If there is anything worth noting, it is how the IT industry is changing.
First, the consolidation of the CRM-ERP market. Oracle acquires PeopleSoft after a tough bidding battle with SAP.
Next, CRM ‘giant’ Siebel acquisition by Oracle. Siebel of course, have a long history with Oracle.
And on the database front, Oracle have acquired InnoDB and now SleepyCat.
And if that is not enough. Rumours of deals also includes JBoss and Zend.
Open sourced database have already nimble away part of the revenues that license fees provide. And while CRM-ERP have been successful in the 90s, new competitors from SalesLogix SalesForce.com to SugarCRM have make in-roads and gain significant market share in this age of the Internet.
Needless to say, open source and subscription based ‘software’ have matured and is here to stay. Where processes does not change a lot, these are easily turned into ‘service on tap’ or services on demand.
Oracle is reacting well, moving fast for a big company to the threats around them. With such acquisitions going on , it is not difficult to see Oracle continue to play the ‘one-vendor’ game.
Imagine, CRM-ERP-Database from Oracle. And if they do acquired JBoss and other middleware, it is not difficult to throw in ‘integration layer from Oracle as well’ phrase.
This, however, is where it starts to fail. Remember Oracle web server? This is but signs that it is not possible to own the entire space.
In selecting solutions, Oracle will always be a company to be reckon and go with. However, with open source, IT leaders can have greater savings on license fees and only spend on support.
Budget for IT spending will always be a concern for organisations. After all, if the investment in solutions is not brining in the promise of efficiency you desired, then it become an expense.