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David Fouts had a good job at Salesforce and lived a standard middle-class life. That's why police in Hamilton County are baffled by his death.

Giants' offensive line is allowing an adjusted sack rate of over eight percent, the eighth-worst in the NFL.

• Oracle's bid to become a bigger player in the cloud has become more aggressive in the COVID-19 crisis, highlighted by a new partnership with Zoom.
• The tech giant is up against stronger rivals led by Amazon, Microsoft and Google, but the need for more cloud capacity sparked by the sudden pivot to remote work has created opportunities for the Silicon Valley behemoth.
• Here are the 10 Oracle executives who are playing key roles in CEO Safra Catz and founder Larry Ellison bold cloud offensive.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Oracle has been through some jarring changes in the last seven months. 

The tech giant lost a well-regarded and experienced co-CEO when Mark Hurd died in October after taking leave for health reasons, leaving Safra Catz as the solo CEO. Now, like other major tech companies, Oracle is grappling with the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

But Oracle has been through tough times in its 43-year history. In fact, the Silicon Valley giant has been known to seize opportunities during rough spots. It's already seen some success during this crisis, too: Oracle just scored a big win when videoconferencing company Zoom — suddenly facing a surge in demand — chose to expand on Oracle Cloud, instead of other platforms like top cloud provider Amazon. Oracle is generally considered a smaller player in the cloud wars, behind giants Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Alibaba.

Yes, Oracle still has a long way to go to match its rivals' reach, but its strategy of expanding its capacity by building more data centers seems to be paying off, IDC President Crawford Del Prete told Business Insider.

That increased capacity and Oracle's "world class" applications are key in the cloud words, Del Prete said: "Oracle is one of the few companies able to deliver both at scale in order to compete."

While Catz and founder, executive chairman, and chief technology officer Larry Ellison the lead company, they're also relying on key top executives, including cloud veterans from rival Amazon, to advance Oracle's cloud strategy. 

Nearly all are white men, something Oracle has criticized for in the past: Over 30 members of Congress slammed the company late last year about the lack of diversity in its leadership team and on its board.

Meet the 10 top executives playing important roles in Oracle's cloud offensive:

SEE ALSO: Oracle is known for making bold M&A moves in a recession and it's sitting on a fresh $20 billion. Here are the 7 companies experts think it could acquire as the coronavirus crisis drives down valuations

SEE ALSO: Experts lay out five moves that Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of tech's best tacticians, might take in a coronavirus-driven downturn

Don Johnson left Amazon to focus on Oracle's cloud infrastructure.

Title: Executive vice president, cloud infrastructure

Reports to: Larry Ellison

Johnson  played a key role in Amazon's dramatic expansion in the cloud before joining Oracle in 2014.

He was instrumental in setting up Oracle's cloud engineering development center in Seattle and in the tech giant's expanding data center footprint.  Johnson has also led another major Oracle initiative: forming a cloud partnership with Microsoft.

Oracle's chief corporate architect Edward Screven has been with the company since 1986.

Title: Chief corporate architect

Reports to: Larry Ellison

Screven is an Oracle veteran who helped lead the company through all of the major industry changes of the past 30 years.

He admits that cloud market-leader Amazon had a head start, but says that there are benefits to following it. 

"We definitely started after Amazon: The bad news is they have market share, the good news is we get to learn a lot," he told Business Insider in an interview in May 2019. "Mindshare, that may be their biggest asset. But there is no technology they have that is concerning to me at all."

As one of Oracle's top technologists, he's focused on making Oracle's cloud infrastructure more secure, with more sophisticated and efficient ways to manage data. 

"We have hundreds of thousands of customers that store their most important data in Oracle databases," Screven said. "We could do a far better job for them than any other cloud provider. We are doing a far better job for them."

Clay Magouyrk leads cloud infrastructure engineering and played a key role in forging Oracle's new alliance with Zoom.

Title: Executive vice president, cloud infrastructure engineering

Reports to: Don Johnson

Magouyrk is another veteran of Amazon Web Services who joined the Oracle team in Seattle in 2014. 

He was Oracle's point-man in forging its new partnership with Zoom, which was seen as a major victory for Oracle.

