With "11g," Oracle Steps Out Of IBM's Middleware Shadow

The latest release of Oracle Fusion Middleware, dubbed "11g," establishes Oracle as the innovator among Java platform vendors. The first modules of Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g — the core Java application server, development tools, service-oriented architecture (SOA), and portal platforms — exhibit a high degree of integration and the first comprehensive declarative development environment for Java from a major vendor. IBM and SAP, the other big Java vendors, are behind Oracle in providing this level of platform integration and Java-development innovation. Application development and enterprise architecture professionals with significant commitments to enterprise Java should now reevaluate their strategic vendors and decide whether or not to follow Oracle's new path with Java platforms. In considering this path, they should be wary of the high potential cost of Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g as well as the high potential for customer lock-in with Oracle's approach.