source: http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ys-forbestopearners061809&prov=yhoo&type=lgns The world’s highest-paid athletes By Kurt Badenhausen, Forbes.com Eight months on the shelf after knee surgery put a severe dent in his prize money, and killed his overseas appearance fees. One of his main sponsors walked away a year before their agreement was set to expire. Yet Tiger Woods remains sports’ highest earner with an annual income two and a half times larger than his closest competitor. The world’s top golfer made $110 million during the past 12 months and is the best-paid sportsman for the eighth straight year. Woods’ knee injury caused his prize money to drop to $5 million from $25 million, but his overall earnings only fell $5 million thanks to an expansion of Woods’ non-playing financial empire. PepsiCo launched Gatorade Tiger last year in March with claims that it “helps focus your mind and your body.” Woods receives a cut of sales for the four flavors sold under his name. When General Motors’ problems caused Buick to terminate its $8 million a year deal with Woods one year early, the Woods camp moved quickly to sign a deal with AT&T to put the phone company’s brand on his golf bag in Buick’s place. Nike is by far Woods’ biggest benefactor with an annual payday of more than $30 million for the golfer. Woods profits from the success of the company’s golf division, and last year sales for Nike Golf hit a record $725 million. Woods’ most lucrative new endeavor is his golf course design business. Last year he announced plans for a third course to be built in Mexico. His other courses in Dubai and North Carolina are currently under construction. Our list of the highest-paid athletes looks at earnings derived from salaries, bonuses, prize money, endorsements and licensing income between June 2008 and June 2009 and does not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees. Overall, the top 20 earned $789 million, down 1 percent from last year. The cutoff to make the list was $30 million. Drop-offs from last year include boxer Floyd Mayweather (has not fought since December 2007), NFL players Ben Roethlisberger and Dwight Freeney (both made the 2008 list after inking contracts with big signing bonuses) and Formula One driver Fernando Alonso (just missed the cut). The highest-ranking of the four newcomers to the list is boxer Manny Pacquiao who earned $40 million over the last year, tied for the sixth most. Pacquiao cemented his claim as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter with convincing knockouts of Oscar De La Hoya in December and Ricky Hatton in May. The two blockbuster fights garnered more than 2 million pay-per-view buys in the U.S. and earned Pac-Man $30 million combined. Pacquiao’s massive popularity in his native Philippines is why companies like Nike and San Miguel beer have signed him to endorse their products. Pacquiao intends to use that popularity to run for political office when his ring career is over. Our 20 highest earners have a very international flavor with Pacquiao one of eight non-Americans on the list. Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen earned $45 million over the past year, tied for second on our list with hoop legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Right behind that trio is global icon David Beckham who earned $42 million playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy and AC Milan, while shilling for Adidas, Giorgio Armani and Motorola. Want To Know Your Earning Potential? Go To: http://configerp.4jobs.com/js/careerresources/salary-finder.asp Stay In The Know – Use Our Salary Finder Jump start your earning potential by knowing the facts about your worth. Use our convenient salary finder to get accurate, real-time salary reports based on your job title, location, education, skills and experience level. Whether you’re negotiating a new job or looking for a raise, we provide both entry-level and seasoned professionals with a simple and easy way to access personalized salary information. Best of all its FREE!. Get started today and get the most out of your career. Our Salary Finder Offers: • A quick and confidential process. • Accurate personal market value comparisons. • Salary reports trusted by HR professionals. Find Your Job.   