As part of my research into all things collaboration, not least through my development of our forthcoming continuous advisory service, I have regular briefings with software vendors to find out what they are doing. Usually vendors are more than pleased to brief us analysts—anything to build the profile of their company or products within the marketplace. It is odd, then, when a vendor refuses to brief you on something. That is the current position I find myself in with Oracle.

Oracle has had a stake in the ground in the collaboration market since 2003 with its Collaboration Suite, the latest version (which was released in 2005) including products for email and calendaring, instant messaging, team workspaces, web conferencing, unified messaging and discussions. It's also true that Oracle has a fair job on its hands integrating the Stellent content management software (which it acquired in November 2006) with its own technology. But with all the general hype around Enterprise 2.0 and collaboration in the market at the moment, combined with the high profile that its major competitors in this space—IBM and Microsoft—are maintaining, it is intriguing that Oracle (which does not usually shy away from PR opportunities) is keeping such a low profile.

Oracle is far from being a major competitor in this space, but with an existing offering on the table, it should be making more of an effort to catch up. Perhaps all this secrecy belies some imminent great announcement that will shake the market. But right now, all it is doing is lowering the market's confidence in its ability to deliver on the collaboration promise. Oracle needs to get its act together in collaboration, or it will miss the boat entirely.