL database, which is widely used to run popular websites.

"The longer this takes, the more money Sun is going to lose," Ellison said during the one-hour-plus on-stage interview conducted by Ed Zander, the former CEO of Motorola Corp and a former Sun executive.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

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Oracle ends computer tie-up with HP

Oracle Corp has ended a high-profile computer-building partnership with Hewlett-Packard Co as Oracle prepares to acquire Sun Microsystems Inc, a rival of HP.

Sun, the world's No. 4 server maker, and Oracle have jointly developed a second-generation version of a specialized database computer, dubbed Exadata. Oracle and HP launched the first version a year ago.

Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison unveiled the new machine on Tuesday, almost a year after he announced his company's entry into the hardware business with help from HP. At the time, he said that HP would be a key ally in that effort.

But the dynamics of that relationship have changed since April, when Oracle agreed to buy Sun for more than $7 billion. Hewlett-Packard and Sun are fierce rivals in the markets for server computers and storage equipment.

The new Exadata computer is the first of what Ellison has said will be many products that wed Sun's hardware with Oracle's software.

An Oracle spokeswoman said Oracle would continue to sell the Exadata computers, built in partnership with HP, until existing inventory is sold out, if customers request that model.

Officials at Hewlett-Packard could not be reached for comment.

When Ellison unveiled the HP partnership a year ago, he told customers that the product could not have been developed without that company's assistance.

On Tuesday he bragged that Sun's technology made the database computer far superior to hardware from rivals including Teradata Corp and Netezza Corp.

"Everything is bigger about Exadata, Version 2. Everything is faster about Exadata, Version 2," he said during a presentation to customers that was broadcast over the Internet.

Oracle does not break out sales of the Exadata machine. But during the company's most recent earnings call, Ellison said that it was one of the most successful products he had launched since he founded the company more than 30 years ago.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

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Oracle cuts CEO's base salary to $1

Software giant Oracle Corp said in a regulatory filing on Friday that it would cut the salary of its chief executive to $1 in fiscal 2010 from $1 million in the previous year.

Chief Executive Larry Ellison agreed to the pay cut, according to the filing. "The compensation committee recognizes that Mr. Ellison has a significant equity interest in Oracle, but believes he should still receive annual compensation because Mr. Ellison plays an active and vital role in our operations, strategy and growth. Nevertheless, during fiscal 2010, Mr. Ellison agreed to decrease his annual salary to $1," the company said in a filing.

A spokeswoman for the company declined additional comment. Oracle's executive compensation packages include a base salary, an annual cash bonus and stock options.

In fiscal 2009, 97 percent of Ellison's overall compensation was in the form of a bonus and stock options. Only 1.2 percent was his base salary and 1.8 percent was other benefits, according to the company.
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Oracle wins approval to buy Sun Micro

Software giant Oracle Corp has won US antitrust approval to buy computer maker Sun Microsystems, clearing a key hurdle in the companies' plan to close the $7.4 billion deal before the end of this month.

Oracle said that the deal cleared the US Justice Department with no restrictions. The takeover also requires approval by the European Commission. US officials in June said they wanted to scrutinise the deal over questions about Oracle's plans for licensing Sun's Java software, one of the world's most widely used computer languages. Since then, investors have been waiting to see how long that might delay the deal.

Analysts have said that the delay has worked to the advantage of Sun's two chief rivals in the server market, IBM and Hewlett Packard Co. They have been courting Sun's customers during the past few months, trying to persuade them to change suppliers amid uncertainty about Oracle's plans for running the server business.

Until Oracle closes the acquisition, it cannot say much about its strategy for Sun's hardware division. Oracle has said it expects to close the deal by August 31. Sun's shareholders have approved the deal.

Oracle agreed to buy Sun in April after the collapse of weeks of talks between the struggling hardware and software maker and IBM.

The deal gives Oracle's outspoken billionaire CEO, Larry Ellison, control of Sun's Java software and the Solaris operating system for Unix servers.

Ellison has said he wants to build and sell Sun computers preloaded with Oracle software and also tweak Java software so that it is easier to use on smartphones and netbook computers.

Friday, August 7, 2009

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Oracle, IBM and Satyam among tax defaulters

State owned telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), Tata Communications, Oracle, Nokia, IBM, and Mahindra Satyam are figured in the list of top 100 tax defaulters in the country.

Disclosing the list of defaulters in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Finance SS Palanimanickam said in a written reply that top 100 tax defaulters owe to the exchequer whopping Rs.1.41 lakh crore - more than three times the amount the government spends on National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) scheme annually to provide employment to below poverty line (BPL) families.

BSNL owes Rs.2,417 crore to the government; Tata Communications has a tax demand of about Rs.505.5 crore. Oracle's tax due is Rs.558 crore, while Nokia owes Rs.448 crore, Mahindra Satyam has to pay Rs.290 crore to the exchequer. IBM's tax due is to the tune of Rs.208 crore.

The list also includes the country's largest state-owned bank SBI, automobile giant Tata Motors, oil major Indian Oil Corporation, Coca Cola India, stock broker Late Harshad Mehta and his associates and other brokers like A D Narrotam and Hiten Dalal.

As per the list, disgraced stud farm owner Hassan Ali Khan tops the list of tax defaulters with an outstanding arrear of more than Rs.50,000 crore. The Minister said that these tax demands also include those which are difficult to recover for various reasons like demands notified under special court, inadequate assets and companies under litigation.

