Oracle announced the purchase of start-up Tangosol for an undisclosed amount. The company has more than 500 customers, but Oracle is most interested in its extreme transaction processing (XTP) technology, which works with a myriad of platforms from companies such as BEA, Microsoft and IBM.XTP is a big help for global companies in data-intensive industries like financial services, travel, and telecommunications. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), for example, trades billions of dollars in complex derivatives. It needs real-time systems like Tangosol's to manage risks while maintaining regulatory compliance.

Privately held Tangosol launched its first product in early 2001. Its flagship Tangosol Coherence software dynamically partitions and distributes data in memory across a data grid, reducing the costs and resource demands of managing distributed data. Oracle plans to add Tangosol's technology to its Fusion middleware portfolio, boosting its offerings for heavy-duty transaction processing needs.