Guest speakers from IBM, SAP and Oracle will discuss their enterprise software strategies. The role of vendors is to create a need for their products and services. The vendors look at marketplace trends and adjust their marketing strategies to develop and promote products and services which align with major trends such as social, big data, mobile and cloud. The CIO needs to evaluate these product offerings and consider the services of analysts such as Gartner for unbiased assessments. The aim of this assignment is to compare and contrast the strategies of the vendors and conclude with recommendations for an enterprise CIO.

Provide your answers to the following questions in a report format. No need for Executive Summary or Table of Contents. Just have a cover sheet and THREE sections as stipulated below. Your report is not to exceed 3,000 words or 6 pages. Include a word count in your cover sheet.

1. Provide a summary of the key marketing strategies of IBM, SAP and Oracle in the enterprise IT space. For each vendor, consider the major products and services available and the benefits being promoted. Use a table for EACH vendor.

(Feel free to use information from each of our guest speakers and your own Internet research. Do not cut and paste from websites as Turnitin will detect this plagiarism. Include references. Cambridge format is preferred to Harvard.)

2. Consider the reports from IT analysts such as Gartner, IDC and Forrester. What do the analysts say about each of the major products or services identified in Question 1.

(Again, use the reference sources cited by our guest speakers and your own independent Internet research. Provide the summary assessments in a table format. Include references. Cambridge format is preferred to Harvard.)

3. Provide a dot point summary of your recommendations for the CIO of a major enterprise. Which are the standout products and services from the THREE identified vendors?