BusinessWeekOnline: Larry Ellison Savors His Victory

BusinessWeekOnline: Larry Ellison Savors His Victory: "Q: How do you see Microsoft emerging as a competitor?
A: They're going to come at us from the bottom up. They'll be very aggressive, and they have a lot of endurance. The name of the game when you're entering a software market is endurance. It takes a lot of time to get it right. We're going after their Exchange business with our Collaboration Suite. It takes several releases before you get the product right, and then you have to get your early adopters up and running. It takes a long time to enter a market where there's a strong provider.

We have the financial clout and the technical talent to stick it out. Microsoft clearly does as well. They'll be around. They'll be successful in the applications business. "