HP, Oracle set pace with data unit

Collaboration on storage module could see jump in mainland business

Information technology giants Oracle Corp and Hewlett-Packard are betting on their new computer hardware collaboration to help boost their businesses on the mainland, while other domestic suppliers scramble to catch up.

Brushing aside fears of a global technology spending slowdown brought on by the financial crisis, Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison last week unveiled the company's first hardware product - the HP Oracle Database Machine, a high-performance system designed to radically improve how large organisations store, retrieve and analyse their corporate data.

The machine marries Oracle's database software with HP's ProLiant server computer technology, according to HP chief executive Mark Hurd, who joined Mr Ellison through video-conference for the launch at Oracle's annual OpenWorld event last week in the United States.

However, Hong Kong-based senior executives of the two US firms see the ramifications of the product announcement extending well into the mainland, where there is steady demand from large enterprises for more efficient and cost-effective computing infrastructure.

'We have good momentum in the region,' said Steve Au-yeung, Oracle senior vice-president and managing director of the company's Asia-Pacific operations.