Practicing What It Preaches

Steve LeSueur, EditorOracle Corp. said the healthy earnings it has been piling up are due in part to the company taking its own medicine. While the company has been selling its software to help businesses and governments move their operations online, Oracle also has been transforming itself into an e-business.Washington Technology Staff Writer Nick Wakeman got the story from two top Oracle executives, who said the company is about halfway through the process and already has saved $1 billion.But company officials said the goal was not just to increase efficiency and savings, but also use the additional experience and know-how to help their customers make the e-business transformation. Analysts are impressed, but they warn that competition is fierce, and that the large software maker will have its hands full staying astride many of its nimble competitors.And since our last issue, Sandra Bates has taken over as commissioner of the General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service, where she is quickly garnering a presence. One of her first decisions was to speed up the transition by federal agencies to the new long-distance telecommunications program, called FTS2001.Staff Writer Jennifer Freer interviewed Bates about this contract and other issues she will tackle as commissioner.Do not forget to log on weekdays to our Web site, where new articles are posted each morning. These articles complement the longer, more in-depth articles carried in our biweekly publication.Finally, check out page 70 of this issue for a collection of past Tech Toons by illustrator Ralph Butler, who always hits the mark with his illustrations of high-tech news and policies.XXXSPLITXXX-