Oracle Set To Launch Long-Awaited Fusion Middleware In July

Database giant Oracle Corp. (ORCL) confirmed the launch timetable for its long-awaited Fusion Middleware 11g suite, a set of products that wraps together Oracle's database tools with software from the many acquisitions it has made.

Oracle will unveil Fusion at an event in Washington, D.C., on July 1, the company said Friday.

Oracle has been working on Fusion for around four years, since the Redwood City, Calif., company completed its $10.3 billion acquisition of Peoplesoft Inc., a human relations software company it bought in 2005.

More recently, Oracle has been working to integrate the technology portfolio it acquired when it bought BEA Systems Inc. (BEA), a company which makes middleware, into Fusion. Middleware tools knit databases together with software applications, such as accounting and human resources software.

Fusion has been much anticipated by developers who work with Oracle's databases and software.

"For those of us that inhabit the Oracle ecosystem, the Fusion Middleware 11g release is an enormous shifting tectonic plate," Jason Jones, a developer working for an Oracle systems integrator, said in a blog posting.

Though it is unclear exactly how much the launch of Fusion will contribute to Oracle's revenues, its release is regarded by analysts as a potential catalyst for revenue growth. Oracle charges a one-time fee for initial purchase of a software package and offers subsequent maintenance contracts on its products.

Maintenance fees, which made up roughly half of the $22.4 billion Oracle generated in 2008 sales, are paid by customers to guarantee upgrades to products, bug-fixes, help-desk access and other forms of important support. Oracle charges a fixed 22% of the price of a software application for maintenance.

Over the past five years, Oracle has spent well over $30 billion acquiring companies to build out its portfolio of business tools.

Integrating its diverse range of products is likely to become more challenging for Oracle, which recently agreed to acquire Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA), for $7.4 billion. The deal brings Oracle into the hardware space for the first time in a significant way. Alongside its Java programming language, which is used in many heavy duty data centers, Sun also makes servers.

Oracle shares closed Friday up 0.5% at $20.71.

- By Jessica Hodgson, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6455, [e-mail]