Article fails to identify if the sales figures are limited to database or whether they include the enterprise apps (i.e., EBS/Fusion).
Regardless - the quote "Does the cloud-related business grow quickly enough to offset any long-term weakness in new software licenses? To us the answer is yes" seems to indicate that this is all sales for ORCL.
Oracle relying on cloud is pitting them against some more entrenched cloud-only vendors (e.g.: Workday, Salesforce) and disrupts the business model for their main cash cows. Typical innovator's dilemma territory if that's their play.
I think SAP is stealing a lot of Oracles non-db business ATM. From the last few years, all i hear is SAP hosting, SAP consultants, etc. Oracle has taken a backseat, with the only new Oracle software I have seen being their crappy hosted services.
The mayor problem with using open source in the Corp. world, is that many companies put rules such as:
"Any new technology product MUST have a multi million dollar company with 24/7 support available."
It never made any difference that it would be cheaper to hire two or three techs to do the job, as they come from different budgets (CAPEX vs OPEX).
They seem to be approaching this by offering very reduced functionality on the cloud, so that "real" enterprise businesses will still buy apps to self-host (hopefully on Exa boxes). At least this is what I'm seeing in Middleware.
It's long been known that Database would eventually see a decline, which is why they bought loads of products to ring-fence it (as well as attacking SAP). I just wish their support was still worth the money -- in most cases it's not. That's the real problem IMHO.
Regardless - the quote "Does the cloud-related business grow quickly enough to offset any long-term weakness in new software licenses? To us the answer is yes" seems to indicate that this is all sales for ORCL.
Oracle relying on cloud is pitting them against some more entrenched cloud-only vendors (e.g.: Workday, Salesforce) and disrupts the business model for their main cash cows. Typical innovator's dilemma territory if that's their play.