Rumors are floating around the Web that Salesforce.com may have approached Oracle about a possible deal. News of the possibility certainly sent Salesforce.com's stock spiking.
Not everyone believes in the truth of the rumor, and of course, only time will tell if we're to suddenly see a press release announcing the sale of Salesforce.com, but many analysts and readers are skeptical. Some say the deal would benefit Salesforce.com, which faces increasing competition despite being a trendsetter, while others doubt that Oracle would buy Salesforce.com right now but anticipate it might at some point.
Analyst Peter Goldmacher of Cowen & Co wrote in a research note:
"While we would not be surprised if [Salesforce.com] made such an overture, we would be very surprised if Oracle didn't laugh them out of the building."
In contrast, Denis Pombriant of Beagle Research Group told InternetNews.com a different opinion:
"Marc [Benioff] could run Oracle at some point but $75 is too cheap. Force.com is the big new thing that Larry—in my opinion—would like to sell into every existing account he has and then some."
Neither Oracle nor Salesforce.com commented on the rumor.
Oracle might have no other choice but buying them out, especially when SAP is also believed to be interested!
Think of the 40k customers that Salesforce.com has. How would they feel when they become in the cheap seat at Oracle or SAP? These customers will look for salesforce.com alternatives, and guess what? There are plenty of SaaS CRM platforms out there including Netsuite, Salesboom.com, RightNow, Entellium and few more!
Hi Krissi,
Here are a few posts that compliment your coverage of the recent Salesforce buyout rumor:
Links to the original source of the rumor:
http://www.salesforcetimes.com/oracle-to-buy-salesforcecom/
Follow up on what the blogosphere had to say:
http://www.salesforcetimes.com/blog-watch-salesforce-to-sell-to-oracle/