The Centre is taking various steps to recover the outstanding dues. The government has requested the adjudicating authorities like Incomet Tax appellate Tibunal (ITAT) and settlement commission "to dispose of high demand cases expeditious," Palanimanickam said.

However, among special measures being taken by the government to expedite recovery of default taxes includes monitoring of the recovery of amount in large cases by a Task Force. "Invariably arrear demand above Rs.25 crore is monitored by Central Board of Direct Taxes CBDT and between 10 crore and 25 crore by CCIT/DIT (Recovery)," Palanimanickam said.

Friday, July 31, 2009

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Oracle Fin Q1 net profit up 76%

IT financial services solutions vendor Oracle Financial Services Software today said its consolidated net profit rose by 75.99 per cent to Rs 185.78 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2009, over the same period last year.

Consolidated total income decreased to Rs 670.1 crore in the latest quarter against Rs 681.02 crore in the same period last fiscal, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

"We are pleased to open fiscal year 2010 on a positive note, with product business revenues of Rs 442 crore, an increase of 22 per cent compared to the same quarter last year," Oracle Financial Services MD and CEO NRK Raman said.

On the standalone basis, the company has posted a growth of 65 per cent in its net profit to Rs 152.22 crore in the current quarter.

Standalone total income rose to Rs 545.62 crore in the quarter under review, against Rs 462.8 crore in the same period last year.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

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Sources: 'Major' layoffs at Oracle, more to come


Oracle Corp. made "major" cuts in its global workforce on Friday and more are expected to come, say multiple sources and news reports.

Sales staff and consultants working for Oracle in North America were hit hard, say sources, as well as employees who had joined Oracle recently through its acquisitions of Hyperion Solutions Corp. and BEA Systems Inc.

The number of people let go on Friday is unclear. Tim Klasell, an analyst with Thomas Weisel Partners, told Computerworld he thought the layoffs were likely to be in the hundreds or low thousands, rather than the 8,000-figure buzzing about on some blogs and message boards.

Oracle employs 84,000 people globally. An 8,000-employee layoff would amount to about 10% of its workforce.

Based on Oracle's history of acquisitions and layoffs, as well as money the company has already publicly said it plans to spend this year on severance, it will likely keep trimming through Spring of 2009.

"I think they're doing this in waves," Klasell said. "It's not great for morale, but you want to make sure you don't cut into the meat."

One Oracle salesperson based in the U.S. said they were called into a meeting Friday and told the news then. More cuts are likely to come, said the salesperson, who asked to remain anonymous.

"They're going to have to. They're not going to sell any [customer relationship management software] in these times," the worker said. "BEA was very bloated and they've got to prune a lot of those people out."

According to a December 22 filing to the SEC (see page 12), Oracle expects to eventually spend a total of $148 million on severance packages for laid-off employees of BEA, which it bought in January 2008.

While trying to fight off Oracle, BEA changed the terms of its severance in late 2007 so that most employees would receive between 3 months and 12 months of pay and COBRA health insurance if they were laid-off within a year of an acquistion.

Oracle completed its $8.5-billion takeover of BEA on April 29 of last year.

Oracle has already spent $38 million on BEA severances, according to its Dec. 22nd filing, as it laid off 275 BEA employees in California, according to state records, and possibly more elsewhere.

Oracle has yet to file a notice with California's Employment Development Department regarding Friday's layoffs. Alerting the department with Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN) is required by California state law.

However, Oracle has a history of sending WARNs only after layoffs occur. When Oracle announced in January 2005 it would lay off more than 5,000 employees from the recently-acquired PeopleSoft Inc., the state only received WARNs for about 900 workers two weeks after the layoffs occurred.
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Oracle India lays off over 40 people


More pink slips are being handed out in the IT sector. Enterprise software major Oracle laid off over 40 employees across its offices in India.

A company source said they were mostly in sales. "It's part of the global cost-cutting move. This is just the initial move and the numbers will definitely increase. By next week, we should get the actual figures," said an employee in the Bangalore office on condition of anonymity. When contacted by STOI, a company spokesperson speaking from Delhi said, "We will not comment."

Oracle has been operating in India since August 1993 and has about 25,000 employees in over 20 centres. It has three R&D divisions in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Noida. India accounts for the California-headquartered Oracle's largest R&D investment outside the US. Oracle India does global consulting, global support, Oracle on-demand, internet sales and financial accounting and analysis. It has an extensive network of more than 400 channel and alliance partners in India, which includes Infosys, Satyam, Sonata, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro. The company also owns the majority stake in the Indian software company, iflex Solutions.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

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Satyam in crisis: Rumours about the takeover

Rumours about the Satyam Takeover by IBM or Oracle: Offering 19$ per share???
IBM already waiting for many days/years for this situation to buy Satyam??
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Oracle trims staff cost


Source: The Economic Times
MUMBAI: Oracle Financial Services Software, formerly called i-flex solutions, is now taking various steps to cut down its employee costs.

After Oracle’s acquisition of i-flex last year, the company is trying to prune its costs given the current scenario. The firm provides IT solutions to the financial services industry. The news that its is trimming costs as well as manpower is spreading to other sectors as well.

According to sources close to the company, those employees on the bench will be given only 50% of their salary and have been asked to work for fewer hours a day. An employee working with the firm said that even management graduates, who had joined in November would be given a part of their salary, around 40% of the Rs 4.4 lakh pay package that they are entitled to, for December, January and February. A mail sent to the company by ET remained unanswered. The company employs around 11,000 people.