Oracle Buys Eloqua: Early Christmas Gift for Marketo?

Read the announcement from Oracle here. Anything that gets the corporate world to focus on Marketing Automation is a good thing, right?

Yesterday’s announcement that Eloqua was acquired by Oracle is no exception. I think that this deal is a milestone for marketing automation as it demonstrates the real value of marketing automation – to the tune of nearly “one billion dollars.” Anyone who follows Eloqua knows that they and Marketo have been neck-in-neck as visionaries in the marketing automation space. Gartner’s recent Magic Quadrant for CRM Lead Management solidly places Eloqua and Marketo as “Visionary Leaders” in the CRM Lead Management space.

So what does this announcement about the acquisition mean for marketing automation? Here is what I believe:   

1. The integration of Sales CRM, marketing automation and the “Customer Experience Cloud” will continue to be a topic for discussion and ultimately will transform the way companies market, sell, support and serve their customers.
2. It will take time for Oracle to assimilate Eloqua into the sales and marketing machine and into the product line. The acquisition will surely freeze some decisions for marketing automation platforms. 
3. Companies currently evaluating Eloqua now have reason to think about the implication of this acquisition and what it means to the future on the Eloqua platform.

Right now it is not clear if this acquisition will drive more customers to Marketo in the short term. As the Marketo platform continues to demonstrate that it is “Enterprise Grade”, combined with the Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt about Oracle could be an early Christmas gift and Happy New Year for Marketo.

For more information about starting, integrating and improving your partner or marketing programs, contact Larry Fournier on LinkedIn or by email at: fourthman@usa.com.