The ConfigERP Job Board If you are an IT professional find you next job. Jobs are updated daily. Have jobs emailed to you. The Job Network is used by top employers. See current companies with Job Postings. Why would you use our Job Board? Your job search is already hard, we will help you make it easier. You have access to job offers and career articles at all hours day and night. You can search for local jobs as well  as search far beyond other cities and other countries. You can search SAP jobs, IT jobs or any other ERP job. We offer permanent and contract jobs, we will show you the current vacancies. We will provide you with tips to improve your resume or CV, you can create an online profile and upload your resume.  Search a specific job within the USA, Europe, Canada, South America, Australia or in Asia Pacific. Over our network we will supply you with job offerings from China, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and S. Korea, but also in Brazil, Argentina, Dubai UAE, France, UK, Germany, Spain and Poland to name a few. We are currently supporting over 61 countries. We are helping to find the right candidates for employers, recruiters and agents. Search for sap jobs, peoplesoft, JD Edwards, sap bw jobs, sap crm job, sap entry level jobs, sap sd jobs, sap functional jobs, sap plant maintenance jobs, sap pm jobs, sap abap jobs, sap consultant job, sap basis jobs, sap pp jobs, sap mm jobs, sap wm jobs, sap scm jobs, sap fi jobs, sap co jobs, sap qm jobs, sap plm jobs, jobs in sap, ERP, Oracle, IT jobs, SAP resumes, board, post,  resumes, free, job search online, IT, computer, tech, high tech, employment, career, technical, computer programming, computer science, computer engineering, computer engineer, technical employment, job placement services, jobboard, computer technician, IT job search, computer programmer, computer tech, internet job search, developer, analyst, technician, computer professional, work, contract, computer Work. If you are looking for a Analyst, Software Engineer, Director, Manager, Computer Programmer, VB, QA, tester or Project Manager position, or you have skills in Cobol, Java, Network, Software Development we will help you find the right job. Apply for a job as consultant, senior consultant, business analyst, computer operator, data mining specialist, database administrator, database designer, datawarehouse designer, Help Desk Specialist, System Operator, System Programmer, Network Administrator, Network Architect, Network Engineer, Network or Software Installer, Technical Recruiter, Technical Trainer, Telecomm Specialist, Web Developer or Webmaster.    Thousands of ERP & IT Jobs. Your Job is calling Welcome to the ConfigERP Job Board (http://ConfigERP.4Jobs.com, a community for SAP®, Oracle®, PeopleSoft®, JD Edwards® and IT professionals to advance your career. We are one of the leading job boards in our area and supporting clients in 61 countries. Find jobs, build your career, and find your opportunity. Use the ConfigERP Job Board to post your resume, build your professional portfolio, distribute your resume through our network, search for jobs, add job alert, prepare for interviews, and launch your career. Go To:       New Mobile Job Search Application Puts thousands of SAP & IT Jobs at the Fingertips of Professionals On-the-Go Each Month ConfigERP.com Network delivers hot job opportunities to Mobile device users. Today’s professionals are more active and on-the-go than ever before, requiring them to multi-task and seek out quicker access to, and interaction with, the information they need and want. ConfigERP.com has recognized this trend by optimizing our network for mobile job searching, and we recently expanded our mobile strategy through this service. Click on this link and add it to your favorites at your mobile device: mobile job searching Thanks for visiting the ConfigERP Articles section. Here you will find some related articles on a variety of topics. Browse through our articles and if you are interested for more visit our large selection of job related articles and blogs on topics including networking, interviewing, salary negotiation, diversity and career development. If you are looking for career advice or just help with your job search, then the ConfigERP Career articles section is a great place to find it!

