In the midst of updating my software taxonomy for 2011, I stumbled across an odd list on bloomberg.com that says it's a list of "Enterprise Software/Serv Companies." I assume the "Serv" stands for servers but maybe it means services.
It's really hard to figure out what the Bloomberg list is attempting to prove because it leaves out the two leading enterprise software companies as measured by worldwide revenue -- number one Microsoft (MSFT) and number two IBM. Even if IBM did not make Bloomberg's list for enterprise software -- I could argue that categorization from both sides -- it's hard to figure IBM not making the list assuming Serv means either servers or services.
That's not the half of it. Baan is still listed as is Maconomy. I can understand the mislisting vis a vis Maconomy because it was only acquired by Deltek (PROJ) in 2010 and still kind of pretends it is independent. But Baan?
So I url'd my way back to the Bloomberg parent page and find that there are all kinds of software choices and its list makers just decided to put Microsoft under "Applications Software" rather than enterprise software.
According to Bloomberg, Red Hat (RHT) and Progress (PRGS) are also applications software providers. But Oracle (ORCL) and SAP are not applications software providers according to Bloomberg. You can find them back on the enterprise software list.
Message: if you are thinking of investing in software of any type, don't depend on lists you find on the Internet
-- Dennis Byron
(no financial interest in companies mentioned)
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