Oracle has launched its Grid Index Report at the start
of its Oracleworld show. The study will track the understanding,
acceptance and uptake of grid computing-related technologies in
Europe and will be published every six months.
On an ascending scale of 0 to 10, the first Oracle Grid Index
came in at 3.1.
"The study shows that grid computing is following the same
adoption patterns as the internet did," said Tim Payne, senior
director of technology and marketing for Oracle Europe, Middle East
and Africa.
"We also found that there is a strong correlation between
people's understanding of the technology and their commitment to
adopting grid computing. In short, people who understand it, are
doing it."
For the Grid Index Report, Oracle commissioned Quocirca to
interview 603 senior corporate IT managers from the UK, France,
Germany, Italy, Spain, the Benelux countries and countries in the
Nordic region. The survey was carried out in June and July.
Responding companies were split into two classifications:
companies with turnover of €1bn (£680m) or 10,000 employees and
companies with turnover of €100m (£68m) or 1,000 employees. The
larger companies had a higher overall grid index, of 3.2, compared
to 2.9 for the smaller companies, Payne said.
Companies in the retail, financial services and utility sectors
showed the highest commitment to grid computing, as did companies
in France, Germany, the UK and Benelux, according to the survey
results.
Fifty-one percent of survey respondents cited the primary
benefit of grid technology as being its ability to reduce overall
IT capital expenditure and operational costs.
But the study also found that the lack of awareness of how grid
technology works and the benefits it could provide is a major
factor affecting adoption rates.
"The main objective is to raise the awareness of grid computing,
because as research shows, this market could generate a lot of
revenue in the long term," Payne said.
A study published by IDC in March forecast that the grid
computing market would exceed $12bn (£6.74bn) worldwide by
2007.
According to Payne, the growing acceptance of grid
computing-related technologies generally will have a positive
translation for Oracle's bottom line in particular as, he said, it
is the company with the best off-the-shelf offerings.
"Oracle works right out of the box, while IBM's grid computing
technology is based on its consultancy business. It is unclear what
Microsoft's grid computing strategy is, and though it is emerging,
it's still several years behind in the market," Payne said.
Oracle sees its Real Application Clusters (RAC) technology as
the main stepping stone for its customers toward grid
computing.
With 4,200 RAC customers worldwide (1,500 of which are in
Europe), Payne said Oracle believes it is well on the road toward
further raising grid computing awareness.
Oracle president Charles Phillips has used the show to announce
the release of E-Business Suite Version 11i.10.
The company has already been releasing 11i.10 in piecemeal
fashion. It launched Oracle CRM 11i.10, which includes updated
sales, marketing and partner relationship management modules on 13
August.
Oracle OpenWorld London will run until 8 September.
Laura
Rohde writes for IDG News Service