Career Job Board and Job Search   Category Rss Feed - http://www.acmearticles.com/rss.php?rss=27

By : Van Strong    Submitted 2009-05-16 16:58:33

ConfigERP.com Copyright © 2009 Distinguish Yourself from Other Candidates Don't just be the typical job seeker create a Online Career Portfolio. Distinguish yourself from other candidates and Showcase Your Skills with your personal Online Career Portfolio. The best way to get started is to facilitate your personal Online Career Portfolio to expand upon your work experiences and educational background, customize the look and feel and choose which sections or your portfolio you want employers to see and add a professional photo and more! See an example at: http://configerp.4jobs.com/sample-career-portfolio Create a powerful webpage that will display your skills and experiences in a format that is sure to get you noticed. You can easily create and customize your portfolio to help you market yourself as a business professional. You can choose from two premier portfolio packages, allowing you to put your best foot forward and show employers that you're willing to go that extra mile and are committed to your job search. Make a lasting first impression today to get hired tomorrow! So, you've developed a powerful resume, studied the art of interviewing, uploaded your resume to numerous online sites and are still struggling to get noticed by employers. To your surprise, it might not be the skills you possess that are holding you back, but rather how you showcase those skills. An easy way to help you stand out from other candidates is by creating an online career portfolio. An online career portfolio is a professional and innovative way to display your resume, cover letter, and objectives while allowing employers to easily learn about your skills and knowledge to determine if you are the best person for the job. Taking the initiative to create an online career portfolio that functions as your own personal webpage shows employers that you not only take pride in yourself but also in your work. There are several options available to you to showcase your skills and experiences in a unique way that a traditional resume cannot offer. Customizable Format - Don't have the technical skills needed to create your own webpage? No worries. You can place your professional resume in an easy to read, customizable format regardless of your technical skill level with an online career portfolio. After you copy and paste your resume and cover letter into your portfolio, you can edit it on demand, which makes it easy to tailor your resume for each job you apply to. Professional Presentation - Organize and highlight your portfolio essentials. Feature your educational background, work history, volunteer activities, skills, and certifications & licenses in a clean, easy to access tabular format. Include kudos from your customers, clients, colleagues, past employers, and professors in the optional testimonial and letters of recommendation section. Online Reputation Security - More and more employers are looking to social networking sites to learn about candidates. Not only is it important to be sure you are showcasing yourself professionally on those sites, but that you take advantage of the opportunity to create an online portfolio to further strengthen your online image and ability to be found in search engines. Tailored Look and Feel - Choose a color scheme that best matches your personality and decide how your information is displayed to employers. You can even change your portfolio name to make it easier to remember. Give it a Personal Touch - Make an impression even before the interview by adding a professional photo of yourself. Add links to sites that host your accomplishments or showcase samples of your work. Leave no stone unturned with a convenient questions & answers section providing additional insight about you, the candidate. You will distinguish yourself from other candidates while giving employers a detailed look at your skills, qualifications and more. An online career portfolio is a powerful way to market yourself as a business professional and get hired.

About ConfigERP.com and its Job Portal at http://configerp.4jobs.com/ ConfigERP provides ERP, IT & SAP professionals and consulting services. Implementations from project preparation, blueprint, realization, final preparation and go-live & support. ConfigERP offers Upgrade Services, Production Support and SAP & IT staffing. Our Job Board allows clients, employers, staffing agents, staffing agencies or job seekers, to post and search jobs. More on Career Job Board and Job Search

How To Reacquaint Yourself With Your Changing Business

Posted By: Technology Staff Editor In: Information Technology
written by Art Wittmann, courtesy of InformationWeek

There's been a lot of talk lately about the merits of empathy, primarily with regard to whether it's a characteristic to look for in a Supreme Court justice. Empathy's not a bad trait for anyone to possess, and it's a particularly good one for IT professionals to have. One of the reasons I think that IT managers and their technical specialists should spend some time with their peers in the business is to engender understanding and empathy in both directions.

If you're working for a company that hasn't had layoffs, count yourself incredibly lucky, both because you have a job and because you haven't had to take over the responsibilities of your laid-off ex-colleagues. It's hard to understand what it means to the salesperson who just picked up another 10 accounts, the delivery driver who's route has been lengthened, or the customer service rep who has to handle 20 more calls a day unless you've actually spent some time with them.

At the same time, business pros aren't likely to tell you about all those things IT does that could be done more simply or that aren't all that important to begin with. Does the sales team actually use every report that IT creates? Are there applications that IT is maintaining that are no longer used because the people who used them are gone? In an economy where unemployment is pushing 10% and underemployment is even higher, those still on the job need to ensure that every minute spent at work benefits the company in critical ways. All those nice-to-have services must be shelved in favor of everything that has to be done just to keep the business going.

