Bill Clinton praises Oracle chief

"We support any brand of software, as long as it's Oracle red." Those words could have been uttered by Oracle chief executive, Larry Ellison, who was this week compared to car king, Henry Ford, by former US president Bill Clinton.

During his much-anticipated keynote speech at Oracle AppsWorld in New Orleans this week, Clinton claimed that, like Ford, Ellison believes that a standardised approach to products would serve users better than customised offerings.

Clinton, who wants to be seen as the US president who did much for the hi-tech industry during his eight-year term, said the internet-powered world would become more dependent on technology.

He also referred to his work on increasing the allotment of H1-B visas that are necessary for foreign citizens with hi-tech skills to be employed by US companies. As well increasing the number of visas available, Clinton also raised the fees, pumping some of the money into retraining US workers.

Clinton's speech kicked off a week-long conference that is expected to attract thousands of Oracle application developers. Among the product announcements on the first day were the launch of Oracle FastForward Advanced Planning and Scheduling, designed to allow users of Oracle Discrete Manufacturing and Distribution to include planning and detailed scheduling functions across the supply chain.

Also released was Oracle E-Business Hub, a range of business-to-business software that allows companies to collaborate on product development. The suite includes applications for supply chain management, transportation and product development, and features an online marketplace.