Tactical Leader / Strategic Laggard: #1 in Database 4th or 5th in Cloud
Pros
(1) Oracle is full of strong people: Sales / Engineering / Product Management (2) If "Data is the New Oil" Oracle Database is still the best in the business for large scale - mission critical workloads (3) The Exadata Family of On-Premise/Cloud Offerings (Hybrid Cloud) provides a turbocharge for all of your Big Data Needs (4) Good Benefits - Healthcare is a well funded! (5) Fair pay for the role you join today!
Cons
(1) Oracle struggles to compete for mindshare with AWS/Azure/Google Cloud.... So it is a strong 4th or 5th - IBM probably the next biggest competitor. (2) Secret-Secret Who's got the Secret??: Oracle operates on a need to know basis - Oracle is the 1st company I have worked for that does not trust it's employees with information. These leads to poor cross pillar internal collaboration and "Customer Frustration". (3) Legacy Software Licenses is their most valuable asset! - NOT PEOPLE! Enough said, on software licenses and the barriers put up to maintain those assets. PEOPLE are just fungible resources that can be easily pulled in or out! Don't expect any loyalty from your efforts at Oracle - Its all transactional! - You sell your get paid - You provide great customer service yesterday doesn't mean you'll be rewarded tomorrow. (4) Oracle places the most effort on Tactical Execution and Licenses (that doesn't imply they do it well); Strategy (Hmmm... From my vantage point Oracle's biggest weaknesses are 'Strategic Thinking" and "Innovation"). As a serial acquirer they have made huge investments in PeopleSoft, Siebel, JD Edwards, BEA Systems, Hyperion, NetSuite, Sun Micro Systems and the latest big buy, CERNER the strong #2 in Healthcare -- Why not Epic the Leader? Oracle has bought many businesses over the years - They might integrate these cash cows into the business - but they will languish and in almost all cases lack the innovative capabilities that they acquired. Net-Net: if you want to work for a strong large firm that is a player in the Top-10 Technology Providers - Oracle will provide a good place to work. If you are looking for an innovative tech company that values people..... You might want to look somewhere else. Advice: If you are under <40: Look somewhere else for employment. If you are over >40: Oracle is a good weigh station to learn some new skills - But don't stop looking for stronger opportunities and move on quickly.
