The Channel Wire

September 26, 2008

For IT executives these days, talking about one's 'cloud computing' strategy has become de rigeur. So much so, in fact, that the meaning of the term has been twisted, shaped, and manipulated to the point where some vendors are applying it to just about anything they do.

That's the view of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who on Thursday during Oracle's annual financial analyst meeting railed against the 'cloud computing' bandwagon, delivering his message in a fit of characteristic bluntness.

The Wall Street Journal excerpted Ellison's comments as follows:

"The interesting thing about cloud computing is that we've redefined cloud computing to include everything that we already do. I can't think of anything that isn't cloud computing with all of these announcements. The computer industry is the only industry that is more fashion-driven than women's fashion. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It's complete gibberish. It's insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?"

At its OpenWorld 2008 conference this week, Oracle clarified its cloud computing strategy, revealing plans to let customers run some Oracle products within Amazon.com's cloud computing environment. Executives from Oracle and Intel also dropped hints about an upcoming joint cloud computing initiative between the two technology giants.

As for Ellison's comparison of the computer industry and the fashion industry, Italian fashion designer Donatella Versace couldn't be reached for comment.