Oracle fattens up Brisbane developers

Oracle has expanded its Australian Software Development Centre in Brisbane, employing an additional 20 developers to work on a major international project.

The centre, which was set up in 2000 as an extension of Oracle’s Silicon Valley operation, now employs 35 developers and has been commissioned to develop a major new eHealth care management system for use by hospitals and health services organisations worldwide.

Oracle Australia’s Queensland general manager, David Redden, predicted there could be further expansion of the centre in the future because of the success of the products it was producing.

He said the health care suite, which would be Internet-based, was due to be completed in about 12 months.

According to Redden, the centre had already produced Java-based applications for Oracle’s E-Business Suite that had received international acceptance and were being used by major financial institutions in New York.

The Java applications enabled the integration of Oracle’s desktop and financial packages and the decision to expand the centre in Brisbane had been a direct result of the success of that product, Redden said.

There were more than 1000 applications for the 20 developer jobs, most of them highly qualified applicants from Queensland, and the availability of such a large talent pool had been one of the reasons the local development centre had been given the go ahead by Oracle in the United States.

Redden said it was possible some of the unsuccessful applicants may still be offered jobs in the future.

He said that unlike some other companies Oracle had not received any cash incentives to establish the centre in Brisbane, however, the State Government had helped develop the business case for the centre and had had direct discussions with Oracle in the US.