Oracle Database Management Strategic Directions

1. Best Practices for managing Oracle database servers.
2. Oracle Fusion Middleware products like J2EE, ADF, XML, BPEL, SOA, Web Services, Discoverer...).
3. Oracle Application Servers and Apache.

As a student of history I went and listened to Henry Kissinger once. He said before World War I there was a tremendous amount of prosperity in the western world but everyone new war was coming. He said there was no reason for World War I to ever have occurred but everyone at that time knew it was inevitable.

If you look at the IT industry today and the different acquisitions that are occurring you can start to see how the competitors and strategies are lining up. Here are a number of the key groups that will define direction and have an impact on where the IT industry is going. I picked these due to their capability to act as change agents:

• Oracle - Database server, middleware, applications.
• IBM - Database server, middleware, professional services.
• SAP - Applications.
• Microsoft - Operating systems and software.
• Sun, HP and Dell - Hardware and professional services.
• Internet companies - Google, Yahoo, YouTube, MySpace, etc.
• Open Source - The companies, products and initiatives of the community.
  
• Web 2.0 - Wikis, Blogs, Social networks, Mashups, etc.
  
• The Internet - The power of connectivity and access.
• Startup companies - The fuel for the Internet.

As I said previously, 2008 is going to be a very interesting year. I'm especially interested in the database and middleware arena. New features and releases coming out towards the second half of 2008 is going to create some very interesting redirections of the IT industry.

As an Oracle DBA or developer where do you see yourself in this Internet picture? Also, how are your skills evolving to stay marketable in this changing world?