Earlier today I distributed a note to my clients and research distribution list with details on this event. I am posting below two excerpts that summarize the key points made.
(…) this is not a cloud-focused architecture and not the solution that Oracle should’ve sought for their first application destined to the recently-launched “Oracle Public Cloud”. The amount of effort, time, and resources to either integrate RightNow into Fusion or to make it more open and public to fit better in their cloud model is not going to be trivial.
While most of my colleagues saw this as a way for Oracle to offer a cloud-based customer service solution, I cannot concur with them. I may be a little too strict on my definitions, but RightNow is not a cloud-based vendor.
There are also the few people who thought this was a move by Oracle to counter the acquisition of Assistly. Far be it from it (and if it was, it failed miserably) as they play in different sub-markets and the cloud market is not yet sufficient interesting for Oracle and their clients.
Oracle should’ve acquired a smaller, but more robust and truer cloud offering that would allow them not to only to compete today but also be prepared for a better solution tomorrow. While RightNow can deliver a fairly competitive solution for the complex contact center market today, their solution is very dated (more so than Salesforce) and not a true representation of a cloud-based solution; at best a hosted-application.
This deal signals a very healthy customer service market, for acquisitions, and we expect to see more acquisitions happening rather rapidly – especially by SAP and potentially Microsoft. In addition, consolidation moves between vendors would not be surprising either – as vendors left behind are going to want to grow much faster than organic growth will allow them.
Please let me know any questions you may have.
