Customer Reviews

Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For years it seems like I've heard about Larry Ellison being the complete antithesis of Bill Gates while at the same time earning almost as much money. Knowing this about him and very little about Oracle, I decided it was time to look into it. "Softwar" appears to blend a few things that I find very desirable into one book.

First, its written by an independent observer-- Matthew Symonds of the Economist. While who can say whether this is truly an unbiased account, the vast majority of the book seems to portray Oracle in good light, but contains quips that allow the reader to see where all the Oracle detractors might have a point.

Second, Larry Ellison. When Symonds writes something or quotes someone (like Tom Siebel or other former employees) and Ellison disagrees, he gets to chime in and tell his side of the story through footnotes. After looking at so many books that just don't seem to have any proximity to Ellison, I chose this book mainly because you can get Ellison's rhetoric straight from the horses's mouth.

Third, if you read this book soon, the information will be more practical than books that seem to focus on interesting, but outdated info about a companies products or strategies. I personally knew nothing of Enterprise software or hardware other than hearing people complain about SAP. Now I at least have a semblence of knowledge about a field I'll probably end up at least working with.

If you want a book that puts Oracle in a good light while displaying its bad side at times and to hear mostly about Oracle with a brief biography of Ellison and how he commands the world's second largest software company, read it! PS I loved it.

This book is a comprehensive, detailed collection of Larry Ellison anecdotes and quotes from people around him. Author Matthew Symonds occasionally interjects himself, but mostly lets his sources talk. Perhaps for fairness, he quotes many people who disagree with each other about important decisions at Oracle. Perhaps for journalistic objectivity, he generally refrains from judgment. This shows the reader every perspective, even if it doesn't define context, chronology or direction. You get all of the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, though you may want a clearer box top picture. Some of the technology coverage will intrigue only tech industry buffs, but overall you will learn a great deal of interesting information about Ellison and Oracle. We also found that Ellison's character came most into focus when the book entered the world of yacht racing, his passion. The author also includes poignant, revealing anecdotes about Ellison's childhood and candid reports about his personal life. Larry Ellison was allowed to review the manuscript and his comments appear as counterbalancing footnotes on many pages. That guy, he always does things a new way - as you will see.

very interesting book overall, paints larry in a very (probably almost too) positive light. (the author was selected by larry to write the book.) the most interesting part is that larry adds his own notes to the bottom of various pages. the parts about sailing at the end were sort of boring, but it's nice to know that larry is planning on donating to medical foundations when he retires from oracle.

A fascinating book. I should note that I worked at Oracle for 12 years (1989-1991), though much too far down in the hierarchy to have had dealings with Larry Ellison himself. But when Symonds writes about the people that I did know and work for and with, he hasn't struck a single false note. He has captured very accurately the Oracle culture--a lot of very bright and very driven people, with of course a few inevitable mistakes thrown in.

In this book, Ellison comes over as one of the most insightful leaders in SV in the 80s and 90s. I wasn't always able to see this side of him, as I kept hearing negative reports from those who had been subjected to his (earlier, and admitted by him in this book to have been wrong) MBR (management by ridicule) approach.

I believe Symonds has done an accurate evaluation of Ellison, and Ellison, in his footnotes, comes over as a thoughtful person able to admit where he was wrong.

This is so far off base from the real truths of what goes on at Oracle, I rate it very low as the author must have been influenced by Ellison and what ONLY HE believes. What is missing is that with Ellison's 'shadow management team', that was very devious from from start, they effectively destroyed one of the most successful management teams of the 90's and replaced it with the most inexperienced people possible. Additionally, Ellison continued to support Wohl even though he delivered some of the worst quality products in the industry and Ellison shipped them anyway. The most obvious statement that is way off target is when Ellison said he only lied once!! He consistently shipped products knowing there were major holes. The reality is that customers and employees do not trust or support the leadership of Oracle. A very bad sign for the future.

This is a very insightful look at a kindler and gentler Larry Ellison (as compared to the days when he talked about "cutting off the oxygen supply" of his competitors). Symonds has done a masterful job in explaining what the Oracle products are about. He has also captured the personality of an individual who has changed the software world in many ways. From the perspective of a database administrator and architect who has been involved with Oracle software over the last two decades, I find the account very illuminating, honest, interesting and entertaining. This is a book that I just could not put down once I started reading it!

True to its subtitle Softwar does indeed deliver an 'intimate portrait' of billionaire business leader Larry Ellison. Unfortunately, although the book is enthralling and features an incredibly interesting format including written responses by Ellison to points raised by Symonds, it falls short in two important areas for biographies.

Firstly, Symonds is not objective - he clearly worked very closely with Ellison and certainly paints a more rosy picture of the complicated man than a more impartial observer may. Secondly, the structure of the book is lacking. The first section of the book (although it is not actually divided as a section) covers Ellison's business life chronoligically and perhaps in too detailed a manner to always remain interesting (there's an alphabet soup of executive names that are never heard from again). Then what I would consider the second section of the book jumps around from business to personal ventures and lacks a real 'feeling of time'. A more traditional fully integrated narrative of the personal and business sides to Ellison's life would perhaps have been superior since it's difficult to gage how much pressures in one area of Ellison's life are affecting the other.

Even with its flaws, Softwar is well written and comes as close to being autobiographical as a non-autobiography can. The subject himself is certainly interesting enough to warrant the 500 pages, and the unique response format is refreshing.

Often potrayed as someone who got lucky with one good idea, this book does a wonderful job of potraying the various facets of Larry Ellison, the CEO and the man. The author does a wonderful job of analysing the strengths and weaknesses of Larry Ellison while being fairly unbiased in his views.
In my opinion a must read for anybody who's curious to know the secret behind the sleeping giant - Oracle.

Fascinating account of the company and the man behind the scenes running it. Uncle Larry is the man, you get great insight into one of the most important business minds alive today. And this man does not skimp on anything, later on he accomplished a near impossible task he called the "single global instance" where he took his global databases and integrated them together. He then bought the single most important hardware and software company in the world (the former Sun Microsystems), and now finds himself going after Google for Java infringement because of the patents he owns. This man is the hardest working man in software today, we all have something to learn from this book even if it is a bit outdated. He also has the finest taste anyone has seen, he likes to live the American dream he earned as well as anyone out there. A valuable book for anyone who is either the "man" themselves or even just working for the "man". You will appreciate the people you work for wherever you work, business minds like this man really change the world.

Matthew Symonds covers Larry Ellison's every move, every thought, every perception. If Larry Ellison has been given the perception that he's a "commando" in Armani, then no one has ever taken the opportunity to get to know the real Larry . . . until now. Visionary, yes. Outside the box, yes. It's not only about a product, it's about process. Think of Irving Thalberg and the vision and implementation of the "studio system." Engaging, informative, and insightful. The book works, and works quite well.