Database management software giant Oracle Corp., stepping up its e-commerce efforts, this month made its Oracle8i Net database technology available to Web companies through Web-site hosting firm NaviSite Inc.
Oracle8i is designed specifically as a database for Net businesses, which can use the technology to manage data and applications on a small number of servers. Oracle, Redwood Shores, CA, said the product makes it easier to back up data and upgrade and deploy Net applications.
NaviSite, Andover, MA, is an application service provider: It manages the technological back end for Web sites, hosting and managing applications for its clients or renting technology to them. Through NaviSite, Oracle hopes its software will reach more digital firms that depend on hosted database services.
NaviSite charges monthly fees for each server it handles for clients, and it charges for optional services depending on factors such as how frequently sites want reporting done.
Tech powerhouses Dell Computer Corp., Round Rock, TX, and Microsoft Corp., recently bought separate 5 percent stakes in NaviSite, which started out as an inhouse IT shop for holding company CMGI. In July, NaviSite filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission to go public.
Company officials would not disclose NaviSite's profitability, but SEC documents indicate that for the nine months ended April 30, the company had a loss of $15.4 million, wider than the $6 million it lost in the same period a year before. The firm's revenue climbed to $6.8 million in the nine months ended April 30, up from $2.8 million.
