IT pros favour Intel over Oracle in Itanium row

published 26 April 2011

More IT professionals have faith in Intel than Oracle over their respective claims surrounding Itanium chips, a survey has indicated.

The two tech giants came to blows in March when Oracle said the Itanium architecture, which is used in a number of high-end systems, was "nearing the end of its life."

However, over half of the 450 IT pros surveyed by Gabriel Consulting Group (GCG) believed Intel's claims it would be working on the processor for at least two more generations.

Only 29 per cent said they believed Oracle's assertion it would be ditching software production based on Itanium chips soon.

"Customers just don't buy Oracle's version of the truth on the Itanium deal," said Dan Olds, principal analyst at GCG.

"Customers always have a certain level of vendor distrust it's natural, and often merited. But with Oracle, it's at a very high level right now."

Elsewhere, 77 per cent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed Oracle's move to drop Itanium was a "competitive move to kill HP's HP-UX and NonStop products," which are based on the processor family.

HP came out earlier this month in support of Intel, claiming it was working with numerous partners and clients who were still keen on the Itanium architecture.

Almost eight in 10 said Oracle's move was the "first step in an Oracle plan to put all competitors at a disadvantage vs. Oracle hardware products."

"With their Itanium decision, customers see Oracle using this power as a club against a competitor," Olds added.

"They don't view this as an isolated case, but as part of an Oracle strategy that will extend to other competitive products."

IT PRO contacted Oracle for comment but it had not returned our request at the time of publication.

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.