These days, Oracle has grown into a massive tech giant. Most people don’t even realize it, but its influence stretches all the way down to our toes. (Of course, all big IT companies are like that—but weirdly, Oracle often gets left out of the conversation.)
Once you find out what they really do, you might be shocked. Let's dive in. (And no, we’re not talking about Oracle Skin Clinic or Oracle Dental…)
Just the name “Oracle” sounds epic. It’s like how someone might feel when they see a luxury handbag—instant allure.
Remember the Oracle lady from The Matrix who says, “Now you’re starting to believe”? She’s a wise, cookie-baking prophet who knows everything. You have to assume the company named itself on purpose. The Wachowskis nailed that one—her appearance in the movie cracked me up. It’s fitting, really—this company does know everything: databases, systems, predictions… you name it. (Honestly, I should probably write a whole thing just on The Matrix, right?)
Oracle (as in the name): An oracle is a person or thing regarded as providing wise and insightful counsel, or prophetic predictions—often believed to be divinely inspired. (Thanks, Wikipedia.)
Oracle’s most iconic product is the Oracle Database (the undisputed #1), and the name “Oracle” actually comes from a project for their first customer: the CIA. Back in 1975, the project was created to track and store information about criminals. I once read this in a book, but oddly enough, that information is nowhere to be found now. If you're curious, dig into the old docs—it’s an interesting rabbit hole.
When I read about this origin in an Oracle database book, I thought, “Wow, this is so cool!” But maybe it’s a bit too cool for their current brand image—can’t find it anywhere now.
Either way, this Oracle has become a giant in the shadows. Quietly dominating.
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1. What kind of company is Oracle?
Oracle is headquartered in Texas, and its product lineup is staggering: databases, hardware, cloud services, engineering systems, enterprise applications, software... the list goes on.
Some highlights:
Oracle Cloud - OCI, Compute, AI & Machine Learning, Databse Service, Developer Service more...
Hardware & Software - Java, Oracle Database, MySQL, Linux, NoSQL more ...
Oracle Cloud Application - ERP, SCM, HCM, NetSuite, CX, Oracle Marketplace more ...
But despite this massive portfolio, the average person has no idea what Oracle does. That’s because it’s laser-focused on the enterprise world. Pure B2B.
2. Who started it, when, and why?
Oracle was founded in 1977 by Larry Ellison (a.k.a. the world’s 3rd richest person in 2024), along with Bob Miner and Ed Oates. They launched a company called Software Development Labs in Silicon Valley and secured a contract with the CIA for a database management system. This system was inspired by a groundbreaking academic paper on relational databases by IBM’s Edgar Codd, which led to the creation of SQL.
By 1979, Ellison and his team had released Oracle 2.0 (don’t ask what happened to 1.0) for UNIX systems, making it the first RDBMS to support SQL. In 1982, they officially renamed the company Oracle.
At the time, relational databases were mostly stuck on giant mainframes. But Oracle’s version could run on smaller machines—instantly making it more accessible, and wildly popular.
3. What’s so good about it?
Unless you’re a developer, you might not feel it—but the database you choose can make or break your project’s performance. I’ve seen countless projects crash and burn, but not once because of the database. That tells you how critical and stable this piece of tech is.
And Oracle is the gold standard. Some folks say it’s only this successful because of its government ties (looking at you, CIA), but once you actually use it, you get it. It’s robust, reliable, and rock-solid.
In large-scale projects, the usual heavyweight DB options are Oracle, IBM’s DB2, Microsoft’s SQL Server, and PostgreSQL. If you go with Oracle, devs and engineers instantly breathe easier. It's just that stable. Barely any bugs. And it sends a message: “This project is backed by real money.”
It’s like using a luxury designer brand—just feels right.
4. How did it get so huge?
After riding the wave of success for years, Oracle found itself with a golden opportunity to level up even more. You know how some people seem to fall into luck? That’s Oracle. Everything they touch turns into a major trend.
(Okay, I’ll save the full story for part two.)
But to tease what’s coming:
They acquired Sun Microsystems—which means they now own Java and MySQL. That acquisition alone was enough to make even Google uneasy. (Yeah, Google technically won in the end, but it wasn’t a smooth ride.)
Google: “Java is open source! Android APIs are based on it.”
Oracle: “Java is ours.”
To be continued.