Sun & Oracle: Do they talk the same language?
The financial analysts always look at the overlap of products and of audience to see if a merger is going to work. They want to know if there is opportunity for cross-selling, not cannibalization. They talk about business synergy. However, many mergers have failed based on a mismatch of “corporate cultures”. I am not a Sun or an Oracle insider, but – from the outside looking in – I can see some real differences in terms of how they relate to their customers.
Anyone who has been in the software industry knows that product popularity does not always equate to leading edge – it often equates to product support, both direct support from the company and from all those who write add-ons. It also relates to the responsiveness of the company (and its affiliates) to adjust & adapt the product to growing needs.
A quick look at the Social Media face of Sun and Oracle finds that they both have lots of forums, blogs and official and unofficial Facebook pages. However, the tone – from the Home Page of the corporate website on down – is quite different. You can find a “community” area on the Home Page of Oracle’s website, but the experience is very uninviting. It is basically a lot of text. On Sun’s Home Page going back a few weeks ago, there was a friendly face of a customer saying “Dude, where’s my pass?” – a promotion for a video contest where the winner gets a free pass to the upcoming Java conference. There is also a prominent download section, plus an area called “Free Trials and Hot Deals’ – all very customer-centric. Today, Oracle has replaced the “dude” with a picture of what looks like a rack of computers with a sales headline that reads: “Get Superior Performance: Rapid and reliable deployment of Oracle Optimized Warehouse Solutions for Sun”.
This all reminds me of the PC nerd versus the cool Mac guy commercials. However, the nerds have taken over. I am not going to hold any Oracle stock .
