In brief: Oracle to cut 2,000 jobs

The integration of Siebel Systems into Oracle will result in the workforce of the combined companies being reduced by 2,000 positions, Oracle said last week. The majority of those laid off will be Oracle employees.

When the integration is complete, Oracle's workforce will number about 55,000. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and other executives spoke on a Webcast last week to discuss the impact of the approximately $5.85 billion deal. On the technology front, Siebel software will form the basis of Oracle's CRM product following the two companies' integration, Oracle said. Siebel's business analytics technology also will play a key role in Oracle's product line, being sold as an attachment to Oracle products and to software that came from recent acquisitions of PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards, Ellison said.

IBM last week announced its acquisition of Viacore for an undisclosed amount. Viacore provides software and services for linking supply-chain partners that want to swap information about product capacity, inventory, delivery and forecasting. Big Blue plans to use Viacore's process integration technology to strengthen its business transformation outsourcing service, specifically in the area of supply-chain optimization and management. It's a market worth an estimated $23.5 billion, according to IBM.

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The integration of Siebel Systems into Oracle will result in the workforce of the combined companies being reduced by 2,000 positions, Oracle said last week. The majority of those laid off will be Oracle employees.

When the integration is complete, Oracle's workforce will number about 55,000. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and other executives spoke on a Webcast last week to discuss the impact of the approximately $5.85 billion deal. On the technology front, Siebel software will form the basis of Oracle's CRM product following the two companies' integration, Oracle said. Siebel's business analytics technology also will play a key role in Oracle's product line, being sold as an attachment to Oracle products and to software that came from recent acquisitions of PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards, Ellison said.

IBM last week announced its acquisition of Viacore for an undisclosed amount. Viacore provides software and services for linking supply-chain partners that want to swap information about product capacity, inventory, delivery and forecasting. Big Blue plans to use Viacore's process integration technology to strengthen its business transformation outsourcing service, specifically in the area of supply-chain optimization and management. It's a market worth an estimated $23.5 billion, according to IBM.

Last year IBM announced its supply-chain BTO service, which combines consulting, technology and services to help companies streamline and gain greater visibility into their supply-chain processes, including procurement, logistics and planning. In acquiring Viacore, IBM gains tools for building business-to-business partner networks. Viacore's BusinessTone service is designed to help set up and maintain links between a company's business-integration infrastructure and the platforms used by its trading partners.

The Internet industry needs to create "self-regulatory regimes" and come up with new technologies to battle online dangers such as spyware, Deborah Platt Majoras, chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, said last week. Majoras also called for "appropriate" law enforcement actions and better consumer education efforts to deal with online risks. Speaking at an Anti-Spyware Coalition event, she said the FTC will host hearings later this year to help Internet users combat online dangers. The FTC held similar hearings in 1995, but "no one even mentioned spyware or similar intrusive software," Majoras said. "Today, however, spyware is fast overtaking spam as consumers' top online concern." The FTC will continue to file lawsuits against spyware distributors, Majoras said. "A consumer's computer belongs to him or her, not to the software distributor," she said. "Buried disclosures do not work, just as they have never worked in more traditional areas of commerce."

People in the United States use the Internet for everyday research more than any other medium, a fact demonstrated by the 55% year-over-year surge in online searches recorded in December, according to market researcher Nielsen/NetRatings. The number of online searches in the United States soared to nearly 5.1 billion in December from 3.3 billion a year earlier, despite just a slight uptick in the total number of Americans connecting to the Internet, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. The number of Internet users in the United States rose merely 3% year-on-year in December, to 207 million people.