Oracle President Sees Less as More

Will On Demand, or Software as a Service, became the predominant mode of software delivery?

I don't think that's going to happen in the next five years, maybe even 10. These systems take a long time to change. You can't extrapolate too much from Salesforce.com(CRM Quote). They have a very simple application. It will shift in that direction but very slowly.

Oracle has been talking about the new fusion apps that blend the best features from PeopleSoft, Retek, JD Edwards and other acquisitions with Oracle's own software. Will the fusion version of the existing Oracle e-business suite be markedly different?

No. We are not starting with a blank sheet of paper. The existing data model is the best in the world and we plan to move it over. The idea is to keep the best things; look across the applications and see what features people actually use and repurpose on a more modern platform.

Since you're moving the data model, can we conclude that the task of building the fusion applications may not be as difficult as some people think?

Exactly.

Will the new applications support non-Oracle databases, such as SQL Server and DB2 and non-Oracle middleware?

Middleware, yes; the databases are under evaluation.