Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation, one of the major companies developing database management systems and tools for database development, dates from 1977 and has offices in more than 145 countries around the world. As of 2004, it employs over 41,000 worldwide.
Lawrence J. Ellison (Larry Ellison) has served as Oracle's CEO for several years. After being chairman until 2003 was succeeded by Jeff Henley in 2004. Ellison retains his role as CEO. Forbes magazine once adjudged Ellison the richest man in the world.
History
Ellison was inspired by the paper written by Edgar F. Codd on relational database systems named A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks. He had heard about the IBM System R database, also based on Codd's theories, and wanted Oracle to be compatible with it, but IBM stopped this by keeping the error codes for their DBMS secret. He founded Oracle in 1977 under the name Software Development Laboratories. In 1979 SDL changed its name to Relational Software, Inc. (RSI). In 1983, RSI was renamed Oracle Corporation to more closely align itself with its flagship product Oracle database with Howard Johns as senior programmer.
Products
As of J2EE comprises the server part of that version of the database, making it possible to deploy web technology applications. The application server is the first middle-tier software designed for grid computing. The strong interrelationship between Oracle 10g and Java has enabled the company to allow developers to set up stored procedures written in the Java language, as well as those written in the traditional Oracle database programming language, PL/SQL.
Oracle Corporation's tools for developing applications include Oracle Designer, Oracle Developer, Oracle JDeveloper, and several more. Many external and third-party tools make the Oracle database administrator's tasks easier.
Besides databases, Oracle also sells a suite of business applications. The Oracle e-Business Suite includes software to perform financial, manufacturing and HR (Human Resource Management Systems) related functions. User access to these facilities is provided through a browser interface over the internet or corporate intranet. Their slogan is "You can't break it, You can't break in", to signify the increasing demands on information safety. Oracle Corporation also stresses the reliability of networked databases and network access to databases as major selling points
Headquarters
Oracle Corporation has its world headquarters on the San Francisco Peninsula in the Redwood Shores area of Redwood City, adjacent to Belmont, near San Carlos Airport (SQL).
Related corporations
Other corporations which produce products relating to Oracle databases include:
