Customers of Oracle's business software are optimistic that the worst has passed, even as Oracle continues to struggle to get more of its customers to upgrade to 11i. Only 10 percent of the company's 12,000 business-software customers have chosen to upgrade to 11i -- a sign that some are squeamish about diving into the Herculean task of installing the product, a dizzying batch of business programs covering everything from contracts to procurement and manufacturing. Still, the bug issue seems to be dissipating, making customers more comfortable with the software. "People are getting the feeling -- and the confidence -- they can upgrade successfully," said Tom Wyatt, president of the Atlanta-based Oracle Applications User Group (OAUG). William Lawson, chief information officer at Ametek, a manufacturing company, has a variety of Oracle business software installed at the company. But he said he wouldn't move to 11i when it came out a year ago because his company has always been "a reluctant implementer of new technology." Ametek has since upgraded to 11i for limited functions. "Now that it's stable, we'll move," Lawson said, adding that his company "worked its way through" the bugs. Wohl, the executive in charge of the development of Oracle's business software, admitted this week that the release of 11i has "not been without difficulties," but he said installations of the software are now "smooth experiences." "We've got mature software at this point," Wohl said. Then there's the company's rift with its software users. The disagreement stems from Oracle's reluctance to sponsor a conference organised by Wyatt's OAUG that originated in 2000. Oracle at one time went public with a desire to merge the OAUG conference with its own AppsWorld, raising the ire of the OAUG. The two sides have come to terms, with both the company and its nationwide user group continuing to organize conferences. "The OAUG is cautiously optimistic that the relationship is improving," Wyatt said. "Every relationship is cyclical. It has its ups and downs." Joshua Greenbaum, principal analyst at technology consultancy Enterprise Applications Consulting, said Oracle still has to improve its relationship with customers. "A lot of it is perception, but I think they have to mend a lot of fences," Greenbaum said. Ben Heskett reported from San Diego.
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