On the database front, we’ll be looking for any hints about when Oracle Database 12c will be released. The next version of the Oracle Database has been in beta version for a while now. Earlier this year Ellison said that Oracle Database 12c might be released in December or January. Then a statement Sept. 4 regarding Oracle’s support for Intel Itanium-based platforms said that “version 12c of the Oracle database” is “due out in early 2013.” At the same time, there are rumblings that, at the very least, details about 12c could be released at Oracle OpenWorld, which starts Sept. 30. On a side note, if you’re beta testing 12c, email me at mfontecchio@techtarget.com. If you’re not, email me anyway and give me your wish list for 12c.

On the applications front, we will hopefully hear some details on the uptake of Fusion Applications. The next generation of Oracle applications has been generally available for almost a year now, and so Oracle is expected to talk about how successful they have been.

Finally on the hardware side, we will likely hear more about Oracle’s integrated systems. Oracle executives said at the last earnings call that hardware will start to become a “growth story” in this fiscal year, so we’ll see how that has done. We’ll expect some possible talk about the Oracle Database Appliance, which was geared toward medium-sized businesses looking for an integrated database device. There may also be some hints or details about Oracle’s future hardware plans, whether that be the next generation of Exadata or some other new integrated hardware platform.

Teter is the project management director at Innowave Technology and has long been an important figure in the Oracle applications community. He has also been involved in Oracle Fusion Applications – its development, testing and roll-out.

“Although there was a plethora of significant developments – Exalytics, Pre-Release of EBS 12.2, the continued evolution of APEX, the General Availability announcement of Fusion Applications, the Oracle Public Clound, Big Data – none of those, in and of themselves, was the single most important piece of news in my opinion,” Teter wrote. “The news that grabbed my attention and continues to grab my attention: the inclusion of Fusion Applications CRM and HCM in the Oracle Public Cloud.”

Teter explained that a company building out Fusion Applications in-house requires a lot of expensive infrastructure to do it – hardware, memory, network, etc. That might be OK for large organizations such as Principal Financial Group. But smaller organizations probably won’t be able to afford it.

“But now we’ve got Fusion Applications being offered through the Oracle Public Cloud as a service…yup, a SaaS offering (for those of you who dig trendy acronyms),” Teter wrote. “That’s likely a relatively inexpensive point of entry for the SMEs interested in Fusion Applications…especially for those interested in a co-existence strategy with existing applications.”