WSJ talks to Oracle’s Larry Ellison who gives his thoughts on how to survive the coming tech shakeout:
Recognize that simpler is better. He hopes to switch Oracle’s operations, which span 160 countries, from 1,500 servers to just 24 Dell Linux boxes. Don’t reinvent the wheel. To fly to California, you shouldn’t have to design your own plane, build your own airport and learn to fly. But that’s how much of the tech industry operates. Take advantage of proven technology. “Every child’s unique. Every computer doesn’t have to be.” Remember specialization of labor and economies of scale. “Companies will start doing less of their own computer operations and outsourcing more.” Take cues from the customer. “We became the largest industry in the world by selling things that people didn’t want to buy.” That has to stop, he says.
