Raymond Lane, the president and chief operating officer of
Oracle, the second largest software manufacturer in the world, has
announced that he will be stepping down from his post. He will
continue as a member of the company's board of directors but he
will no longer be involved in its daily running.
This news comes shortly after the company’s admission that it
had employed detective agents to spy on organisations supported by
its main rival Microsoft. However, Oracle has stated that Lane’s
departure is not a direct result of that incident. His resignation
had been rumoured for about a year and has been attributed more to
the changing strategy of Oracle. The company is now concentrating
on internet related work, a change from its previous focus on
database software.
No one has been appointed to take over Lane’s work and it is
expected that Larry Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle, will
cover his responsibilities for the immediate future. Ellison
commented “I am grateful to Ray for all of his efforts... He will
be missed. We wish him nothing but the best”.
