Oracle dominates enterprise software as peers step aside

Dubai: Microsoft's focus on consumer software and IBM's interest in services have helped Oracle dominate the enterprise software industry, according to Charles Philippe, the company's president.

In 2007, Microsoft and IBM ranked as the two largest software firms in the world. Oracle ranked third.

Philippe said Microsoft seems to have lost interest in the enterprise software market altogether.

Obsession

"They're obsessed with Google, which is a good thing. I'd rather have them obsessed with Google than with us," he told a group of journalists on Thursday at the Gitex technology show.

"They are chasing consumer markets, building Xboxes, all those fun things, which is what we want them spending their time thinking about every day."

Philippe added that even IBM's role in the market place had changed. "IBM is probably more [of a] partner than competitor because they've turned into a services company," he said. "That's more important to them than the software," he claimed.

Philippe said Oracle's focus will remain enterprise software. "Everything we do, every dollar we spend, every acquisition we make, is towards enterprising computing. That's it," he said. "We don't go chase all these tangent areas."

Oracle has spent $34 billion on 49 acquisitions over the last four years.

When asked if Oracle has considered any acquisitions in the Middle East, Philippe said, "We haven't bought anything in the region, but we did evaluate a couple."

He added that the company "already has a higher market share here than any other area in the world."

He said Oracle is beginning to see more business from financial service companies looking to upgrade their computer systems.