See the link below for an OpenWorld 2010 snapshot
Like it or not, many of the largest technology companies — H.P., I.B.M., Cisco Systems and Oracle — have made their data center conquest plans clear. Oracle now competes directly with its partners H.P. and Dell, as does Cisco, the networking specialist, through its move into computer servers. Meanwhile, H.P., once one of Cisco’s closest allies, has begun a major assault in the networking arena.
“We will see more concentration because that’s where the marketing is going,” Mr. Hernandez said.
At least Oracle has the courtesy to assuage customer’s nerves for one week through its Open World largess.
Oracle Growth Plans Worry Rivals and Customers - NYTimes.com
It is interesting to see that IT industry has consolidated into just few large giants. As Oracle has done 66 acquisitions, so has IBM and many more giants. But the question that is left for the customers like us to ask is how well integrated software/hardware can you giants provide? It has of-course become immaterial to know who owns the software/hardware, from the customer point of view, the question is not what are you providing rather it is how are you providing.
ReplyDeleteI remember in my days we had multiple shops specializing on one of the products such as vegetables or fruits or provisions-but then came the age of consolidation where my children prefer one supermarket over other just because they are happy with 'HOW' part of solution rather than 'WHAT' part!
So is the IT industry, it is actually becoming a supermarket, but the question still lies which supermarket provides the best integrated solutions. From my decades of experience in IT though, i don't see an easy solution-it will go through the introduction, growth and stabilization period as any business life cycle. So the client businesses have to bear with us or could grind their teeth in vain...choice is yours!
Thanks for sharing your insights. There are definitely both pros and cons in the increasingly consolidated vendor landscape.
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