Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Subscribe
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Subscribe
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • IT Management

    Oracle’s BigMachines Deal Shows How CMOs Take Control of IT Spending

    Written by

    Eric Lundquist
    Published October 24, 2013
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      Oracle’s Oct. 23 acquisition of BigMachines cloud-based sales-quoting software is further and maybe conclusive evidence of the demise of IT budgets totally under the control of the chief information officer.

      The marketing department—once the home of a mysterious budget process built mostly around going to lunch and thinking creatively—has been the target of technology vendors for the past several years.

      During that time, there had been some conviction in the industry that CIOs would naturally rein in chief marketing officers’ IT spending, but the suites now being offered by the likes of Oracle, Hubspot and Salesforce.com means the IT budget shift from CIOs to CMOs will only accelerate.

      While Oracle is not saying how much it paid (Business Insider claims about $400 million), the BigMachines sales quote machine will continue to fill out the Oracle sales and marketing suite. The purchase also illustrates the fervid competition between Oracle and Salesforce.com.

      Salesforce was an investor in BigMachines, which offered its system as a service on the Salesforce cloud. Producing a sales quote remains a very human-intensive operation with the quote process bouncing around internally for department approvals and revisions before being committed to a document and then finally—even in this day and age—being faxed to the potential customer.

      However, buying a group of companies and bundling them together does not an integrated sales and marketing suite make. Oracle, which detractors accuse of building “Frankenstacks,” needs to prove it can meld companies as disparate as Eloqua (acquired for $870 million) and Compendium (acquired last week) into a seamless suite. In any case, the role of the CIO in deciding whether marketing uses the Oracle, Salesforce or Hubspot platforms is becoming ever more remote.

      Even the use of big data in a corporation—which appeared to be securely in the CIO’s purview—is slipping. I spoke earlier this week with Jeff Winsper, the founder of Black Ink, a marketing company based on a big data engine running on the RedPoint Global platform.

      Jeff, whose background includes stints at advertising agencies Mullen and Leo Burnett, strongly advocates tracking marketing return on investment based on a standard set of measures—much like the measures used in financial reporting.

      He has seen the role of marketing go through rapid change as traditional methods and measures have faltered in the face of social media and data sources widely distributed both internally and externally.

      He sees the use of platforms such as Hadoop as crucial tools to pull in data from as wide a range of data sources as possible. He also sees the role of companies such as Black Ink as integral in providing the technology that collects the data and presents the analysis to the CMO and CFO. IT is playing a minor role, if any, in this technology purchase decision. Meanwhile, the traditional sales process is also breaking down.

      “Seventy percent of all prospects are well down their buying journey before they communicate directly with anyone at the company,” said Winsper.

      The purpose behind the sales and marketing stacks being developed by the likes of Oracle and Salesforce is to increase the speed and efficiency of a sales process, which may be dissolving in the face of a sales process where the customer drives the sale rather than being led to a decision.

      The sales funnel, a concept that many business books and seminars have championed, is based on the idea of a prospect being monitored, measured and coaxed along as he or she moves to a buying decision.

      That process was justified in an era when customer opinion could be slowly shaped rather than determined instantly through a few opinions posted on Twitter. Today a potential customer can move from awareness, through opinion and to download and trial all in a matter of minutes and often outside the marketing and sales confines created by vendors.

      Winsper is right. Marketing is in need of a new way to measure return on investment meshed with the need to act in a real time. Meanwhile, it appears that the likes of Oracle and Salesforce are building cloud suites based on a sales and marketing model that is quickly becoming obsolete.

      Eric Lundquist is a technology analyst at Ziff Brothers Investments, a private investment firm. Lundquist, who was editor-in-chief at eWEEK (previously PC WEEK) from 1996-2008 authored this article for eWEEK to share his thoughts on technology, products and services. No investment advice is offered in this article. All duties are disclaimed. Lundquist works separately for a private investment firm which may at any time invest in companies whose products are discussed in this article and no disclosure of securities transactions will be made.

      Eric Lundquist
      Eric Lundquist
      Since 1996, Eric Lundquist has been Editor in Chief of eWEEK, which includes domestic, international and online editions. As eWEEK's EIC, Lundquist oversees a staff of nearly 40 editors, reporters and Labs analysts covering product, services and companies in the high-technology community. He is a frequent speaker at industry gatherings and user events and sits on numerous advisory boards. Eric writes the popular weekly column, 'Up Front,' and he is a confidant of eWEEK's Spencer F. Katt gossip columnist.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.