Oracle® Fusion Middleware

Frequently Asked Questions

Oracle Fusion Middleware – FAQ D1.9P

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 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................3
What has been announced? .............................................................................3
Why did Oracle select “Oracle Fusion” and “Middleware” for the name? ..........3
PRODUCT IMPACT ........................................................................................3
What is Oracle Fusion Middleware?..................................................................3
What’s not included in Oracle Fusion Middleware?...........................................4
Does the introduction of Oracle Fusion Middleware change pricing or
packaging for any products? .............................................................................4
Does this change the functionality of any Oracle products?..............................4
Will additional training be required for Oracle Fusion Middleware?...................4
Does this impact the names of Oracle’s products? ...........................................4
Is Oracle Fusion Middleware a product, a suite, or a family? ............................4
IMPACT ON OTHER ORACLE PRODUCTS ............................................5
What is Oracle Fusion Middleware in relation to Oracle's applications strategy?
..........................................................................................................................5
Does this mean that Oracle Fusion Middleware is for Oracle applications only?
..........................................................................................................................5
Does this mean that Oracle applications and Oracle Database naming will
change? ............................................................................................................5
MESSAGING/POSITIONING ........................................................................5
Why did Oracle make this change?...................................................................5
How is Oracle positioning Oracle Fusion Middleware? .....................................6
How should partners use the new brand in communications? ..........................6
EXTERNAL AUDIENCES: Customer Communications ..........................6
What should I tell my existing customers? ........................................................6
How do this announcement impact PeopleSoft and JD Edwards customers? ..6
How does this announcement impact in-flight deals? What should I do?..........7
What will the industry analysts think?................................................................7
Are analysts aware of this change?...................................................................7
What is the impact on our business partners?...................................................7
COMPETITION .................................................................................................7
Is SAP now Oracle’s primary competitor in middleware/infrastructure? ............7
Is this a reaction to SAP’s NetWeaver?.............................................................8
What reactions do we anticipate from our competitors?....................................8
BRAND ROLLOUT ..........................................................................................8
How will Oracle be supporting the launch of this new brand? ...........................8
Who do I contact if I have questions about the brand?......................................8

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INTRODUCTION
What has been announced?
On Monday, April 25, 2005, Oracle announced that it will be branding its family of world-
class middleware products as Oracle® Fusion Middleware and provided a roadmap for
certifying PeopleSoft and JD Edwards applications with this middleware offering.

Why did Oracle select “Oracle Fusion” and “Middleware” for the name?
“Fusion” is a term that is now closely associated with Oracle and its project to unify a
number of different, heterogeneous application product offerings. These concepts are
aligned with the objectives of Oracle’s middleware strategy—enabling our customers to
manage and derive additional value from their heterogeneous IT portfolio.

“Middleware” was selected because it is the term that many customers use to describe
their own problems and the solutions they seek. This will limit the amount of education
that is required in launching this initiative. Additionally, this term is most representative of
the type and breadth of solutions that Oracle offers. Finally, “Middleware” provides
Oracle with the latitude to add more functionality to the brand as it expands its product
offering.

PRODUCT IMPACT
What is Oracle Fusion Middleware?
Oracle Fusion Middleware refers to a family of Oracle products, including:
• Editions of the application server suite
o Oracle Application Server Enterprise Edition
o Oracle Application Server Standard Edition
o Oracle Application Server Java Edition
o Oracle Application Server Standard Edition ONE

• All other application server products

o Oracle Integration
o Oracle Portal
o Oracle Business Intelligence
o Oracle Identity Management
o Oracle Forms and Reports
o Oracle BPEL Process Manager
o Oracle Business Activity Monitoring
o Oracle Developer Suite
o Oracle JDeveloper
o Oracle TopLink & ADF
o COREid Identity Management products (recently acquired from Oblix)
o Oracle Web Services Management (recently acquired from Oblix)

• Oracle data hub products*

o Oracle Customer Data Hub

*
This applies to productized, price-list offerings—NOT product/service engagements or pure
service engagements
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 o Oracle Citizen Hub (Customer Data Hub for Public Sector)
o Healthcare Transaction Base
o Oracle Product Data Hub (future)
o Oracle Financial Consolidation Hub (future)
o Oracle Financial Services Accounting Hub (future)

• Oracle Collaboration Suite

o Oracle Files
o Oracle Email
o Oracle Real-Time Collaboration

• Oracle Enterprise Search (future)

What’s not included in Oracle Fusion Middleware?

