The Oracle OpenWorld 2015 conference represented an opportunity for Oracle to show the world what its plans for the future might be, and the industry giant delivered. The most striking point that Oracle made was their commitment to the cloud; it revealed not only an array of products and services, but a timeline for future progress.

To reflect on the announcements and lessons of the conference, John Furrier and Dave Vellante, cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, came together with their opinions of the show and the industry.

The energy returns

The first subject discussed revolved around Larry Ellison, Oracle’s executive chairman and chief technology officer. Ellison delivered the speeches and presentations that laid out the strategy Oracle would be following. This impressed Vellante, who said that he believed Ellison had a vision to bring hardware and software together as a way to compete in the cloud. He added that Oracle could create a homogeneous experience between on-premise systems and cloud systems.

Furrier agreed, stating that recent OracleWorld shows have been upping the energy level, going through an amazing transition as Ellison’s vision has become reality. Vellante pointed out that one year, when Ellison wasn’t at the show, it was like a vacuum. Ellison is energized and the strategy is crystal clear, he said.

Standing among giants

Competition was also a concern for the two, and while the field of cloud computing wasn’t exactly empty, the company that came up again and again between them was Amazon. Vellante said there are two ways to compete with Amazon; massive volume or differentiation in the stack. Oracle, he said, has chosen the latter. He also offered that Amazon was way ahead of anyone else in the public cloud space.

Meanwhile, Furrier had a different opinion. Amazon, he said, was ahead for general customers, but not for customers who use Oracle. Oracle, he said, wants to win the race, while Amazon wins by just being in the race. He added that this new Oracle, with a new face and new management team, could have a great run if it can pull it off.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Oracle OpenWorld 2015. And join in on the conversation by CrowdChatting with theCUBE hosts.

Photo by SiliconANGLE