Along with Microsoft and IBM, Oracle is one of the three largest software companies in the world. It specializes in database and middleware software, as well as applications, but also has a large consulting business through which it offers strategy and analysis, business process optimization, product implementation, enhancements and upgrades, and ongoing managed services. 

The firm was founded by Larry Ellison in 1977 as Software Development Laboratories. The name, of course, didn't stick. After a brief run from 1979 to 1982 as Relational Software, it became Oracle Systems, reflecting the success of its flagship product, the Oracle Database. The firm's history in the consulting biz doesn't go back quite as far, however, having developed out of a sales force split in 1992 that divided sales personnel into those selling database software and those selling applications. During the tech boom of the late 1990s, applications and consulting services were in such high demand that the firm's services division tripled its revenue and became a major practice area.

Seeking the Oracle

The firm is active in an enormous range of industries, including aerospace and defense, automotive, chemicals, communications, consumer products, education and research, energy, engineering and construction, financial services, health care, high tech, homeland security, industrial manufacturing, life sciences, professional services, public sector, retail, travel and transportation, and utilities. Its client list features corporations starting with every letter of the alphabet, with AstraZeneca, BP and Coca-Cola at the start to Xerox, the YMCA and Zebra Technologies bringing up the rear. Oracle claims that its technology is a component of the databases of 99 of the Fortune 100.

Because the firm is a major software vendor, it is frequently in a position to offer consulting services to clients who have purchased licenses or application packages. It's common in the industry for IT companies to separate their services and software lines, but Oracle is up front about tying the two together. The firm often strikes deals to implement and maintain the software it has just sold. This creates a dual relationship not only with its clients, but also with its rivals. Oracle holds alliances with a number of other vendors, such as Accenture, HP and IBM, with whom it also competes.