• Oracle Database and related database options
• Oracle Enterprise Manager & management packs
• Oracle applications (E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Retek)
• Middleware technologies that are specific to Oracle applications ONLY
(PeopleTools, PeopleSoft Enterprise Portal, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
Technology Foundation, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne XPI)

Does the introduction of Oracle Fusion Middleware change pricing or packaging

for any products?
No. There is no impact on pricing or packaging at this time.

Does this change the functionality of any Oracle products?

No. This does not change any functionality.

Will additional training be required for Oracle Fusion Middleware?

This does not change the functionality of any product. No additional, functional training is
required for you or your customers. However, you may want to reconsider how your
sales or consulting organizations present Oracle in a sales situation.

Does this impact the names of Oracle’s products?

This announcement does not impact current product names. There are no current plans
to change product names. This adds an umbrella family brand above the individual
product names. Example; “Oracle Application Server is a critical component of Oracle
Fusion Middleware.”

Is Oracle Fusion Middleware a product, a suite, or a family?

It is NOT a product or a suite. Both of these terms imply that purchase of one component
requires that you purchase additional components. Oracle Fusion Middleware is not an
all or nothing proposition.

Oracle Fusion Middleware is a family of closely related products that are often deployed
and used in conjunction with one another. They are standards-based, engineered to
work together and have a reputation for interoperability (customers, partners,
independent product reviewers). Customers have the flexibility and choice to buy
individual products or solutions within the family in accordance with the official Oracle
price list.
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IMPACT ON OTHER ORACLE PRODUCTS
What is Oracle Fusion Middleware in relation to Oracle's applications strategy?
Oracle Fusion Middleware is the brand name for Oracle’s proven, world-class
middleware. It applies to our applications strategy in two ways.

First, Oracle Fusion Middleware will be used to unify Oracle’s applications portfolio as
part of Oracle’s “Project Fusion.”

Second, Oracle Fusion Middleware can be used today by our applications customers to
fuse all of their current applications with their heterogeneous enterprises which
include various packaged, legacy and vertical applications, Java, .NET, etc. and the
processes and people that rely on information from these systems to do business.

Does this mean that Oracle Fusion Middleware is for Oracle applications only?
No. In fact, the situation is exactly the opposite. While Oracle will use products across
this family to help build our future applications, Oracle Fusion Middleware provides real
enterprise business and IT value now—helping organizations manage the complexity of
their heterogeneous enterprises today. This is a significant advantage when you
consider that SAP NetWeaver functionality is largely limited to SAP applications.

Does this mean that Oracle applications and Oracle Database naming will
change?
No. There are no other changes planned at this time.

MESSAGING/POSITIONING
Why did Oracle make this change?
Oracle has an integrated family of award-winning middleware products but has been
marketing and branding each of them individually. This has had an adverse effect on
Oracle’s ability to fully exploit this business opportunity:
• Awareness challenges: Complicated names and release numbers are difficult to
remember
• Cross-sell challenges: Customer are not aware of a key Oracle differentiator—
the tight integration between our middleware products
• Executive sales challenges: Difficult to sell products and solutions under highly
technical umbrella “application server”

The Oracle Fusion Middleware brand is intended to make it easier to sell, remember,
and buy middleware products from Oracle and communicate the cross-product
interoperability that makes Oracle middleware a world-class value for strategic
infrastructure.

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How is Oracle positioning Oracle Fusion Middleware?
Oracle Fusion Middleware is a family of customer-proven products that enable
enterprises to achieve greater agility, better decisions, and reduced costs and risk.

The broadest and best integrated offering available, Oracle Fusion Middleware provides
the ability to:
• Streamline and optimize enterprise business processes
• Increase the accuracy and timeliness of information and decisions
• Exploit & re-use resources and services across your heterogeneous enterprise
• Minimize IT time and resources spent on maintenance - re-focus on adding value
and differentiation
• Secure enterprise information and ensure compliance

How should partners use the new brand in communications?

First, always use the brand and “Middleware” descriptor in its entirety—“Oracle Fusion
Middleware.” Never abbreviate it (e.g., “Fusion Middleware” or “Fusion”) or otherwise
vary it. Second, the 1st headline usage and 1st body copy usage should feature the ®
mark as featured at the beginning of this document, “Oracle® Fusion Middleware.”

Do not use the “Oracle Fusion” brand with any other products, services, or offerings.

EXTERNAL AUDIENCES: Customer Communications

What should I tell my existing customers?
This announcement doesn’t impact current sales opportunities or the products
customers have already purchased.

