Oracle’s Wednesday introduction of a cloud-based suite of business applications clearly reflects the company’s plans to foray into the cloud productivity arena, and directly take on rivals Microsoft and Google.

Similar to Microsoft’s Docs. com and Google’s Docs, the Oracle Cloud Office is essentially a Web-based productivity suite that features word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, database, and drawing software.

According to Oracle, the new Cloud Office, which is based on the technology that the company took over from Sun Microsystems, will enable users to create as well as edit documents collaboratively in the browser, without the need of desktop software.

Noting that the 1.0 version of Oracle Cloud Office “enables web 2.0-style collaboration,” Oracle said that the software’s Web-scale architecture can be used for on-demand, on-premises, or software-as-a-service (SaaS) deployments.

Oracle also said that its new productivity suite – which is based on Open Document Format (ODF) and open Web standards - is compatible with both legacy Microsoft Office documents and Web 2.0 publishing solutions.

The company said that the software runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Web browsers, and smartphones like the Apple iPhone.

In addition, aiming chiefly at enterprise users, Oracle also announced Open Office 3.3 – an updated suite which boasts built-in integration with Cloud Office, and can connect to Oracle Business Intelligence, Oracle E-Business Suite, and Microsoft Sharepoint.