Oracle or SAP - Who Do You Believe?
Oracle says they are taking share in the applications market from SAP. SAP says they are stealing Oracle customers and increasing market share over Oracle.
So whose lying? I haven’t looked at the numbers in detail so my default answer is both may be successful in grabbing share in certain applications market. Here is what I do know though…
- SAP Netweaver (also referred more broadly as the SOA "fabric"…errr…ESA in SAP’s sake) is starting to hit its stride after years of hype. At SAP Sapphire last month, the Netweaver/ESA forums were standing room only; Fusion continues to be the punching bag of the industry, with speculation about its role in the integration of JDE/Oracle/Peoplesoft product still mostly only meaningless chatter from Oracle
- The ecosystem partners will tell you that SAP is out-executing Oracle by a significant margin. SAP, with its German heritage, was traditionally known as an unfriendly player just a few years ago. It is the exact opposite today. SAP’s partners rave out their approach and support. Oracle, on the other hand, is still considered the school-yard bully when it comes to partnering.
- In BPO, SAP has established a significant time-to-market advantage versus Oracle. As companies continue to look towards BPO providers to support their ongoing technology maintenance and support, SAP has developed a robust partnership model that will be difficult for Oracle to catch up quickly.
Maintaining the lucratrive maintenance fees will be critical for both Oracle and SAP, and may be the biggest attribute to recent (and future) earnings as Vinnie points in his recent post at Deal Architect (a blog I recommend by the way.) I can imagine in some applications markets, specifically those tailored to specific vertical markets such as retail, Oracle is gaining share. My opinion, though, is while Oracle is still challenged internally, SAP is finally starting to exploit the opportunity in front of them externally.
June 26th, 2006
4 Comments Add your own
1. Double Dubs | June 26th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
In the world of ERP, they are both probably right.
In the world of HR, HRO and SOA, I’d confidently predict that SAP is well ahead in the race for leadership. Oracle seems to have vaporware while SAP is steadily building market leadership and partnerships.
Given a couple of years though, I don’t see Oracle struggling to create momentum when Fusion is a reality - they’ll just be a bit behind.
2. DB | June 27th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
I tend not to trust Oracle management to give us the straight story, however the software they are working with (Peoplesoft, JDE, and even oracle apps) is a better starting point than the SAP apps, which have tended to be over-engineered. Frankly, I think we need a new way of developing apps rather than using buzz words like ‘open code’ to fool the public into thinking new and improved is on the way. Both Oracle and SAP ERP suites require way too much work and expense to buy, implement, and maintain.
3. Vendorprisey&hellip | June 29th, 2006 at 6:41 am
SAP is wired
I read Wired magazine and the Economist in the paper form whenever I get stuck in Airports, and online versions just about every week. Both write about interesting stuff, often with a witty turn of phrase. One, in English english; the other in A…
4. Dennis Howlett | June 29th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Ahem - put a few of those customers into posts like this and I’ll be closer to believing what’s said.
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