Oracle is making it easier to understand our broad and diverse product sets—in
language that customers use. Our intent is to make the connection between products
more intuitive—so it’s easier to understand. Tactically speaking, when the brand rollout
is complete this should make it easier to search for information and get support for
products.

How do this announcement impact PeopleSoft and JD Edwards customers?

The Oracle Fusion Middleware announcement does not impact functionality for any
customer. However, within the same press release Oracle announced that it will certify
Oracle Fusion Middleware with PeopleSoft and JD Edwards applications—a move that
will greatly benefit these customers.

This does not mean that PeopleSoft and JD Edwards customers will have to replace
existing middleware or database products currently in-use. Oracle has stated its support
strategy publicly. Certification of Oracle Fusion Middleware with PeopleSoft and JD
Edwards is driven by customer demand and provides these customers with another
choice in selecting middleware solutions.

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How does this announcement impact in-flight deals? What should I do?
This announcement does not change any products or pricing. If you want to take
advantage of this news as a part of the sales cycle, you could take the following steps:

1) Understand what’s included in Oracle Fusion Middleware

2) Understand what products the customer already has that are a part of the family
3) Communicate to the customer that Oracle is consolidating its related middleware
products under a single brand, and that the products they have now are even
more closely associated with a complete family
4) Use positioning points above (“How is Oracle positioning Oracle Fusion
Middleware?”)

What will the industry analysts think?

If anything, analysts should be happy with this announcement. Many of them have
struggled with our naming conventions for years. This announcement makes it easier for
people to remember Oracle by name and make it easier for Oracle to compete against
companies who have benefited from building their own sub-brands.

Our straightforward naming convention shouldn’t require much market education and will
enable us to highlight one of our key differentiators: the flexibility of a-la-carte packaging
with the interoperability of a tightly integrated family.

Are analysts aware of this change?

Yes. Oracle has reached out to key, tier-one analysts who cover the lines-of-business
affected by this change and advised them of Oracle’s plans. Feedback so far has been
overwhelmingly positive.

What is the impact on our business partners?

This should be nothing but good news for Oracle’s partners. Systems Integrators, ISVs,
and VARs always benefit when Oracle makes things easier for customers. The common
family brand name provides SIs with yet another tool to align their practices and ISVs
and VARS will benefit from Oracle’s communication of the brand (and resulting increase
in awareness) in FY06 and beyond.

COMPETITION
Is SAP now Oracle’s primary competitor in middleware/infrastructure?
No. IBM, Microsoft, and BEA continue to be our primary foes in infrastructure. Oracle
Fusion Middleware is relevant and useful, and is the most complete and integrated
infrastructure solution available for any customer—whether the customer has
applications from Oracle or not.

SAP is relatively unproven in infrastructure but is aggressively pursuing this market.

Thus, Oracle Fusion Middleware is positioned as an independent family (for
heterogeneous enterprises)—but remains closely aligned with Oracle’s applications
strategy.

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Is this a reaction to SAP’s NetWeaver?
No. Companies in all industries use brands to streamline communications with
customers, “organize” broad product portfolios, and develop certain attributes around a
specific brand.

“Oracle” is and will always be the primary brand. The introduction of the Oracle Fusion
Middleware brand is a marketing tool that will enhance the company’s ability to
communicate with customers and prospects about specific sets of problems and
solutions.

What reactions do we anticipate from our competitors?

The most common tactics will be to 1) de-position Oracle Fusion Middleware as a future
that won’t be delivered until Oracle completes the integration of EBS, PSFT & JDE; and
2) minimize the news value of this announcement as “just a name change.”

You can use the same counter-tactics to address both:

• “Oracle Fusion Middleware is a brand strategy to make it easier for our
customers to understand the products that we have today—and the tight
integration across the brand family.”
• “We’ve found that organizations often short-list individual Oracle middleware
products because they’re best of breed in their class—and they buy when they
see how well it all works together. It makes sense to have a naming convention
that makes the connection.”

BRAND ROLLOUT
How will Oracle be supporting the launch of this new brand?
Oracle will be rolling out the Oracle Fusion Middleware brand as a component of the
company’s FY06 middleware campaign plan. The campaign will officially launch with the
start of the new fiscal year—but you will begin to see signs of the campaign
(www.oracle.com, collateral) between mid-April and the beginning of June. The
campaign is intended for communication on a worldwide basis and will be adopted
across the regions based on demand-generation board priorities.

Who do I contact if I have questions about the brand?

This FAQ is your first stop. If you have questions that are not addressed here, please
contact your local Oracle PartnerNetwork office.

Oracle Fusion Middleware – FAQ D1.9P