For Enterprise Apps, It’s a Renter’s Market

If you had any doubts that the shift to the cloud is now, read Aaron Ricadela’s post on Businessweek. The headline, “Oracle Losing Ground as More Business Look to the Cloud,” pretty much says it all.

“I don’t want to do plumbing,” is how Robert Schmid, CIO at video game maker Activision, explains his preference for cloud-based apps as opposed to on-premises software, for Salesforce.com instead of Oracle.

As Ricadela’s article points out, Activision certainly isn’t alone. Companies large and small are leaving Oracle in droves. Increasingly, the software giant just can’t vie for corporate hearts and minds (and dollars). And though Oracle is still turning a profit, the projected 3 percent revenue increases last quarter is Oracle’s lowest figure in the past couple of years — and that decline shows no signs of letting up.

This isn’t new to small and midsized businesses, many of which simply couldn’t afford the expensive upfront investment, protracted implementations, consultants and extensive IT staffs necessary to manage software from legacy providers such as Oracle.

And while Oracle’s business still dwarfs Salesforce.com’s, the writing is on the wall: Don’t doubt that the future’s in the cloud.