Database giant Oracle is under attack, and like chip goliath Intel ignored emerging ARM's RISC chips in mobile devices for too long and legacy incumbents such as server-vendors HP and Dell lagged behind as the commodity servers market shifted, it may not notice the ground shifting beneath its feet until it's too late.
The size of Oracle's database is so huge that even as it's used to facing competition from niche technologies it may be blind to the termites nibbling at its foundations. A marauding hoard of small firms has cropped up to provide low-cost or free databases to the current and future customers of Oracle.
There has already been migration of more than one hundred companies from Oracle but with a market cap of $152 billion and earnings in the last quarter being $10.9 billion, this is insignificant for now. Given a couple of years of firms adopting the new databases though, the shift will become apparent.
The current rooster of Oracle customers comprises some of the largest companies in every industry and a large portion of the public sector. However, longtime Oracle customers are looking to cheaper alternative to the notoriously pricey licensing of Ellison & Co. and upcoming companies are unfamiliar with the technology the giant uses. This is the root of the giant's foreseeable problems.
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