Oracle's 11g is anticipated to offer a number of features that were included under its beta, such as data compression, "flashback" technology for data recovery and online application upgrades.

But Oracle customers may be slow to dump their 10g database to upgrade to the company's latest 11g offering, despite a four-year stretch between upgrades, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Faced with growing competition from open-source database vendors, Oracle is anticipated to add its own open-source code to 11g. Last year, Oracle acquired open-source database company Sleepycat Software, whose technology it planned to embed in applications.

The database offering comes at a time when the market is maturing and Oracle is looking to leverage its core business into a software stack that includes its Fusion Middleware and an ever-growing array of applications.