In that light, spending time with line-of-business partners seems like a luxury. However, only looking inward is the last thing IT can afford to do. Particularly in companies that have had layoffs of 10% or more of their workforce, jobs throughout the business have changed drastically. In those organizations, what you thought you knew about how your colleagues do their jobs is simply no longer valid.

When I last wrote about this, one reader suggested that IT needs two career tracks: one for managers who should get to know everything about their business from the customers to the mail room, and another track for technical pros, who should be focused on furthering their technical expertise and not concerned about what drives the business. While I couldn't agree more that IT organizations need a track where technical excellence is rewarded with a solid career path, I still think those technical experts need to spend real time with business peers. As businesses radically morph themselves to stay alive in this rough economy, everyone needs to understand what's going on, and not just at a philosophical level. Feeling the pain that goes with these gut-wrenching changes is important because it instills a sense of urgency.



GE To Build Advanced Battery Plant In NY State

Posted By: Technology Staff Editor In: Information Technology
written by By Cora Nucci, courtesy of InformationWeek

New York state's manufacturing sector got a boost Tuesday from news that General Electric will build $100 million battery manufacturing facility in the Albany region.

The new business will create 350 "high-wage green-collar" jobs in the capitol region. It's to be partially funded by a $15 million New York state grant, and the company hopes, federal money. Next week, GE, with backing from U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, will apply for federal stimulus funds.

The high-energy-density sodium-metal-halide cell batteries are "very good for storing lots of energy in a small space," said Mark Little, senior VP and director of GE Global Research. He added that while the technology yields "great performance using common materials," it requires "a sophisticated manufacturing process," which has "over 30 patents on it."

The first application will be GE's hybrid locomotive. Heavy vehicles such as locomotives, buses, and off-highway trucks make up 10% of all vehicles in the United States but account for half of all fuel consumption.

Sodium battery technology will allow GE to introduce a hybrid, heavy-haul freight locomotive that reduces emissions while improving fuel efficiency. The company also has lined up mining, telecommunications, and utility customers. Key applications are heavy service vehicles, backup storage, and load leveling for the smart grid.

The most technologically interesting aspect of Tuesday's announcement may be the potential it holds for automotive batteries. If the power of lithium-ion batteries and the storage capability of sodium batteries were to be combined, they might yield a superior battery for hybrid cars.

GE has invested $70 million in A123 Systems, a leading supplier of lithium-ion batteries, with which it has partnered to finesse battery management, battery safety, and fusing systems. Researchers from GE are working on a dual-battery system with the Department of Energy.

A site for the battery plant has not been identified yet, but Little told reporters he expects the project to progress with or without stimulus funds. Federal money would "allow us to do things faster," he said.

GE has already invested $150 million in advanced battery technologies and sees the potential for $1 billion in business over the next decade. Battery production is expected to begin in 2011.

New York Gov. David Paterson and other state officials made the short trip from Albany to GE's Global Research Center in Niskayuna, N.Y., on Tuesday for the announcement. Schumer and Gillibrand were not in attendance.

Government IT Spending To Increase 7% Next Year

Posted By: Technology Staff Editor In: Information Technology
written by J. Nicholas Hoover, courtesy of InformationWeek

The federal government plans to spend $75.8 billion on information technology in 2010, a 7.2% increase over expected IT spending this year. However, that increase isn't set in stone.

The government is making major shifts in how it spends money on IT, and costs could either come down or go up as a result. Among the major new government-wide IT initiatives are cloud computing, collaboration, and government transparency, all of which will require some initial costs. However, federal CIO Vivek Kundra also is looking at ways to "rationalize" federal IT spending, as he told InformationWeek in a recent interview.

"New directions for federal information technology in 2009, as well as final determinations on investments funded in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, mean that estimates for spending on IT systems over 2009-2010 will likely change as firm plans are made to address the administration's goals of greater openness in government, wider participation of citizens in government, and a more collaborative, cost-effective federal IT enterprise," says a supplemental document to the Obama administration's 2010 budget.

