Oracle users are mostly happy with the company’s database products but are becoming less satisfied with application suites, according to the UK Oracle User Group’s (UKOUG) annual survey.

Migration to Oracle’s 10g database is rising. It is now used by 37 per cent of database customers compared with 17 per cent last year, while 9i users fell from 61 per cent to 43 per cent.

But satisfaction with application suites, such as customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning and procurement systems, is down.

‘These results show that Oracle’s new products and its ability to support them continue to strike a positive chord with the user community,’ said UKOUG chairman Ronan Miles.

‘But it needs to learn lessons from previous acquisitions of application companies and deliver on its promises, or the disappointment among users will be much higher.’

Other areas of concern include support, with 41 per cent of customers either neutral (34.7 per cent), unhappy (5.2 per cent) or very unhappy (one per cent) with support services and software licensing policies.

But users are positive about Oracle’s acquisition of Siebel, with 64 per cent feeling secure of very secure that their investment is in safe hands. However, satisfaction among PeopleSoft and JD Edwards customers has waned since last year’s mergers.

Butler Group senior research analyst Teresa Jones says Oracle’s applications business is still not as well regarded as its database products. ‘Oracle will continue to invest in the future, but it must keep existing customers happy,’ she said.

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