Careers at Oracle

Mission

Oracle is a global technology company specializing in providing software solutions for businesses including database management systems.

Business and Product segments

Enterprise software. Oracle develops software solutions aimed at businesses. This includes database software, business applications, and development tools.

  • Database software comes in the form of the Oracle Database system. This is a powerful object-relational database management system for businesses.
  • Business application suites. Oracle also provide the Oracle E-business Suite. This is a set of software solutions designed to perform enterprise functions such as customer relationship management and human resource management.
  • Development tools include a set of tools for developers to create their own applications. There is a host of tools available, but the most popular is JDeveloper, a dedicated suite to help develop Java applications. There are also two operating systems dedicated to the Oracle platform – Oracle Solaris and Oracle Linux.

Hardware. Oracle also sells a vast range of hardware to businesses. These are either servers or data storage devices. The two main hardware products are:

  • Exadata machine. A combined hardware and software system optimized for using Oracle products. The hardware component comes in the form of space to store the data, and the software is the Oracle database software. It is marketed as “hardware and software engineered to work together”.
  • Exalogic machine. This machine contains a group of web servers with one of the two Oracle operating systems pre-installed. It is used to run the Cloud services that the company provides.

Cloud services. Oracle provide a cloud service option for enterprises that want to utilize the latest technology. This includes Software as a Service, a cloud service for enterprise applications. There is also the Platform as a Service, a virtual cloud service that allows enterprises to build new apps and extend existing software such as databases, big data and Java servers.

History

Oracle, as with many successful companies, started when someone saw a gap in the marketplace for a product. This someone was Larry Ellison, an American entrepreneur from New York. The product he saw an opening for was a working relational database. Ellison attributes his inspiration for this idea to a paper he read on relational database management systems from 1970 written by Edgar Codd, the innovative English computer scientist who founded relational databases.

Ellison and two of his peers, Bob Milner and Ed Oates, recognized the enormous potential of relational database models for enterprises . Together they decided to take action and start a company. In 1977, the trio formed Software Development Laboratories in California. The first prototype of their relational database software was formed in 1978. They named it Oracle, the title of a project they worked on together with their previous employers, Ampex Corporation. The first prototype was never released for sale. Instead, the first commercial version was released in 1979.  The company was renamed to Relational Software Inc in the same year.

Throughout the early stages of the 1980s, the team worked together to promote and expand their database software. In 1982, they decided to settle with the company name Oracle for closer alignment with their primary product . Having successfully launched the Oracle software for PC's in 1984, the company went public two years later with an impressive revenue of $55 million. The Oracle platform was an incredible success, with enterprises around the world making use of it. Just four years after they went public, revenues increased ten-fold.

The 1990s was a period of worldwide technological explosion. Oracle was kept busy during this decade, releasing its own web browser and updating the software to include internet technology and support for increasingly large amounts of data. They also incorporated the Java platform into their products and released a  version of their software on the Linux operating system. This decade saw the departure of one of the three founders Ed Oates, who retired in 1996. Bob Milner passed away in 1994 at just 52 years of age.

Oracle continued their unrivaled industry success throughout the first decade of the 21st century. In 2002, it became the only database management system on the market to pass 15 industry standard security checks. Oracle recognized the importance of rigid security in a world increasingly reliant on the internet. Their dedication to developing safe software ensured they remained an industry leader.

Oracle has been successful now for over three decades. It is second only to Microsoft in terms of revenue in the software industry.  This is down to the innovation and dedication of the three original founders in developing a complete suite of relational database software solutions for enterprises. Oracle continues today to innovate and refine its products. Their persistence in keeping up to date with trends in technology is evidenced by the most recent company slogan “Integrated Cloud Applications and Platform Services”.

This reflects the company's integration of cloud computing technology. Oracle generated an incredible $38 billion of revenue in 2015, proving that businesses are still reliant on their expertise in providing stellar database management software solutions.

Benefits at Oracle

Business model of Oracle

Customer Segments

Oracle itself is aimed at enterprises, which could be regarded as a mass market. But this can be further segmented, depending on the industry that each enterprise is in. Oracle is a company that takes pride in developing industry-specific database and information system solutions.

This means its customers are segmented into the different industries that Oracle specializes such as communications, education, financial services, health sciences, hospitality, retail, and utilities.

