On the eve of the debut of the ballyhoo’d Oracle version 7 this week, the company tossed out the president of Oracle Corp USA, Michael Fields, and brought in Ray Lane, a senior vice-president with Booz Allen & Hamilton, to succeed him. US sales under Fields were not what people wanted and Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison is said to have high hopes for Lane’s high-margin consulting and integration experience. Oracle USA’s sphere of influence has now been enlarged to include marketing as well as all domestic commercial and federal sales and consulting activities. Lane led Booz Allen’s Information Systems Group and served on the board.
