Oracle acquires cloud company BigMachines Oracle on Wednesday said it would acquire BigMachines, a Deerfield, Ill.-based cloud computing firm specializing in sales software. BigMachines helps business clients automate sales orders, so, for instance, sales people can adjust prices and deals from a variety of different connected devices. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The move could be an attempt to catch up to competitors such as Salesforce, according to one analyst. In the past few years, software vendors such as Oracle, SAP, IBM and Salesforce have been aggressively acquiring smaller vendors that deliver software as a service, charging ongoing fees, Forrester analyst Liz Herbert wrote in an e-mail. These smaller software providers often sell solutions to specific problems — acquiring them and integrating them into larger offerings could help reduce complexity. The acquisition of this kind of sales technology — called “configure, price, quote” or CPQ — could be a direct challenge to Salesforce, which has been eroding the customer base for Oracle’s customer relationship management software called Siebel, Herbert wrote. BigMachines software is currently also deployed through Salesforce. “This could also create pressure on salesforce.com to buy or build deeper CPQ functionality itself.” It also reflects Oracle’s growing emphasis on cloud computing, BigMachines co-founder and former chief executive Godard Abel said in an e-mail. “After dismissing the cloud as ‘water vapor’ a few years ago, Larry Ellison and Oracle seem to have realized they are behind on the cloud and that it is important to large enterprises. Acquisitions are the best way for Oracle to catch up.” In the past two years, Oracle has acquired three other cloud companies — Eloqua offering marketing software, RightNow with a customer service offering, and talent recruiting software Taleo.  >>Read More

China Telecom launches cloud computing center in Guizhou GUIYANG, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- China Telecom, a leading Chinese telecom operator, broke ground for a cloud computing center in southwest China's Guizhou Province on Monday. The China Telecom Cloud Computing Guizhou Information Park covers an area of 500 mu (33.3 hectares) in the Gui'an New Area near the provincial capital of Guiyang. The project, with an investment of 7 billion yuan (1.14 billion U.S. dollars), is expected to be operational by the end of 2014, providing high-speed storage and computing services for government departments, enterprises, financial institutions and Internet companies. The first phase of the park, with an investment of 4 billion yuan, covers an area of 200 mu and comprises eight data centers, one power center and two support centers. It is expected to accommodate one million servers. So far, clients have agreed to place more than 120,000 servers in the park. "Guizhou, with its high altitude and abundant energy sources, is an ideal place to build the cloud computing center," said Wang Xiaochu, chairman of China Telecom, at the construction inauguration ceremony. Cloud computing generally refers to services, including software and storage, accessed by users through the Internet, rather than on local machines or servers. Also on Monday, Foxconn, the world's largest electronics contractor, started building a 260-hectare industrial park to the south of the China Telecom cloud computing park.  >>Read More

CAST YOUR VOTES NOW! Best Application Platform 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote  Best Cloud Automation Solution 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=1  Best Cloud BI/Analytics Solution 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=2  Best Cloud Broker Service 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=3  Best Cloud Hosting 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=4  Best Cloud Middleware 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=5  Best Cloud Partner Program 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=6  Best Cloud Security Solution 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=7  Best Cloud Service Provider 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=8  Best Cloud Storage Solution 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=9  Best Cloud System Integrator, Consulting & Advisory - http://up-con.com/vote?page=10  Best Data Center Solution (DCIM) 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=11  Best Hybrid Cloud Solution 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=12  Best IT Infrastructure/Cloud Management Solution 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=13  Best Mobile Solution 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=14  Best SaaS Application 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=15  Best CRM Solution 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=16  Best Healthcare IT Solution 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=17  Best BYOD Solution 2013 - http://up-con.com/vote?page=18  Think you know great cloud solutions when you see it? You be the judge! Cast your vote for the UP-Start Cloud Awards until October 30, 2013. Visit http://up-con.com/vote to place your vote. No registration required. It's free.  Posted By Khazret Sapenov

The 5 Most Valuable Cloud Computing Companies In The World No. 1 Salesforce.com: Worth $25.5 billion Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff Salesforce.com Ticker: CRM Stock price: $43.22 Market cap:  $25.496 billion Salesforce.com is credited with inventing the whole software-as-a-service cloud industry. It offers cloud-based customer relationship management and marketing software. No. 2 LinkedIn: Worth $23 billion LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner LinkedIn Ticker: LNKD Stock price: $208.53 Market cap: $23.014 billion LinkedIn is a social network for business professionals that offers cloud-based recruiting software. No. 3 Workday: Worth $11.9 billion Workday CEO Aneel Bhusri Workday Ticker: WDAY Stock price: $68.57 Market cap: $11.862 billion Workday offers cloud-based human resources and finance software. No. 4 NetSuite: Worth $7 billion Zach Nelson NetSuite CEO NetSuite Ticker: N Stock price: $95.77 Market cap: $7.066 billion NetSuite offers cloud-based business software for accounting, enterprise resource management, and customer resource management. No. 5 ServiceNow: Worth $5.9 billion Frank Slootman, CEO ServiceNow ServiceNow Ticker: NOW Stock price: $44.14 Market cap: $5.928 billion ServiceNow offers cloud-based services for IT professionals such as help desk software that tracks tech problems.  >>Read More