"They needed capacity," Magouyrk told Business Insider last month "They reached out to us and we were like, 'Awesome, we can work with you.' Within a day, we had their application up and running."

Magouyrk was a founding team member of Oracle's cloud engineering development center in Seattle, which is spearheading the company's cloud infrastructure efforts.

Ariel Kelman left Amazon Web Services to become Oracle's chief marketing officer.

Title: Chief Marketing Officer

Reports to: Safra Catz

One of the biggest hurdles for Oracle is the public perception that it's a minor player in the cloud. In other words, it's a marketing problem.

This is where Kelman comes in. Before Oracle brought him on board in January 2020, Kelman led rival Amazon's cloud marketing efforts, and served as a marketing executive at Salesforce for six years before that.

"Ariel is a super smart hire for Oracle," analyst Ray Wang of Constellation Research told Business Insider. "He brings the cred in the market and understands how to counter all of Amazon's tactics and long-term strategy. He has the ear of Larry and Safra and is making progress with some great hires on his team."

Juergen Lindner left SAP to lead Oracle's software-as-a-service marketing strategy.

Title: Senior vice president, software-as-a-service marketing

Reports to: Ariel Kelman, chief marketing officer

Lindner spent most of his career helping SAP outsell Oracle in the traditional business software market: both dominated teh market for software installed in private data centers. 

He switched sides and roles four years ago to support Oracle's bid to become a stronger player in cloud software, also referred to as software-as-a-service, where businesses access applications through cloud platforms and pay via a subscription, usually based on the number of users granted access. 

Lindner has said it became clear to him that Oracle had a better strategy for the cloud-software era.

"Oracle has architected a very sustainable cloud infrastructure and applications strategy," he told Business Insider last year.

Steve Daheb left Citrix to lead Oracle's cloud marketing strategy.

Title: Senior vice president, cloud go-to-market

Reports to: Ashley Hart, senior vice president, global marketing cloud platform and database

Daheb joined Oracle in 2015 after serving as the chief marketing officer of Citrix, a cloud pioneer that first let businesses set up computing networks on web-based platforms instead of on-premise data centers, leading to dramatic IT cost savings.

Daheb witnessed the unexpected rise of Amazon in cloud computing, which began in the early : 2000s when the online retail giant realized it could make some extra money by giving businesses access to its massive but underutilized computing infrastructure, hosted from its data centers.

"Amazon had spare computing resources to rent out," he told Business Insider last year. "It's like, 'Hey, man, I got an extra room in the house during the summer when it's not spike retail time. There's nobody in there, so why don't I put this thing on Airbnb and see if anybody wants it?'"

Amazon Web Services has led the industry ever since. 

Like others on the Oracle team, Daheb thinks the software giant's technology and track record of working with major players across industries will eventually propel it to the front of the cloud pack.

"There's a level of understanding we have and a level of empathy we have for enterprise users: We serve the major banks, we serve transportation, we serve healthcare," he said. "We brought this enterprise mentality to it."

Juan Loaiza, who has been with Oracle since 1988, is in charge of mission-critical database technologies.

Title: Executive vice president, mission-critical database technologies

Reports to: Larry Ellison

Loaiza is another Oracle veteran who has been with the company for more than 30 years and is currently focused on its bid to expand the reach of its flagship database product.

The tech giant's cloud-based automated data-management platform Autonomous Database uses machine learning to quickly repair and update itself.Loaiza has compared the status of this fairly new initiative to the development of the self-driving car:

"It took a long time to get to a point where we are now and say, 'The next step is a self-driving car,'" he told Business Insider last year. "It's got to be safe. It has to have seatbelts and airbags and a navigation system. All that stuff was necessary before you take it to the next stage." 

The database is ready for that next stage. 

Jason Williamson left Amazon to lead Oracle's outreach to startups.

Title: Vice president, Oracle for Startups

Reports to: Mamei Sun, Ellison's chief of staff

Startups have played an important role in the growth of cloud computing and Oracle has launched a big push to establish closer ties with these smaller companies, given that they could eventually become the biggest power players. 

Williamson has been the company's point-man in this effort, as he develops ways to make Oracle's products and services more accessible to startups.

Williamson is another veteran of Amazon Web Services where he led the cloud giant's private-equity team before joining Oracle in 2017.

