Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) is willing to pay more to acquire new talent that will help the company boost its competitive edge in cloud computing.
The company even dismissed companies like International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and SAP SE (ADR) (NYSE:SAP) as its competitors in cloud technology. Speaking during the company’s 2015 Keynote in San Francisco, Executive Chairman Larry Ellison stated that they no longer focus on traditional competitors such as IBM. Oracle’s battle is now against firms that offer software through the internet.
Oracle believes that its main competitor is Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) through Amazon Web Services. The latter has been the most competitive cloud computing service mostly because Amazon lets firms use its networking, computing power, and storage and charges by the hour. Oracle is looking for opportunities to close in on the competition.
The company recently announced a partnership with Intel to run a program called “Exa your Power.” The program will allow organizations or entities that use IBM power systems to test whether migrating to Oracle’s cloud is viable. Oracle’s CEO Mark Hurd promised that the company’s cloud technology will be available at cheaper cost but the performance will be improved.
Oracle has been concentrating heavily on compiling a workforce that will allow it to be more competitive against Amazon. The company currently has a cloud team located in Seattle.
Microsoft’s Azure former executive Prashant Ketkar is one of the team members. Mr. Ellison announced on Sunday that the company has emerged on top in some of its cloud-based sectors such as its high-end enterprise resource planning. He also acknowledged the fact that salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has been performing exceptionally well in the cloud technology front. Ellison however believes his company is in a position to perform better that Salesforce especially in sales-as-a-service.
The company’s finances have however not been as exciting as the competitive efforts. Oracle’s third quarter earnings reported on August 31 dropped to $8.45 billion, marking a 1.7% decline.
Sources: fortune, bloomberg
