Oracle -> Captovation
Microsoft -> FAST
SAP -> Business Objects
IBM -> Cognos
SUN -> MySQL
Fatwire and Interwoven also acquired other smaller, niche players.
So what are the implications? Convergence? Less choice? Less innovation? Blurring lines between competitors and partners? Alliance realignments? Less confusion in the marketplace (or is it more)? EMC is the only one among the bigger vendors that does not have a portal and middleware offering. So will they acquire another company?
Reminds me of an Forrestor blog post that I came across last month:
http://blogs.forrester.com/information_management/2007/12/convergence-of.html
You noticed that many of the M&A’s are reporting and BI-related? If 2007 is the year of the SOA/BPMs, then 2008 is when we will see a lot more BI-related sales. I’ve always thought it was strange that reporting and monitoring functions seem understated during vendor pitches on BPMs – what’s BPM without excellent support for reporting to the senior management? – and it looks like they are finally filling up holes in this area.
This is a cycle, and as similar as Big fishes swallowing smaller ones. Innovation will never stop.