Oracle’s $9.3 billion deal to acquire NetSuite ratchets Oracle’s cloud power to another level in financial management software, an area where the company has an embarrassment of riches. When Oracle closes the deal for NetSuite – a company in which Oracle founder Larry Ellison already owns a greater than 40 percent stake – it will have five ERP products, joining Oracle ERP Cloud, E-Business Suite, J.D. Edwards and PeopleSoft, says Gartner analyst Chad Eschinger. “There is going to be a lot of confusion, especially in sales and marketing,” about how to position the products, Eschinger says.
Eschinger says how Oracle situates NetSuite in its ERP portfolio will be crucial for CIOs. If Oracle positions NetSuite as a midmarket solution does that mean NetSuite customers who find themselves growing have to move to one of Oracle’s other suites? It remains to be seen.
NetSuite customers who have deliberately stayed out of Oracle’s large universe may view the deal as a nuisance. Customers of both vendors, such as Land O’Lakes, look forward to the product synergies. CIO Mike Macrie tells CIO.com, “Oracle provides scale and enterprise access globally and Netsuite provides quality SaaS products and a partner network from which Oracle can further expand.”
Oracle executives are supremely confident in the move, with CEO Mark Hurd saying that Oracle and NetSuite’s cloud applications will “coexist in the market forever.”