Mark, let me try and address your concerns about ADSM and Oracle.  You
CAN today back up Oracle databases online with ADSM if the database
is installed on file systems, by using the Oracle alter tablespace commands.
Oracle is different from all the other major database vendors in that it
does NOT provide backup utilities with its product.  When Oracle's OBACKUP
utility is generally available, the interface to ADSM (currently called the
the Oracle Access Pack) will be available coincident or shortly thereafter.
The Oracle Access Pack is developed by IBM.

It is a much better solution to use a database backup tool, like DataTools
SQL-BackTrack, or Oracle's OBACKUP, to perform the database backups and
have the results sent directly to ADSM.  These are sophisticated tools
designed to handle DBMS considerations, such as keeping track of database
changes and log files.  The same approach is used with IBM's own database
product, DB2/6000.  You use the DB2/6000 backup utilities to perform the
backup, but the data is sent to ADSM for storage management.

I would be happy to talk to you about your concerns with ADSM Oracle support.
Please feel free to call me at 408-256-6934, or send me a direct note
to cbehrens AT vnet.ibm DOT com.
thanks,
Cyndie Behrens
IBM - ITSO San Jose