The Blog

  • August 14, 2009
  • Thanks, Mr. Voltaire

    This is very interesting.  Oracle introduced Oracle VM Template for Siebel CRM.   You almost don’t need to know what a VM template is — OK, it’s a virtual machine architecture that enables customers to reduce the number of real servers they have.  But that’s not the big news — the big news is that Oracle is positioning this innovation as a GREEN idea.

    Yes, right in the press release they say, “By helping to reduce the number of servers needed through deployment in a virtualized environment, Oracle VM Templates for Siebel CRM effectively promote green computing and can dramatically cut costs on server purchases and maintenance, as well as energy use.

    Kudos to Oracle, I say.  They’ve taken on Green ideas as an important part of CRM and begun making products that reflect most people’s concerns about global warming.  Fewer servers means less power to run them, air condition them and all the rest.

    Of course, the greenest approach to server reduction is SaaS where a small number of very robust servers support millions of users a la Salesforce.com.  But this is no time to make such comparisons and a great time to drag out one of my favorite quotes from Voltaire, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”  (This proves my liberal education was really worth it.)

    Simply put, running past good and seeking perfection is akin to reaching a level of diminishing returns.  It would be great if SaaS took over the world and it might but not today.  Meanwhile, wouldn’t it be really cool if every major corporation at least got on board with a virtual machine architecture?

    Published: 15 years ago


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