IDC Says Oracle is Clear Leader in the Global Geospatial Database Management Market

Oracle's Built-In Location-Based Capabilities Help Drive Competitors to Adopt Similar Data Management Strategies

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., April 10, 2003 -- Oracle Corporation (Nasdaq: ORCL), the world's largest enterprise software company, today announced that analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has determined Oracle is the world's leader in what's predicted to be the rapidly growing geospatial database management market. The report predicts that basic spatial information management capabilities -- such as those already provided by Oracle -- will be ubiquitous in database, application server, and data access technology within two to three years, and praised Oracle's innovative move to build Spatial Information Management (SIM) capabilities directly into the relational database. IDC based its findings on analysis of vendor financial statements, census interviews, public information and demand-side research.

According to IDC's recent report titled, "Spatial Information Management: Competitive Analysis, 2002," Oracle holds 80-90 percent market share for SIM-oriented database installations.

"Oracle remains the top choice for spatial information management technology due to its built-in spatial and location-enabled database technology. Their latest release, Oracle9i Database, embeds these features at no additional cost and, in many cases, allows applications to access geospatial data directly from an Oracle(R) Database," said David Sonnen, IDC's senior consultant for spatial information management. "Oracle's development effort will help foundation-level geospatial technology become commonplace."

As the leader in the modern relational database market, Oracle is the only vendor to offer customers a location-enabled database, application server and tools designed for mainstream Information Technology (IT) developers and Database Administrators (DBAs). According to industry experts, 80 percent of business applications today include location content that can be mapped to specific longitudes and latitudes on a map. Examples include sales territories and business locations, utility asset locations, and city grids for emergency planning, though not all this data is currently stored in databases.

"Ordnance Survey is the internationally recognized market leader in its field with over $150 million in annual revenue. We supply map data to every major commercial enterprise in Britain," said Ed Parsons, chief technical officer at Ordnance Survey. "Ordnance Survey manages nearly a terabyte of data in Oracle Spatial; there really is no other database capable of supporting this amount of data. Oracle is unique because it has integrated location capabilities into its database server, making it dramatically easier for organizations to use map, road network and point-of-interest data in their business applications."

"Today's competitive business climate and the increasing demands for safety and security compel every organization to better understand the distribution of resources, assets, customers and competitors," said Andrew Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Database Server Technologies at Oracle Corporation. "Only Oracle provides the location-based capabilities and infrastructure necessary to meet these demands as part of every database we deliver."

About Oracle9i Location-Based Services

Oracle9i Database provides location-based services that support a wide range of applications across all industries -- from automated mapping/facilities management and geographic information systems (GIS), to wireless location services and location-enabled e-business applications. With Oracle9i Spatial and Oracle Locator, location information is an integral part of Oracle9i Database. Users can query location relationships from within the database, such as proximity of a first responder to an emergency call, sales by territory, and the location of service personnel relative to a maintenance site. MapViewer is an Oracle9i Application Server Java component used for rendering maps and viewing geospatial data managed by Oracle9i Spatial or Oracle Locator. Oracle E-Business Suite also can leverage spatial data from within Oracle9i Database.

About IDC

IDC is the foremost global market intelligence and advisory firm helping clients gain insight into technology and ebusiness trends to develop sound business strategies. Using a combination of rigorous primary research, in-depth analysis, and client interaction, IDC forecasts worldwide markets and trends to deliver dependable service and client advice. More than 700 analysts in 43 countries provide global research with local content. IDC's customers comprise the world's leading IT suppliers, IT organizations, ebusiness companies, and the financial community. Additional information can be found at http://www.idc.com .

About Oracle

Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle visit out Web site at http://www.oracle.com.

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SOURCE Oracle Corp.

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