Evan Goldberg cofounded NetSuite, which is now part of Oracle.

Title: Executive vice president, NetSuite

Reports to: Safra Catz

Goldberg is part of the elite club of Oracle alums who went on to launch successful enterprise-software companies. (Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is perhaps the best-known.)

Goldberg left a long career at Oracle in the late 1990s to launch NetSuite, a cloud-based provider of financial- and accounting-management services. He was the chief technology officer alongside CEO Zach Nelson, another Oracle alum, and Ellison was actually one of their early backers.

Oracle acquired the company in 2016 and it now has more than 18,000 customers. 

Steve Miranda has been with Oracle since 1992 and leads cloud-applications development.

Title: Executive vice president, applications product development

Reports to: Ellison

Miranda is an Oracle veteran in charge of different aspects of the company's cloud-software business, including product development and strategy.

This covers applications used for major business operations, like supply-chain management, human resources, and enterprise performance management.

What one expert called “something out a monster cartoon” has now arrived in the United States. The Asian giant hornet, which can decimate bee colonies and is responsible for 50 deaths a year in Japan, is now in Washington state, according to The New York Times. A new threat reaches the United States: A massive…

The post Giant Asian ‘Murder Hornets’ Spotted in US for First Time appeared first on The Western Journal.

1 November 2008 , Number 8

Ghana’s President John Kufuor has successfully promoted his country as a haven of political and economic stability, but as he comes to the end of his two terms in office, the cracks are beginning to appear. Can Ghana escape the election traumas that have been so destructive in Kenya and Zimbabwe?

Frank Robinson's tenure as Giants manager was short but significant. He and his teams provided hope and promise when both were in short supply around Candlestick Park.

Do you think the Giants are just waiting around and could go after Bryce Harper for a big splash? Beat reporter Maria Guardado answers this question and more from fans.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi would prefer to stay mum when it comes to his forays into the free-agent market, but he realized there was no use in attempting to obscure the club's meeting with superstar Bryce Harper in Las Vegas earlier this week.

It's been less than a year since the Giants selected Joey Bart with the second overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, but the 22-year-old catcher is already generating plenty of excitement within the organization.

With Spring Training set to kick off Tuesday, it feels like an opportune time to put together a way-too-early look at who might be with the Giants when they begin their regular season against the Padres on March 28.

One year after making a pair of high-profile acquisitions in Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria, the Giants have experienced a far slower and quieter winter, leaving the club with quite a few question marks as pitchers and catchers reported to Scottsdale, Ariz., for the start of Spring Training on Tuesday.

As they continue to await a resolution to the Bryce Harper sweepstakes, the Giants augmented their outfield depth by signing veteran Gerardo Parra to a Minor League deal Tuesday, sources confirmed to MLB.com's Jon Paul Morosi and Mark Feinsand.

Despite trade speculation, Madison Bumgarner arrived at Scottsdale Stadium on Tuesday as Giants pitchers and catchers reported for Spring Training. He's still on track to be the club's starter on Opening Day, though his future in San Francisco remains murky as he prepares to enter his final season before free agency.

The Giants added another arm into their bullpen mix Wednesday, acquiring right-hander Trevor Gott from the Nationals for cash considerations.

Seeking to bring another versatile infielder into the fold, the Giants on Friday agreed to terms with Yangervis Solarte on a Minor League contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training.

Shortly after reporting to Giants camp this week, Pablo Sandoval met with manager Bruce Bochy and reiterated his desire to help the club in whatever way he can.

Who do the Giants have in the pipeline? Get scouting reports, video, stats, projected ETAs and more for San Francisco's Top 30 Prospects on MLB Pipeline's Prospect Watch.

Heading into his 13th year in the Majors, Cameron Maybin brings a fresh approach at the plate and a revamped swing as he looks to carve out playing time in the Giants' outfield.

Bruce Bochy isn't sure what his next step will be after he retires from managing the Giants at the end of the season, but it's safe to assume that a trip to Cooperstown is in his near future.

The next five weeks will see lots of shuffling on Major League rosters. Here are the most intriguing positional battles on each of the 30 MLB clubs.

