Since Oracle was founded in 1977, it’s been impossible to extricate the personality and the presence of the company’s founder and CEO, Larry Ellison, from the overall corporation’s reputation and demeanor. Beginning with the corporate bio that simply states, “Larry Ellison has been CEO of Oracle Corporation since he founded the company in 1977. He also races sailboats, flies planes, and plays tennis and guitar,” down to his most recent try at buying the Golden State Warriors’ basketball team, Mr. Ellison is known as a highly competitive, highly energetic, risk-loving CEO. In the end, both the company and the CEO fit this description.

The approach has definitely paid off. Oracle provides the world’s most complete, open, and integrated business software and hardware systems, with more than 370,000 customers—including 100 of the Fortune 100—representing a variety of sizes and industries in more than 145 countries around the globe. Oracle claims to be “the world’s largest enterprise software company.” At the end of the day, Oracle Corporation, is an enterprise software company that develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and services database and middleware software, applications software, and hardware systems worldwide.

Larry Ellison and Oracle are also the man and the company that the San Francisco Bay Area loves to either love or hate. Known for his “demanding” and “competitive” demeanor, Mr. Ellison has often ruffled the local feathers, but his activities are always tinged with a bit of spectacular drama and glamour that are hard to resist.

Likewise, the company has lately been criticized for handling of some debt issues – using debt to pay off debt Bloomberg says its data shows that Oracle is issuing more 30-year bonds than it ever has, which could be an indicator the company lacks all the cash it needs to satisfy the urge for more acquisitions. They could be clearing the balance sheet, or planning more buys, like the recent acquisition of Sun. Oh – did we forget to mention that Oracle recently acquired Sun Microsystems? Or as folks in the Bay Area say, “Larry Ellison finally bought Sun.” It’s just another day at Larry’s house of Oracle.

Did we also forget to mention that the deal is being cited as one of the principal reasons why Oracle profits grew by 25% in the fourth quarter? Oracle president Safra Catz said growth could be attributed to increased demand for software licenses as well as US $400 million in operating profit accrued by Sun over the course of the quarter, but more importantly, Catz said, the company is on the way to “meet or exceed” Sun’s goals for the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years.

CEO Larry Ellison underlined the company’s plans for Sun and said in the recent earnings conference call that over the course of the year Oracle would be doubling the number of sales people that would be selling Sun products exclusively. Larry Ellison has a habit and a history of getting what he sets out to get and doing what he sets out to do. Was his recent loss of the Warriors deal an indication of things changing?

Until the Sun part and parcel came on board, Oracle was actually part of the rest of the planet – the company experienced a loss of US $2.2 billion in the last year Sun operated as an independent company, largely as a result of the decline in sever spending that accompanied the economic downturn of the past two years.

Finally, one of the reasons for Oracle popularity is the company’s visible commitment to local and global environment and energy issues. The company is dedicated to sustainability and structures programs and projects around contributing to and innovating around local economies. It contributes to educational programs and educational advancement in technology among key communities. And while Mr. Ellison inspires highly competitive gamesmanship in the corporate world, Oracle is still among the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” as noted by Ethisphere Institute.

While Oracle is still 3rd in the market behind Microsoft and IBM and ahead of SAP, it will be very important for Oracle to make the right future acquisitions to enhance its products for new technologies. Oracle has married most of its customers in the software world, much in the way that Microsoft and IBM have created ongoing in-house IT architecture, enterprise and consulting engagements. The danger lies in customers who are more cost-conscious than ever and who may want to become more liberated from in-house IT costs. Still, there’s a lot of customer base still catching up to the new technologies, and Oracle is well situated to keep the existing services and products in line for the full product related life cycles. The company’s ability to scale and grow without constant regard for product upgrade schedules lets customers remain loyal and committed to the Oracle technologies and services beyond the usual relationship cycle.

The Sun acquisition is proving, so far, to have been an excellent purchase. It’s outperforming expectations after one year, and offers Oracle an enhanced end-to-end hardware/storage/application/consulting technology and business process solution. Look for more Sun integration into the Oracle product and services lineup. Additionally, look for more acquisitions to start paving the way for Oracle into new cloud and open source engagements. Likewise, the nature of Oracle’s products and services makes it a natural to step firmly into the “transparency” rage, allowing customers greater knowledge and reporting capabilities about business data and database content.

