In the SAP ecosystem, Oracle is almost a taboo subject. Sure, some SAP ECC systems out there still run on Oracle DB but in general, it’s like Fight Club: we don’t speak of it. But hearing about a sudden Oracle’s stock price surge, I got curious about the grass on the other side of the fence.
The investors ran to buy Big Red’s stock “shut up and take my money” style on the news of strong earnings and license revenues. Larry Ellison apparently went on a rant in the earning call calling hybrid cloud “ridiculous” and boasting how Oracle’s cloud never, ever goes down. I’m seriously considering calling in next time, this sounds fun.
But just a few days later, ORCL price dipped when news emerged of Oracle’s potential acquisition of healthcare IT giant Cerner Corp (since then the deal was confirmed). Unless you work in healthcare, Cerner is like one of the biggest IT companies you’ve never heard of. Oddly, their HQ is in Kansas City, which is (fun fact!) located not in Kansas but in Missouri state. US geography is weird.
The healthcare industry can be a good investment (after all, everyone needs it all the time), but some forays into it, like IBM Watson Health did not go well. Time will tell which way the investor roulette spins, but one thing is certain: many folks in Kansas City will be posting their resumes online soon. Perhaps they should apply at SAP? JP
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