IBM Filling Up on Data

The later point is significant because many companies, especially those that have grown through acquisitions or rely heavily on mainframes, are reluctant to throw out legacy databases.

Zornes, though, says that IBM has the edge, because its MDM products are better suited for the largest enterprises, while Oracle's real strength is in the midmarket. Even so, he admits that the pending acquisition of Siebel Systems(SEBL Quote) and its strong offerings in customer management relationship software could become a big plus for Oracle's MDM efforts.