Applications:

Oracle Cuts Price on Business-Management Software

Oracle Corp outlined a plan to slash the price of its business-management software by up to 75 percent as it battles a tough competitive environment.

Key to the new global pricing policy is an option that enables customers of the world's No. 2 software maker to buy -- for a flat fee of $4,000 per user -- Oracle's so-called 11i e-business suite of software that automates such things as marketing, sales, procurement, financials and human resources.

Under Oracle's current pricing program, which also remains in place, different software components are sold separately. For example, Oracle financials are now quoted at $3,995 per user.

Customers that choose to buy Oracle's e-business suite under the new per-user plan could save 25 percent to 75 percent, Jacqueline Woods, Oracle's vice president of global practices pricing, said during a conference call.

However, the new pricing is subject to a minimum applications license fee of $250,000.

Customers who have already bought different Oracle components separately may be credited the price of their original net software license fee, provided their new license fee is at least $250,000.

The new pricing is effective Feb. 1 and comes about a month before Oracle is set to wrap up its fiscal third quarter in a harsh economic environment that is forcing many companies to cut prices in an effort to build or maintain market share.

Oracle, which once pitched its 11i software as a key driver of future growth, grappled with bugs in early versions of the software that competes with offerings from rivals such as SAP AG, PeopleSoft Inc and Siebel Systems Inc.

During the Redwood Shores, California-based company's recently reported fiscal second quarter, revenue from Oracle's e-business software licenses and updates declined 26 percent from the year-ago quarter. License and services revenue related to Oracle's applications business accounted for less than one-third of the company's total revenue.

Oracle shares ended last Tuesday's regular Nasdaq session down 40 cents, or about 2.4 percent, at $16.50.