5 Companies That Came To Win This Week
Google Rescues iPhone Users With iOS 6 Maps Update
Google's update to Google Maps, now available on Apple's App Store, no doubt came as a relief to the legions of iPhone users who've been led astray by Apple's confounding homegrown maps app. Google claims the app was downloaded more than 10 million times in the first two days after its release. Google also saw fit to improve the design and user interface in the Google Maps update, and many reviewers gushed about how amazing it was to have an app that didn't guide them into random corners of the world they had not expected to visit.
Oracle Adds Marketing Automation Software In Eloqua Purchase
Oracle managed to squeeze in a major acquisition just before the Mayan Apocalypse, plunking down $871 million to acquire marketing automation SaaS vendor Eloqua. Oracle says Eloqua has about 1,200 customers and a user base of around 100,000 worldwide. Its software provides seamless integration with CRM platforms and other enterprise systems. It also has an online software marketplace, Eloqua AppCloud, where customers can buy third-party applications.
Samsung Unseats Nokia As Top Global Handset Maker
Samsung surpassed Nokia as the world's largest maker of mobile handsets, according to the latest market-share figures from research firm IHS iSuppli. Samsung accounted for 29 percent of global handset shipments, compared to 24 percent for Nokia, which had occupied the top spot since 1998. Samsung also topped the global smartphone market with a 28 percent share, compared to 20 percent for runner-up Apple, according to iSuppli's figures. For Nokia, which saw its smartphone market share drop from 16 percent last year to 5 percent this year, the iSuppli report was just the latest bit of bad news.
Cloud Sherpas Scores $40 Million VC Round, Makes Acquisition
Cloud Sherpas, an up-and-coming Google Apps and Salesforce reseller, had a double dose of positivity in scoring a $40 million venture capital round and announcing its acquisition of CloudTrigger, a cloud VAR. Cloud Sherpas, which has acquired several other smaller cloud players in recent years, plans to continue building out its cloud services portfolio through acquisitions, David Northington, CEO of Cloud Sherpas, said in an interview with CRN. CloudTrigger focuses on Salesforce Service Cloud implementation, and its G2Maps mapping app is available on Salesforce AppExchange. Cloud Sherpas currently has more than 3,000 customers and expects to pull in around $100 million in 2013 revenue.
IBM Adds To Big Data Lineup With StoredIQ Buy
IBM is adding to its big data portfolio with its acquisition of StoredIQ, a storage analytics technology vendor that helps organizations respond to litigation and regulations, dispose of information that has outlived its purpose, and lower data storage costs.
The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013, and IBM plans to add StoredIQ to its Software Group and its Information Lifecycle Governance business.