As the rain fell in San Francisco, CA today, Oracle was busy preparing for their annual conference. From setting up tents to putting up banners to even moving potted plants around, everyone was busy putting things where they belong.
Last year, Oracle"s banners focused on the number of customers they had, touting things like, "20 of the top 20 airlines use Oracle." This year, the focus appears to be on how much customers can save by using Oracle. For example, one banner claims that McKesson reduced agreement processing time by over 50%, while another claims Southwest Airlines increased their loyalty program membership by 20% with the help of Oracle software. This seems like a better marketing strategy since it shows actual value to the software stack as opposed to the "follow the leader" mentality.
While the JavaOne portion of the conference started today, the rest of the conference begins tomorrow evening at 8pm ET. We"ll be sharing our thoughts on Larry Ellison"s keynote announcements live and hope you"ll join us for the live blog! Until then, enjoy a few pictures from the Moscone Center.