Oracle takes on Lotus, MS Exchange

The company's newly released software lets businesses manage e-mail, voice mail and scheduling, as well as hold Web-based meetings and allow employees to sync their information to wireless handheld devices. It includes software, called Oracle Files, for managing different kinds of content, including audio, video, e-mail and Microsoft Word documents.

Oracle's Collaboration Suite is the latest entry in the billion-dollar collaboration software market that is dominated by IBM's Lotus products and Microsoft's Exchange e-mail server software.

In 2001, IBM led the $1.6 billion market with a 49 percent share of revenue, followed by Microsoft with 39 percent and Novell with 6 percent, according to market researcher IDC. Microsoft, however, ranked first in the number of customers. Of 210 million users worldwide last year, Microsoft captured 40 percent, followed by IBM with 35 percent and Novell with 16 percent.

Steven Levine, Oracle's marketing vice president for the Collaboration Suite, predicts the company can gain market share by selling the product to Oracle's database customers, as well as to Microsoft and IBM customers. IBM shipped new Lotus software this week, while Microsoft plans new Exchange software in mid-2003.

Levine said Oracle's product is less expensive and more secure than software from its rivals. Analysts, however, say it's too soon to know whether Oracle can grab a share of the market. A lot depends on the product's quality, said IDC analyst Mark Levitt.

"It comes down to this: Oracle needs to demonstrate and convince several large customers what they are saying is true, and what they promise is fact," Levitt said.

Oracle's push into e-mail and collaboration software is not entirely new, but this is the first time the company has sold a separate product for collaboration. At the Comdex trade show last November, Oracle offered its 9i database and application-server software as a more reliable and secure alternative to Microsoft Exchange to house e-mail.

Oracle's Levine added that the Collaboration Suite is not a typical first release of a product because it combines new and previously released Oracle technology. The collaboration software includes technology from a recent acquisition of Steltor, which builds software that lets employees manage their calendars.

The Oracle Files software stems from the previously released Internet File System used for storing and managing different kinds of data, Levine said. The Internet File System was originally positioned as a replacement to the Windows File System built into Microsoft's operating system.

Oracle's collaboration software lets current Microsoft customers continue to use the Outlook e-mail software on their PCs, while storing that data on Oracle servers, Levine added. It also provides for unified messaging, which lets people check their e-mail, voice mail and faxes from a PC, phone or other device.

The Collaboration Suite runs on Oracle's 9i database and application server. Levine said that future versions will have tighter integration with Oracle's 11i eBusiness Suite, software that automates a company's financial, human resources, customer service and manufacturing operations.

Oracle's product currently runs on Solaris, HP-UX and Linux operating systems. Within a month, the product will run on Windows, Tru64 and AIX. Levine said Oracle also plans to offer the product as a hosted service.