Ellison talks of pricing-model change

Also: Sun to introduce Project Orion; HP eyes SOHOs; Cisco, Intel and IBM team for marketing push; and more

• The practice of pricing enterprise software on a per-processor basis should be replaced with a flat annual fee that lets businesses use as much software as they want, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said last week. Ellison made the pronouncement at his company’s OracleWorld customer conference, where attendees not only heard talk of pricing models but also of acquisition strategies, a call for new standards in grid computing . . . and instructions to evacuate the building for a bomb scare that proved harmless. “Where I think we’ll go is toward enterprise licensing,” Ellison said. “You pay an annual recurring fee and use as much software as you want, and I think that’s a much more sensible model to use.” Ellison also reaffirmed his company’s commitment to acquiring PeopleSoft. It also was revealed at the show that Oracle is trying to establish a new consortium to hammer out technology standards for grid computing in commercial environments. That effort appears likely to butt heads with a grid standards effort already underway.

• After months of speculation, Sun is expected to formally introduce its Project Orion software at the SunNetwork 2003 Conference this week and lay out exactly how much the integrated software bundle is going to cost. In February, Sun first detailed its strategy to package all of its infrastructure software and then update it on a regular quarterly basis – a plan code-named Project Orion. This week, the software bundle will be introduced as the Java Enterprise System. The Java Enterprise System will include directory server, identity management server, Web server, integration server, messaging, calendaring, instant messaging, portal server, Sun cluster software and a new release of the Sun One application server.

• HP plans to unveil several products and services this week tailored for small and midsize businesses. The launch will take place during the Small Business Administration’s National Entrepreneurial Conference and Expo scheduled for Sept. 17-19 in Washington, D.C. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Small Business Administration, a U.S. federal agency that provides assistance to small businesses. HP released several new products for SMB customers already this year, including new notebooks and desktops. In May, the company also funded the launch of the Information Technology Solution Providers Alliance, a group developed to help large vendors reach SMBs more effectively through a variety of distribution channels.

• 3Com last week said it will outsource all of its manufacturing in an effort to further reduce costs, resulting in up to 1,000 job cuts. Over the next six months, 3Com will move its manufacturing, distribution and related activities for enterprise network products to Flextronics International of Singapore and Jabil Circuit of St. Petersburg, Fla., the company said. 3Com also established a Taiwan Design Center for designing and manufacturing low-end, standardized volume products. The facility in Taiwan will be operational by the end of November and fully staffed with 3Com personnel and partner personnel by the end of May next year, 3Com said. As part of the outsourcing actions, 3Com said it would close its manufacturing facility in Dublin by the end of February. The moves will affect about 1,000 3Com employees worldwide, the majority in the company’s manufacturing and supply-chain operations.

• Cisco, Intel, IBM and other companies will push converged voice, video and data networks through a newly formed marketing organization, the new group announced last week. The Enterprise Communications Association brings together product vendors, service providers and sales channel partners that want to promote converged networks in companies of all sizes. It aims to educate potential customers about converged network technologies and help the industry develop effective sales and service strategies. Other large founding members of the ECA include network equipment vendor Siemens Information and Communication Networks and IT distributor Ingram Micro.

• The Internet Society of China is hoping to bring the problem of spam under control in the world’s most populous country by blocking e-mails sent from about 125 servers that have been identified as sources of junk e-mail. But the move, which is limited in scope, falls short of shutting off access from hundreds of servers at Chinese ISPs that are sources of spam in China and around the world. The blocked list is heavily tilted toward heading off spam sent from servers in Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, and includes eight servers in China, 90 in Taiwan and 27 in other countries, including 16 in the U.S. and six in South Korea. The ISC has been concerned for some time with the mounting problem posed by spam and actions taken by ISPs in other countries to blacklist Chinese servers that are used to distribute unsolicited e-mails.