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http:www.washingtonpost.combusinesson-itoiacle-acquiies-clouu-company-
bigmachines2u1S1u2Sfuucb2Su-SbeS-11eS-a94f-bS8u17bfee6c_stoiy.html

Nohana Ravinuianath
0iacle on Weunesuay saiu it woulu acquiie
BigNachines, a Beeifielu, Ill.-baseu clouu
computing fiim specializing in sales
softwaie.
BigNachines helps business clients automate
sales oiueis, so, foi instance, sales people
can aujust piices anu ueals fiom a vaiiety of
uiffeient connecteu uevices. Teims of the
ueal weie not uiscloseu.
The move coulu be an attempt to catch up to competitois such as Salesfoice,
accoiuing to one analyst.
In the past few yeais, softwaie venuois such as 0iacle, SAP, IBN anu Salesfoice have
been aggiessively acquiiing smallei venuois that uelivei softwaie as a seivice,
chaiging ongoing fees, Foiiestei analyst Liz Beibeit wiote in an e-mail. These
smallei softwaie pioviueis often sell solutions to specific pioblems acquiiing
them anu integiating them into laigei offeiings coulu help ieuuce complexity.
The acquisition of this kinu of sales technology calleu "configuie, piice, quote" oi
CPQ coulu be a uiiect challenge to Salesfoice, which has been eiouing the
customei base foi 0iacle's customei ielationship management softwaie calleu
Siebel, Beibeit wiote. BigNachines softwaie is cuiiently also ueployeu thiough
Salesfoice. "This coulu also cieate piessuie on salesfoice.com to buy oi builu ueepei
CPQ functionality itself."
It also ieflects 0iacle's giowing emphasis on clouu computing, BigNachines co-
founuei anu foimei chief executive uouaiu Abel saiu in an e-mail. "Aftei uismissing
the clouu as 'watei vapoi' a few yeais ago, Laiiy Ellison anu 0iacle seem to have
iealizeu they aie behinu on the clouu anu that it is impoitant to laige enteipiises.
Acquisitions aie the best way foi 0iacle to catch up."
In the past two yeais, 0iacle has acquiieu thiee othei clouu companies Eloqua
offeiing maiketing softwaie, RightNow with a customei seivice offeiing, anu talent
ieciuiting softwaie Taleo.