updates and product support revenues, EMEA contributed 20% and Asia Pacific contributed 8%. Software license updates and product support revenues in the Americas, specifically in the United States, increased at a faster rate than in other regions primarily due to the relative geographical mix of revenues and existing support contract bases of our acquired companies.

 

Software license updates and product support expenses increased primarily due to higher salary and benefits associated with increased headcount to support the expansion of our customer base and higher bonuses as a result of increased revenue levels. The software license updates and product support margin as a percentage of revenues decreased primarily due to incremental amortization of intangible assets.

 

Services

 

Services consist of consulting, On Demand and education.

 

Consulting:   Consulting revenues are earned by providing services to customers in the design, implementation, deployment and upgrade of our database and middleware as well as applications software products. The cost of providing consulting services consists primarily of personnel related expenditures.

  

Fiscal 2007 Compared to Fiscal 2006:   Excluding the effect of currency rate fluctuations, consulting revenues increased primarily due to an increase in application product implementations resulting from higher new application software license revenues over the last year, $359 million of incremental revenues from i-flex, which we acquired at the beginning of fiscal 2007, and $16 million of incremental revenues from Hyperion. Excluding the effect of currency rate fluctuations, the Americas contributed 55%, EMEA contributed 29% and Asia Pacific contributed 16% to the increase in consulting revenues.

 

Excluding the effect of currency rate fluctuations, consulting expenses increased as a result of higher personnel related expenses attributed to higher headcount levels and third-party contractor expenses. Consulting expenses include $281 million of incremental expenses from i-flex and $17 million from Hyperion. Total consulting margin as a percentage of revenues increased primarily due to higher margins contributed by i-flex.

 

Fiscal 2006 Compared to Fiscal 2005:   The increase in consulting revenues is primarily due to an increase in application product implementations and billable hours primarily provided by consultants who were formerly employed by our acquired companies. Excluding the effect of currency rate fluctuations, the Americas contributed 56% to the growth in consulting revenues, EMEA contributed 26% and Asia Pacific contributed 18%.

 

Consulting expenses increased as a result of higher salary and benefit expenses due to additional resources we acquired as part of our acquisitions and increased external contractor costs due to employee attrition. The total consulting margin as a percentage of revenues declined in fiscal 2006 in comparison to fiscal 2005 as a result of additional consulting expenses attributed to headcount levels and external contractor related expenditures.

 

On Demand:   On Demand includes Oracle On Demand, CRM On Demand and Advanced Customer Services. Oracle On