Business software maker Oracle is finally adapting to a shift in computing that is threatening to turn the company into a relic. The 35-year-old company hailed its technological transition Wednesday at its Redwood Shores, California headquarters, where CEO Larry Ellison announced plans to distribute more than 100 business software applications over the Internet instead of selling them as products that have to be installed on individual office computers.

Ellison said it took thousands of Oracle engineers the past seven years to develop the company's suite of cloud computing services. The work was code-named "Fusion," but Ellison acknowledged it became so disjointed that he understood why it was skewered as "Project Confusion." Despite all the manpower and money that Oracle poured into its cloud computing expansion, the company still couldn't build everything on its own. To fill the gaps, Oracle has spent more than US$3.5 billion buying some of the early pioneers in cloud computing,  ncluding RightNow Technologies and Taleo.

Source: Manufacturing Net