Oracle going dark

Josh Greenbaum is complaining that Oracle seems to be less and less open these days in dealing with the press and analyst community and is adopting a "circle the wagons mentality" as it moves into year two of its Fusion strategy.

In his article in Datamation, he writes, "Oracle is harder and harder to cover, and harder and harder to understand – at a time when its message is more complex and craves more understanding than ever before."

Josh contrasts Oracle's recent "closed door policy" with that of two of its top competitors:

Two recent conferences I've attended, SAP's Sapphire and Microsoft's Convergence, were noteworthy for the opportunities the companies afforded analysts and the press to talk to executives, customers, and partners. For anyone trying to answer the hard questions – like which company has a better long-term strategy – it's much easier to have an opinion when you're given something to go on. Especially if that information is constantly updated and refined by access to the actual decision-makers.

He also points out that when access is limited, it's easier for analysts to write negative stories than positive.

Ironically, I've been hearing positive things recently about Oracle's work with its J.D. Edwards acquisition. One source, who had a long career with JDE and still has contacts within Oracle's JDE offices in Denver, says that Oracle is doing a far better job with JDE than PeopleSoft ever did.

Furthermore, in spite of some misteps at first, Oracle seems to have gotten its act together in how it tests and releases upgrades for JDE.

So, why the entrenchment at Oracle?