In some ways, Larry Ellison is Oracle’s best competitive weapon. He keeps his team close, motivated, and pumped, and he pays them to perform with incentives and benefits closely tied to winning the game (see more in “Employment” and below). No CEO, not even Apple’s Steve Jobs, can claim they have an edge on competitive force over Mr. Ellison. On the outside, it makes the company sometimes look like a risk-laden loose cannon, but one that is fascinating to watch. What’s really happening is a serious strategic plan is being continuously implemented, and the plan always includes an element of somehow, somewhere, kicking somebody’s butt.

Take the April acquisition of Phase Forward. It makes absolute sense for life sciences and healthcare to converge; at least from an organizational and technological point of view. Inside the customer world, however, there are a lot of companies struggling to pull off that same mind and technology meld act that may not be ready for Oracle approach to solving the problem. Here, Oracle will consult about Oracle, while companies like Accenture make the game more difficult from the consulting, all the way to the coding angles. Oracle’s strength is in its quick and responsive competitive approach. Like its chief competitor in other arenas, however, Oracle’s weakness lies in the commitment that customers must make to both hardware and software investments, and to an ongoing marriage for technical and ongoing support. A lot of the main competitors, like IBM and SAP, have the same profile, you say, so what’s the problem? That little and literally ethereal new thing called, “the cloud.”

This competitive market is going to change substantially over the next several years. Expect players to drop out of the scene, and for massive changes in rank and order. Cash strong may be more important than some analysts currently think, and perhaps Oracle’s history of getting better performance on cash invested than on loss to service of debt will prove to be worth the risk. Still, if you’re losing sales rapidly to a new technology hitting the scene at the speed of sound, you’re going to need some cash on hand to make the sales transition. Google will be a strong force to be reckoned with, no matter the eventual evolution. Watch out for ways you can help Oracle make this a smooth transition on either the old technology or the new technology side, and you’ll have a custom-made career for your choice of short or long term tenure.

If you’re driven by money, at Oracle, you’re in luck. Oracle pays its employees in the top range of industry salaries. There’s a trade-off, however. You’ll be expected to run on high octane at the speed of light at Oracle. Of course, the people there who are willing to work (and live) in this highly volatile, competitive, and market price driven group are truly part of the competitive edge that Oracle can claim. Oracle people tend to be highly energetic, work-a-holic, brilliant innovators.

Pay is excellent, and so are the extras, but the last, and likely the next, several years will require Oracle employees to dig deep into their competitive and “happy-driven” world to keep up with the pace Oracle will be demanding. Nothing motivates the executives at Oracle like great news and losing. Overall, Oracle’s 2010 results were great news. You can count on Mr. Ellison’s recent failure to purchase his much-desired Warriors basketball team to provide the “failure” impetus. Count on his next several initiatives to be packed with a losing-is-no-option approach that could alternately excite or exhaust someone new who is also trying to adjust to the massive cultural shift required when you start getting acquainted with Oracle.

If you look at the company statistics, you’ll recognize elements of both volatility and excitement at Oracle. With absolutely no sexist bias intended or present, the fact that 71% of the employees at Oracle are male likely means something. The company is an absolute leader in environmental, energy, community and educational issues, yet lags so far behind in diversity?. Similar statistics exist, however, at Microsoft, IBM, SAP, and other tech- industry companies. You can’t help but wonder, however, if the gender makeup at Oracle is also a reflection of the politics, motivational tactics and competitive experience there.

The median tenure at Oracle is 3 years, which could mean employees are wearing out or jumping ship. The chief complaint listed on exit interviews involves culture and game-playing techniques that are frequently an integral part of the management style and technique. Playing hard-ball to win is part of the culture and part of the institution.

One thing is certain, it is never boring working at Oracle. You’ll be expected to be driven to the point that work is not work, it is your life, in a good way – but realize if this isn’t what you’re devoted to, and you don’t enjoy a pressure-cooker as a professional environment, other employer options might be a better choice for you. You may have to bank on your salary rather than performance measures if you’re working anywhere but in the new Sun areas, however; and, you’ll have to be able to play in the “good ‘old boys” club to survive or get ahead at Oracle. If, despite these cautions, you’re still certain that Oracle is the place for you, you’ll enjoy fantastic career-building exposure across projects, industries and countries. You’ll work with some of the most brilliant technology and business minds in the world. You’ll be given plenty of autonomy, you won’t have to sign a non-compete/non-disclosure agreement, you’ll have incredible and mandatory freedom in your work schedule, excellent pay to keep you going, and huge carrots that materialize when goals are met, bookings increase, and the next acquisition is made. Of course, everyone gets to enjoy being a spectator to the CEO’s latest adventures.