of reasons, and we cannot assure you that there will not be additional departures, which may be disruptive to our operations.

 

Part of our total compensation program includes stock options. If our stock price performs poorly it may adversely affect our ability to retain or attract key employees. In addition, because we will be required to treat all stock-based compensation as an expense beginning in fiscal 2007, we may change both our cash and stock-based compensation practices. Some of the changes we are considering or have already implemented include the reduction in the number of employees granted options, a reduction in the number of options granted, the reduction of benefits under the employee stock purchase plan and a change to alternative forms of stock-based compensation. Any changes in our compensation practices or changes made by competitors could affect our ability to retain and motivate existing personnel and recruit new personnel.

We might experience significant errors or security flaws in our products and services.   Despite testing prior to their release, software products frequently contain errors or security flaws, especially when first introduced or when new versions are released. Errors in our software products could affect the ability of our products to work with other hardware or software products, could delay the development or release of new products or new versions of products and could adversely affect market acceptance of our products. If we experience errors or delays in releasing new products or new versions of products, we could lose revenues. In addition, we run our own business operations, Oracle On Demand, and other outsourcing, support and consulting services, on our products and networks and any security flaws, if exploited, could affect our ability to conduct business operations. End users, who rely on our products and services for applications that are critical to their businesses, may have a greater sensitivity to product errors and security vulnerabilities than customers for software products generally. Software product errors and security flaws in our products or services could expose us to product liability, performance and/or warranty claims as well as harm our reputation, which could impact our future sales of products and services. The detection and correction of any security flaws can be time consuming and costly.

 

We may not receive significant revenues from our current research and development efforts for several years, if at all.   Developing and localizing software is expensive and the investment in product development often involves a long payback cycle. In fiscal 2005, our research and development expenses were $1.5 billion, or 13% of our total revenues. Our plans for fiscal 2006 include significant investments in software research and development and related product opportunities. Accelerated product introductions and short product life cycles require high levels of expenditures for research and development that could adversely affect our operating results if not offset by revenue increases. We believe that we must continue to dedicate a significant amount of resources to our research