Oracle OpenWorld: Cisco Shows Oracle Some Love

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At the San Francisco conference, Cisco is talking up its collaboration with Oracle. The joint work involves Oracle applications running on Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS).

In some ways, UCS — which combines storage, networking and servers — competes with Oracle’s storage and server hardware. But in recent days, Cisco CEO John Chambers has been downplaying competition with Oracle, and instead applying competitive heat on IBM, HP and Microsoft.

Cisco and Oracle certainly have a common enemy in HP. Cisco in February 2010 ended its channel partner relationship with HP amid heightened competition between the two companies. Meanwhile, HP recently settled a lawsuit with former HP CEO Mark Hurd, who joined Oracle as co-president in early September 2010.

Back-Room Chatter

Meanwhile, Cisco and Oracle apparently have been holding informal meetings in recent months. During the Avnet Partner Summit (July 2010, Colorado), rumors about closer work between Oracle and Cisco began to surface. A few sources at the Avnet conference said Oracle would have a strong presence at Oracle OpenWorld.

The rumors were accurate. Alexandra Krasne, a content manager for Cisco Worldwide Channels, is attending Oracle OpenWorld and using the Cisco Channels Blog as well as YouTube videos to document the joint Oracle-Cisco work.

No doubt, Cisco and Oracle will increasingly compete over the long-term. But short term, they seem to have larger common foes — mostly notably IBM and HP.

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