While Microsoft, for obvious reasons, is loath to speak of bundling its OLAP server, still codenamed Plato, with its SQL Server 7.0 relational database, the company will go so far as to say that the two will not be distinct products, leaving it to define pricing in such a way that it cannot be accused of unfair trade practices. However Redmond decides to approach that issue, two of its prime targets in the OLAP server space, Oracle Corp and Arbor Software Corp, have no plans for legal action or complaints to the FTC. Oracle says it ‘isn’t sitting around planning a lawsuit’ against Microsoft. Not that the idea didn’t get an airing on corporate emails at its Redwood Shores, California headquarters. Our feathers were ruffled for about 10 minutes, commented an Oracle spokesperson. CEO Larry Ellison went so far as to comment that Microsoft probably could be the object of lawsuits on several counts, during a speech he made at Harvard. Indeed, Oracle wouldn’t hesitate to be involved if our lawyers thought it appropriate, the company said. But for now, it is relying on the strength of its own offerings in that market. At Arbor, marketing vice-president Kirk Cruikshank said the company can’t build its business strategies on government or legal actions, adding that legal action is not a strategy under consideration with regard to Plato’s eventual bundling. Was the recently announced decision to merge with Hyperion Software Corp motivated by Microsoft’s entry into the ring? Absolutely not, said Cruikshank, adding however that the combination of Arbor’s OLAP server and tools with Hyperion’s applications should enable the new enlarged company to focus on the corporate users in a way Microsoft will not.
