Rumored Oracle re-org

Update: Forgot to mention when I wrote the content below: I also hear there will be a significant layoff, reducing the number of VP and director level staff significantly as the groups mentioned below are consolidated.

There are some rumors of an upcoming or in-progress Oracle re-org after the departure of Chuck Rozwat and Ed Abbo, and with the impending integration of Sun. Only rumors at this point, but please let me know @dbmoore on Twitter if you have any additional information. All that follows is rumor, things I've heard, and is in NO WAY claimed to be accurate. And if you are a "journalist" and want to use me as a source, you must speak with me first ...

As I understand it, the "theory" behind the Applications re-org is to have all Fusion and "Unlimited" (legacy aka Siebel, eBusiness Suite, JD Edwards, Peoplesoft, etc.) applications under Steve Miranda, so that the older applications can be supported while the Fusion Apps get the key resources they'll need to be finalized and released over the coming year or so. Steve has been running the Fusion Apps project, and previously the other Apps were under Ed Abbo. Steve Miranda will continue to report to Thomas Kurian ("TK").

Each of the "TLA" (three letter acronym) apps (e.g. FI, HCM, CRM, SCM/PLM) would be under a single leader, enabling efficient allocation of resources between the older apps and the Fusion Apps. Note that this, if true, would really signal the beginning of the end for the "Unlimited" suite, but also the imminent arrival of the Fusion Apps - the best domain experts would be available to work on Fusion Apps, and would likely move. As one source said, no one on Fusion Apps wants to work on the legacy apps, and everyone on the legacy apps wants to work on Fusion. As I hear it, Anthony Lye will head up CRM, Rick Jewel will head up PLM/SCM, and other obvious candidates will head up the other topics.

The theory behind the re-org that will follow the Sun integration is also to group topics under one head. I'm not certain if topics like hardware and storage management will fall under Thomas Kurian. Other topics where there is overlap will be folded into the equivalent Oracle team, under the existing Oracle team leader/SVP - including middleware/tools, and database. As I understand it, the Java team will be a new team reporting to Thomas Kurian.

MySQL is an interesting topic in this integration. I've heard it will be under a long-time Oracle guy, one of the nicest guys I know of there. He is a person who has a real shot of being accepted by, and acceptable to, the mySQL team and the mySQL community. However, I've also heard that Oracle will position mySQL as kind of a free, entry-level database, squeezing SQL Server in a "pincer" maneuver between mySQL on the low end and Oracle database on the high end. I'm not sure how well that will be accepted by the many people running high end web sites on mySQL, especially if Oracle uses all the pressure tactics at their disposal against Monty and others who fork mySQL.

Lastly, while the door was left open for Chuck Rozwat's return, no one expects him to return - at least not in the same capacity (perhaps as a "fellow" or Board member).

That's all I have for now - please tweet me @dbmoore if you have any more info. Thanks!