Oracle Announces Availability of Oracle Collaboration Suite

Oracle announced the immediate availability of Oracle Collaboration Suite, an offering designed to reduce information technology costs and increase end-user productivity.

Built on the Oracle9i infrastructure, the new Oracle Collaboration Suite provides integrated access to information using common communication tools and popular interfaces like Microsoft Outlook.

Instead of requiring many servers to upgrade, maintain, and manage, Oracle Collaboration Suite is is built on a single information repository — the Oracle9i infrastructure. To increase end-user productivity, Oracle Collaboration Suite provides integrated access to information using common communication tools and popular interfaces like Microsoft Outlook. End users, for example, would be able to listen to e-mail using a phone, or listen to their voice mail through e-mail.

For customers using legacy messaging products such as Microsoft Exchange, Oracle Collaboration Suite plans to directly address pain points such as increasing costs, continued forced migrations, and lack of integration across different communication technologies. In addition, Oracle’s centralized approach may provide a manageable alternative to administering the number of Microsoft Exchange and file servers required in an enterprise.

Built on the scalable, secure Oracle9i infrastructure, the suite offers e-mail, voice mail, calendaring, file services, and integrated cross-application search capabilities along with the capability to access this information from any type of client device or by voice.

According to the company, Oracle Collaboration Suite offers the following benefits:

• Reduced Costs of Ownership – The Oracle9i infrastructure for e-mail and file servers requires less hardware and software, thereby lowering administration and capital costs. Oracle’s single point of administration may also give greater control in terms of security, reliability, and availability.
• User Productivity – Users get one inbox for e-mail, voice mail, and fax messages so they can process and manage all of their communications in one place. The UltraSearch capability that searches corporate information assets in shared files, databases, e-mail and Web sites in any location enables users to find relevant information more efficiently by conducting the search once.
• Unlimited Scalability – IT departments get unlimited scalability along with the industry’s highest levels of reliability and security. For example, Oracle Collaboration Suite scales to more than 10,000 concurrent users without requiring additional servers, whereas Microsoft installations generally range from 350 users to 3,500 users.

The price for a perpetual license of Oracle Collaboration Suite starts at $60 per named user. It includes voice support and an unlimited number of devices an individual uses to access information. Oracle also offers Oracle Collaboration Suite as an annual subscription service starting at $15 per named user and as an outsourced service for an additional $10 per month (and up) per named user.

Oracle Collaboration Suite is available now on Solaris, HP 9000 Series HP-UX, and Linux. Support for Windows 2000, Windows NT, HP Tru64 UNIX, and IBM AIX is expected by year end.