From PierceED@csus.edu Tue, 06 Mar 2001 12:54:07 -0800 From: "Eric D. Pierce" Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2001 12:54:07 -0800 Subject: Marc Andreessen speaks frankly at Oracle AppsWorld / RE: Oracle Licensing Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain re: Andreessen says software companies, customers act as adversaries backgrounder: ---begin excerpt--- http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/02/22/010222hnandreessen.xml?p=br&s=4?0226mnlv (url may wrap) Thursday February 22, 2001 "NEW ORLEANS -- Marc Andreessen may have created one of the most important pieces of software in history with the Netscape browser, but he swears he will never run a software company again. 'Software is the blob that ate the world,' Andreessen said, addressing Oracle conventioneers in his Thursday afternoon keynote address here. Reciting a litany of [] [*] abuses software [*] companies have perpetrated against consumers, Andreessen [] explained why the need for better customer service will change the system of software distribution. Software makers have had an increasingly adversarial relationship with their customers, largely because software companies do not look for a continuing sales relationship, he said. Speaking in the parlance of software sales people, Andreessen described software sales as 'drive-bys, or hit-and-run sales, in which the company sells the software and moves quickly on to the next sale, leaving customers to fend for themselves. He called a particularly gratifying sale -- one to a customer not expected to use the software -- a 'crack hit.' In a broad and humorous attack on the software industry, Andreessen said an adversarial culture has developed during the last thirty years, in which customers wait like vultures for software companies to reach the end of their financial quarters before ordering software in order to squeeze down prices and in which sellers pitch upgrade after upgrade to customers to boost revenue. Unlike many of the speakers at the week-long conference, Andreessen was [***]fairly candid[***] about the effect the technology market implosion has had on companies in California's Silicon Valley. 'The next few years will be characterized by immense pressure,' he said. Earnings matter again, there is no shortage of competitive pressure, and customer expectations are not getting any more reasonable, he added. Andreessen is now the chairman and CEO of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based LoudCloud, an IT infrastructure services company. He drew a parallel between the services offered by his own company and Akamai Technologies' content delivery networks, the security network of VeriSign, and the Internet addressing system managed by Network Solutions. Each provides a 'standard' for a function for the Internet, he said. The time has come for such standards to become more widespread. In the early days, standardization can be a drawback because it limits creativity,' Andreessen said. 'In a more mature environment, [a standard] is necessary in order to ensure a level of predictability.' Andreessen intends LoudCloud to establish a standard for e-commerce, in effect to commoditize the function of administering e-commerce Web sites. LoudCloud's clients outsource their Web site e-commerce operations to the company, which periodically upgrades the software running the site and aims to guarantee high levels of reliability. Andreessen's comments mirrored the sentiment Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison expressed a day earlier at his own keynote speech here. Ellison attacked the idea of customizing software by integrating different applications from different vendors, calling the process time-consuming, laborious, and expensive. Ellison also wants customers to rely more on Oracle for software customization and improvement in functionality. Oracle AppsWorld continues through Friday at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. george_chidi@idg.com George A. Chidi is a Boston-based correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. " ---end excerpt--- -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Eric D. Pierce INET: PierceED@csus.edu Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists -------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: ListGuru@fatcity.com (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).