Rare is the computer science student or programmer who hasn’t heard of Oracle. The 21st century is categorized by an eruption of data. It is safe to say that Oracle stores that data in its databases. It is the 2nd largest software company in the world and produces products and services which are used by software engineers around the world. Apart from database management systems like MySQL and NoSQL, Oracle also produces Human Capital Management software, Customer Relationship Management software, Enterprise Performance Management software, and Supply Chain Management software. Here we will find the answer to your question ‘When was Oracle founded?’ and will learn its History.
The ability to see the future
In ancient Greece, Oracles could see the future. The same can probably be said for Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates, who founded Oracle Corporation in 1977. Starting a tech company requires a good deal of vision, and the founders of Oracle were bang on the money concerning databases. Oracle was the first commercially available Relational Database Management System in 1978, and companies forever after would be grateful for its services. In 1986, it went public with $55 million, and by 1987, it was the largest RDBMS software company in the world. Also recognizing the role the internet would have to play, they launched their Power Web Browser in 1996. It has since transformed into a holding corporation with over 50 subsidiaries to help diversify its services.
Murky Origins
Now we come to the lesser-known yet highly interesting part of Oracle’s history. Oracle was co-founded by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates as Software Development Laboratories (SDL) in 1977. Its name was changed to Relational Software, Inc (RSI) in 1979, and then to Oracle Systems Corporation in 1983. What many people might not know is that the name Oracle was actually the code name of a CIA project that the founders were working on at a previous consulting firm. The name was officially changed to Oracle Corporation in 1995. The CIA was effectively Oracle’s first client. Ellison and Miner convinced the CIA to award them a $50000 contract for creating databases for the agency. This was not too hard as the pair had already done the same for them at various companies. Ellison became president and CEO, while Miner supervised software development as the chief engineer. And so, like most inventions, what was useful to the government had immense commercial potential as well.
“Can’t break it, can’t break-in.”
Oracle is most famously known for its databases. In today’s world, data is key. The security of that data may just be the difference between a successful business model and a failed one. Oracle makes the most secure databases in the world is widely used by professions and amateurs alike. Hence their slogan for their database is “Can’t break it, can’t break-in.” • The Oracle Database. It was the first database released by Oracle way back in 1979. Oracle Database 21c is the latest manifestation of Oracle’s original database. In addition to their original database, Oracle Corporation has acquired and developed database technologies such as Berkeley DB, MySQL, TimesTen, Oracle Essbase, and Oracle NoSQL.
A research paper at IBM and an opportunity well spent
A well-documented story about Oracle and its Relational Database Management Systems is that it was inspired by IBM scientist Edgar F. Codd’s paper titled “A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks.” Larry Ellison continued to monitor technical documents published by IBM, which remarked on the efficiency of Relational Databases. Bob Miner and Ed Oates wanted to provide the same Relational Databases for personal computers. Using this almost divine knowledge to their advantage, Oracle was able to predict the rise of relational databases for public and commercial use. In 1978 Bob Miner developed the Oracle RDBMS, the world’s first relational database using SQL. Oracle beat IBM by two years to become the first company to commercially sell relational database management systems. Today Oracle is known as the pioneer of DBMS, not IBM.
The baby steps and a boom
In 1982 the new company, with just 24 employees had a customer base of 75 and annual revenues of $2.5 million. Revenues from international expansion were well spent on further research and development of a portable RDBMS in 1983. This allowed clients to access their database on multiple devices and operating systems hence facilitating Oracle to double its profits to $5 million. This increased to $23 million in 1985, followed by another doubling of revenue to $55 million in 1986. By the same year, they’d expanded to 39 countries and diversified its services to include customer support, education, and consulting. Oracle also became the fastest-growing software company in the world in 1986.
What goes up must come down
In March 1990, Oracle announced a 54% increase in quarterly earnings. However, all was not well under the hood. Net earnings showed a mere 1% rise. In a testament to the volatility of investor confidence, Oracle’s stock plummeted by $7.88. They flew too close to the sun and got burned. In April 1990, shareholders brought a lawsuit against Oracle, accusing the company of making false and misrepresentative forecasts of earnings. Oracle was accused of being too ambitious and overly optimistic about its projects and revenues, which was attested by record revenues of $970 million but a profit of $117.4 million. At this point, Oracle was vastly over-estimating itself, and a few weeks later, the company reported its first-ever quarterly loss. The stock lost more than $2.7 billion in market value in six months.
Perestroika
In response to this bump in the road, Oracle undertook internal perestroika or restructuring. This was preceded by an internal audit which unearthed overzealous sales techniques, accounting methods, poor management, and overestimating market strength. Michael S. Fields was promoted from company vice-president to president. Oracle also reduced its overambitious annual growth rate target from 50 to 25 percent. This also meant combining departments to decrease expenditure and laying off some of their staff which was never a very popular move. Nevertheless, Oracle’s behavior during these turbulent times is a testament to the evolving nature of the market and the dynamism required by all companies, including tech giants, to stay afloat.
Competing with the best
In 1996, Oracle yet again presented its ambitions to dominate the business through its innovations. This time, the fight shifted to the internet. They released the Network Computer (NC) in 1996, thereby bringing them into direct competition with Microsoft Windows and Intel. Despite initial hype surrounding the NC. This was preceded by a test run for an interactive TV in 1993. However, the Network Computer fell short of some of the functionalities and components that commercial desktop computers would come to have, and Microsoft would soon come to dominate the market for commercial desktop PCs.
Is Oracle still relevant?
The use and demand for data aren’t going away anytime soon, and as long as this persists, the demand for secure databases remains. Countless companies and developers use Oracle Databases such as MySQL and NoSQL. In 2008 they acquired Sun Microsystems, which gave them control over the programming language Java, also a must for any computer programmer. Today, Oracle makes about $39.7 Billion in revenue and has hundreds of subsidiaries and products. So, while the Oracle of Delphi might have died out, Oracle Corporation is here to stay and predict the future.
