As countries battle it out in the World Cup for the ultimate prize in soccer, we decided to launch a competition of our own. Over the next four weeks we’ll take a look at 16 companies that battle it out everyday in the business world. Our third match up is Oracle versus SAP. We want your take! Tell us your pick:
Oracle
Born: 1977
International Headquarters: Redwood Shores, California
2013 Revenue: More than $37 billion
The company was formed to build a database manager for the CIA, a project code named Oracle. That work changed the way businesses do business. Oracle is essentially IT for the IT department. Its programs have simplified inventory, shipping and supply chain issues. It is the world’s second biggest software maker behind Microsoft.
SAP
Born: 1972
International Headquarters: Walldorf, Germany
2013 Revenue: More than $22 billion
Its key innovation was creating large data programs for financial accounting, helping the world move past the days of punch cards. Now SAP, like Oracle is finding growth by reaching into the cloud, mobile and finding ways to handle big data.