Value Proposition

  • A thriving cloud system that provides an enterprise-grade cloud application suite for businesses. Only Oracle has invested to this extent in cloud computing. It is paying off with an unparalleled level of choice, accessibility and security for data information systems.
  • Unrivaled expertise in a vast array of industries. This ensures Oracle applications can be tailored to meet the needs of specific businesses.
  • By meeting business needs better than its competitors, Oracle delivers a high return on investment for companies that utilize its on-site or cloud database application suite.
  • Oracle delivers unmatched support for businesses using their products. This leads to long-term relationships that increase customer satisfaction and generate more leads for the company.
  • Continued significant investment in R&D ensures Oracle always remain one step ahead of their competition. In fact, Oracle tend to report an annual expenditure on R&D of somewhere close to 15% of revenues.

Channels

Oracle employs a significant sales force to market its products. This means a particular emphasis on face-to-face interaction with prospective clients. This intimate level of interaction with businesses helps ensure that the sales team understands the particular needs of a business. The attention to detail here ensures a high conversion rate of leads into new clients.

As a technology giant, it also makes sense that they devote some of their marketing budget to the web. This means an impressive website that highlights the key features of all software products.

As a global technology company, Oracle utilizes a host of other sales channels including independent software vendors, education providers and re-sellers.

Customer Relationships

As a technological giant, Oracle puts emphasis on building a stellar online community that allows for prompt communication with clients. This comes in the form of online support forums and dedicated live chat assistance to help deliver a streamlined customer support experience that ensures long-term relationships with clients.

The level of detail that Oracle puts into ensuring stellar and personalized communication that ensures issues are solved promptly results in a very low abandonment rate.

Key Activities

Oracle's key activities have always centered around innovation and results. As part of a constantly evolving industry such as technology, the developers at Oracle are always focusing on upgrading their existing software solutions to meet the needs of the businesses they work with. Most recently, this has meant incorporating cloud technology into their applications and tools. The developers spent seven years re-coding their popular software to cater for the cloud.

Oracle also make sure that their products deliver results. In a business environment, this means providing software solutions that are highly secure, flexible, scalable and efficient. The developers work hard to refine their suite of products. Delivering results also entails developing software that generates a good return on investment for companies that invest in it. Oracle achieves this with a vertical industry structure, with industry-specific expertise available that helps businesses utilize their software to remain competitive and cut costs through an efficient information system.

Key Partners

As a global corporation supplying a vast array of businesses with the tools to aid in developing stellar information systems, Oracle has a staggering number of business partners

It is important for Oracle to liaise with other technology companies in ensuring that its software solutions are fully functioning at all times. This includes key partnerships with computer manufacturers such as Dell, Lenovo and HP and other software companies such as Microsoft and Linux.

Key Resources

A key resource for Oracle is their diverse and global workforce of over 130,000 employees. This includes industry-specific experts and consultants who provide valuable insights to businesses on the use of their products and help generate new leads. It is also important to consider the level of customer support. Oracle employs over 18,000 support staff. These people are vital in maintaining company's reputation as an industry leader in support offered.

As a publicly listed company, another key resource for Oracle is its investors. The list of investors grows by the day and ensures that Oracle can continue to develop and innovate.

Cost Structure

The three main costs for Oracle are technology, sales and R&D.

Technology is self-explanatory here – Oracle is a tech company that needs to invest a lot of money every year in expenses such as dedicated web servers, computer programming and maintenance of their software.

The sales costs arise from employing a dedicated sales team to generate leads for the company. There are also the costs of advertising their application suites to consider.

R&D is another significant expenditure. As a technology company priding itself on innovation, a significant chunk of the company's annual budget is reserved for R&D expenses to help inspire new ways to make its software more efficient.

Revenue Streams

Oracle generates its revenues from businesses that purchase a license to use its software. As a provider of database management systems to the majority of the world's leading businesses, Oracle derives some 80% of its revenue from the Fortune 2000 companies. The remaining 20% is composed of other income from companies in the public sector and non-profit institutions.

Our team

Larry Ellison,
CTO & Co-founder

info: One of the original founders of Oracle, Ellison was the CEO from 1977 until 2014. He now takes on the role of Chief Technology Officer and executive chairman of the board.

Safra Catz,
Co-CEO

info: Having joined Oracle in 1999, the Harvard Law graduate worked her way up through the ranks to eventually become Co-CEO in 2014. She is ranked as the 12th most powerful woman in business by Fortune magazine.

Mark Hurd,
Co-CEO

info: He graduated from Baylor University in 1979 with a degree in Business Administration. He is the former president of Hewlett-Packard and currently works as the co-CEO of Oracle, having joined the company in 2010.