When the company started, computer database technology was only starting. Ellison had read a 1970 paper written by Edgar F. Codd on relational database management systems (RDBMS).
w ɛ n WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY k ʌ m p ə n i WORD_BOUNDARY s t ɑ ɹ t ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY k ə m p j uː t ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY d eɪ t ə b eɪ s WORD_BOUNDARY t ɛ k n ɑ l ə d̠ʒ i WORD_BOUNDARY w ʌ z WORD_BOUNDARY oʊ n l i WORD_BOUNDARY s t ɑ ɹ t ɪ ŋ WORD_BOUNDARY ɛ l ɪ s ə n WORD_BOUNDARY h æ d WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɛ d WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ WORD_BOUNDARY n aɪ n t iː n h ʌ n d ɹ ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY s ɛ v ə n t i WORD_BOUNDARY p eɪ p ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɪ t ə n WORD_BOUNDARY b aɪ WORD_BOUNDARY ɛ d ɡ ə ɹ ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY ɛ f WORD_BOUNDARY k ɑ d WORD_BOUNDARY ɔ n WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɪ l eɪ ʃ ə n ə l WORD_BOUNDARY d eɪ t ə b eɪ s WORD_BOUNDARY m æ n ɪ d̠ʒ m ə n t WORD_BOUNDARY s ɪ s t ə m z WORD_BOUNDARY ɑ ɹ d iː b iː ɛ m ɛ s WORD_BOUNDARY