Momentum continues for Oracle Application Server business in EMEA

Oracle today announced significant customer growth for Oracle* Application Server in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in the first half of its fiscal year 2004. The number of Oracle Application Server customers grew by 40% during the 12 months to November 2003. Over the two years to November 2003, the customer base grew by 134%. Worldwide, Oracle Application Server has more than 18 800 customers.

"IT and business managers are under pressure to make solid technology choices that boost reliability, scalability, security and flexibility, and yet save money and add value at the same time," said Andrew Sutherland, vice-president, Technology, Oracle EMEA.

"Thousands of our customers are relying on Oracle Application Server to help them consolidate and achieve these goals. The middleware marketplace is still being keenly fought, and these figures show that Oracle is firmly established as a leading candidate for new application server business in EMEA."

The following are among new Oracle Application Server customers who purchased the product during the first half of Oracle`s fiscal year 2004 (June to November 2003): Croatia Osiguranje d.d.; Cesky Telecom, a.s. (Czech Republic); Egyptian Holding Co.for Petro-chemicals, Echem and Egypt Aluminum Co (Egypt); Suomalainen Kirjakauppa Oy (Finland); Centre Hospitalier Cr'eteil - Montreuil (France); Partner Communications Company Ltd (Israel); CUP2000 (Italy); Rikshospitalet HF and Norges Gruppen ASA (Norway); Optimus Telecom (Portugal); Qatar Customs; Supreme Commission of Tourism (Saudi Arabia); Turkish Patent Institute (TPE); and Dubai Police and Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (UAE).

A number of companies took advantage of Oracle`s Switch & Save program, which is available to BEA customers. Companies like Suomalainen, Finland`s largest bookstore, decided to migrate from BEA WebLogic to Oracle Application Server Java Edition to better enable it to support an expected doubling of online sales. Prisacom, part of the Spanish media giant PRISA Group, switched from BEA to Oracle Application Server to consolidate its IT infrastructure and as a result cut support costs by nearly 50%.

The recently released Oracle Application Server 10g is the first middleware software that simplifies the management of applications running in a grid computing environment. The new release offers nearly 600 new features, including advancements in integration and the Web services infrastructure. Customers and partners who tested the beta version of the product have seen significant cost savings, improved performance and manageability.