Oracle Spreads Fractional Holiday Cheer
I didn't think I'd have anything to write this week with all the candy canes and holiday cheer about, there's nothing overly compelling. I know, I know, we shipped another build of "Longhorn" Server to beta partners and TAP customers ... but this is business as usual. It went out with a CTP of Windows Vista. A few other reporters covered it ... must be a slow week in the news rooms.
But then, lo and behold, Oracle's marketing and finance departments decided to spread some fractional joy this holiday season. To be clear, Oracle again has revised its database pricing for multi-core processors. But this time the pricing is brand-dependent. InformationWeek's article sums it up best:
Under the new pricing scheme, an eight dual-core server (total 16 cores) containing IBM's Power chip would result in a charge for six Oracle processor licenses (.75 time eight). An eight dual-core server produced by AMD or Intel would result in a charge for four Oracle processor licenses (.50 times eight). The same eight way, dual-core server with Sun UltraSparc would result in two processor licenses (.25 times eight).
If it wasn't enough to have the head of Intel - back in August 2005 - tell the world that dual-core processors will ship in volume in 2006. No ... that's not enough for the oracles of Oracle. It took the Sun Fire T1000 with new T1 processor to motivate Oracle to act. Huh? I must be missing something here. To be fair, here's the statement of Oracle's VP of global pricing and licensing strategy:
"These new pricing policies will enable our customers to leverage the advancements in multi-core chip technology and derive even more value from their Oracle technology software."
Too bad there's not an equivalent of The Onion covering IT software because I'd love to read their take on this news. For now, we'll just have to wait for The Register's deadpan on this news. I'm sure they won't disappoint.
Patrick O'Rourke
