Re: Oracle Pricing is kind of lame

greenlex_at_yahoo.com (Dan) writes:

> I agree. Oracle would eliminate SQL Server competition if they only
> had reasonable pricing. Oracle makes it very difficult for small
> businesses to afford their products. I think the per Mhz is
> absolutely ridiculous when there is no way in hell the database will
> use the processor to capacity with the other non-Oracle processes
> running.
>
> By comparison, SQL Server is only $3,000 per processor regardless of
> Mhz. It's a crappy database but some of us have no choice.
>
> The other alternative is to license the Oracle Standard edition for
> $15 per Mhz if you don't need the advanced features of the Enterprise
> Edition.

Which brings up another point.

What if I want only one feature (bitmapped indicies) from the Enterprise edition? It seems like an incredible waste of money (paying literally ten times as much) for such a beastie.

Oracle does indeed have a pricing problem which only puts barriers in front of its users. Just the fact that I have to answer questions like:

  o What is the timeframe of your purchase?   

    (translation: How quickly can I get my commision?)

  o What is the planned budget of your project?

    (translation: Are you even worth my time?)

  o What part do you play in the process?

    (translation: Are you able to sign my commission check, or are

                   you just a peon?)

Perhaps Larry should get on the Cluetrain (www.cluetrain.org).

I'm getting sick of it. I love Oracle's products; I have an instance on an AIX box which has been running for almost ten years now. I dread speaking to their customer "relations" people.

-- 
The wheel is turning but the hamster is dead.
Craig Kelley  -- kellcrai_at_isu.edu
http://www.isu.edu/~kellcrai finger ink@inconnu.isu.edu for PGP block