Bruce Bochy, who guided the Giants to three World Series championships in 2010, '12 and '14, announced Monday that he will retire at the end of the 2019 season, capping a celebrated 25-year managerial career in the Majors.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi knows he will eventually have to start compiling a list of potential candidates to succeed Bruce Bochy as manager, but the upcoming search isn't currently at the forefront of his mind.

Researchers shared a video of this massive siphonophore, one of the longest of its kind ever recorded

The projects are helping Australia's drought-stricken rural towns find new life as outdoor art galleries

In a written decision released Thursday, a panel of three appeal court judges said the judge who granted the award to McCaw North Drilling and Blasting Ltd. misinterpreted a clause in the contract for the cleanup.

A man from Vermilion Bay, Ont., caught and released a fish that he says could have challenged a 70-year-old record for walleye last weekend.

Celtic Connections

The myriad of options available means that users can choose their video calling platform according to their needs.

Attorney General Kathy Jennings joined Wednesday a letter with 32 Attorneys General, led by Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Mexico, and Vermont, urging Amazon, Facebook, eBay, Walmart, and Craigslist to more rigorously monitor price gouging practices by online sellers using their services. “We want the business community and American consumers to know that we endeavor to balance […]

Just about every June, on the anniversary of his company’s founding, Richard Liu dons a big motorcycle helmet and red uniform...

To issue $1.5 bn in new shares to help finance deal

Spearheaded by France, the plan has met resistance from countries such as Ireland and Sweden, which question the wisdom of the EU going it alone given the global nature of digital services.

At 26, Rakhi Birla became the youngest minister in Delhi as she joined Arvind Kejriwal's cabinet when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) first came to power in 2013. Later, the two-time MLA from Mangolpuri...

IFTTT (If This Than That), a web-based software that automates and connects over 600 online services/software raised a $24M Series C led by Salesforce. Other investors include IBM and the Chamberlain Group and Fenox Venture Capital.

The latest round brings IFTTT’s funding to $63M and it will use the funding proceeds to provide integration for enterprise and IoT services and hiring. In IFTTT’s platform, applets are code/script users need to deploy to integrate two or more services (such Google Drive’s integration with Twitter/Facebook).

Investment in IFTTT reveals that Salesforce is consolidating its presence in enterprise IoT space. It also acquired Mulesoft, an integration platform that rivals Microsoft’s BizTalk.

IBM’s investment in IFTTT is also noteworthy as the former is pushing its IBM Watson IoT platform. The following statement also shows its keen interest in IFTTT.

Other recent investments in IoT companies include $30M Series B of Armis and Myriota's $15M for its IoT satellite-based connectivity platform.

For latest IoT funding and product news, please visit our IoT news section.

Last week, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced it selected Ocean Wind, an offshore wind energy project proposed by Ørsted with support from PSEG, to develop an 1,100 MW offshore wind farm. Ocean Wind will be located 15 miles off the coast of Atlantic City. Construction is expected to commence in the early 2020s, with the wind farm operational in 2024.

From the way we shop to the way we socialize, the internet affects nearly everything we do these days. This dramatic change in our way of life has been fueled by a handful of large tech companies, companies that are increasingly going all in on solar.

From the way we shop to the way we socialize, the internet affects nearly everything we do these days. This dramatic change in our way of life has been fueled by a handful of large tech companies, companies that are increasingly going all in on solar.

Nuclear power, which accounts for 19 percent of the nation's electricity generation, is facing some serious challenges. Not only did its hoped-for renaissance fizzle out, four reactors shut down last year, another is closing this fall, and the nuclear giant Exelon says it will announce plant closings by the end of this year if market conditions don't improve.

Germany’s biggest utility E.ON — long a pillar of the country’s fossil fuel and nuclear industry — dropped a bombshell on Europe’s business world with the announcement that the multinational was exiting the conventional energy market in favor of a new business model based on renewables, intelligent grid systems, energy management and other services. Indeed, the company seems finally to have drawn the logical consequences from the Energiewende, Germany’s renewable energy transition, after years of resisting the ambitious transformation of the nation’s energy supply.

Doctors and nurses around the world are asking tech giants to correct the record on health misinformation and tweak their algorithms which decide what people get to see on social media platforms.