"Enterprise system integration is a complicated business dominated by massive software companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and IBM, which in turn are supported by thousands of boutique consultancies, " said Craig Materick, chief software architect at ThinkFlood.

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Things are different now because both the browser and OS markets are becoming dominated by open source software.

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For instance, Good Technology reported today that among users of its MDM software, the iPhone dominated Android, with 62% share vs.

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The cultural heart of Oracle remains in the software stacks where it has dominated.

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While Intel dominates the PC and server markets, Intel has struggled to penetrate the fast-growing market for smartphones and tablets dominated by Apple and a score of manufacturers building devices around software from Google and processors from Nvida, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm.

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The king of PC software, Microsoft stood by while Google ( GOOG) dominated Internet search, and then watched again as Apple ( AAPL) took control of high-fashion mobile gadgets.

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Zia Yusuf zoomed up the ranks of SAP, a German software company, because he offered something that the engineering-dominated company lacked: expertise in corporate strategy.

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