With these significant initiatives under way, the federal government also plans to introduce "new oversight approaches" to make sure federal IT spending is effective. These policies will require improved early strategic planning and early announcement of architecture and design requirements in federal IT projects, as well as new ways for Kundra to step in and cancel or overhaul projects that aren't making the grade.

Job Cuts Top Of Mind For Employers

Posted By: Technology Staff Editor In: Information Technology
written by Maria Bruno-Britz, courtesy of BankTech

A new Deloitte study concludes that top executives and human resource managers in a variety of industries believe they will need to make even more drastic headcount cuts as they try to cope with a prolonged recession.

The study, "Managing Talent in a Turbulent Economy: Navigating a Course Through Rough Waters," was conducted in conjunction with Forbes Insight, and is the second edition in a three-part longitudinal survey designed to examine how executives are responding to the perilous and often unpredictable currents of today's economy. This report features data from March 2009.

The No. 1 finding, according to Deloitte, was that nearly half (47 percent) of the 397 international executives polled reported layoffs over the last three months, compared with 38 percent who said the same in Deloitte's January study. Furthermore, these companies also expect more layoffs in the coming quarter (71 percent).

The findings also indicate that these job cuts are becoming more and more difficult to make. As workforce reductions deepen, 43 percent of employers are looking at factors like "role necessity" when making these decisions (a 17 percentage point drop from January). And job performance is no guarantee of job security either. Forty-five percent of the managers surveyed reported this as a top factor in decided which employees to keep.

Even for survivors of layoffs, thing look grim. Respondents said that over the next 12 months, their companies are more likely to decrease compensation levels (25 percent), benefit levels and packages (32 percent to 14 percent) and discretionary perks such as subsidized food and parking (39 percent to 12 percent). Corporate bonuses are also being pared back, with more than a third (35 percent) reporting they expect bonuses to decrease this year.

Risk is also becoming a more critical issue for corporations worldwide. According to the survey, those respondents in the CFO/treasurer/comptroller roles disagreed by a 2:1 margin with their fellow respondents that employees in their firms knew how to identify fraud and other behaviors that could endanger their companies.

"It is a true sign of the times as austerity measures now outrank efforts to increase sales and serve customers as top priorities for these executives," said Jeff Schwartz, principal, human capital, Deloitte Consulting, in a statement. "Even these companies' most skilled employees have begun to feel the pain of the weakened economy, and their managers are struggling with how best to align their workforces with the reality of what many expect to be a prolonged downturn."

Researchers surveyed 397 senior business leaders and HR executives at large businesses in the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Europe/Middle East/Africa regions.

Each pulse survey focuses on a specific area of interest to talent managers, with the first pulse survey spotlighting the use of workforce planning and analytics, and the second spotlighting risk management and regulatory compliance.

Wilton Re Signs $90 Million Outsourcing Contract With CSC

Posted By: Technology Staff Editor In: Information Technology
written by Anthony O'Donnell, courtesy of Insurance Tech

Wilton Re (Wilton, Conn.) has signed a 10-year, $90 million outsourcing contract with CSC (Falls Church, Va.) for the provision of what a vendor source calls a "full range" of business process outsourcing (BPO) services.

The deal calls for CSC to provide full back-office administration services for an additional 270,000 life policies and convert those policies to its CyberLife policy administration system, according to the vendor. Leveraging CSC's consolidated global processing environment, Wilton Re will gain a more predictable and scalable cost structure and access to advanced application software, business processes, and insurance and technology management best practices, a CSC press release claims.

"We offer traditional reinsurance and capital market approaches to assist our clients in their risk and capital management activities," says Enrico J. Treglia, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Wilton Re. "By expanding our relationship with CSC, we are able to provide insurers with cost-effective divestitures of non-core businesses."

Indian Software Companies To Hire More Foreign Engineers

Posted By: Technology Staff Editor In: Information Technology
written by K.C. Krishnadas, courtesy of EE Times

BANGALORE, India — Indian technology services companies are reportedly poised to hire more foreign engineers as they seek to position themselves as job creators in overseas markets where they have operations.

According to a report this week in The Economic Times, Infosys Technologies and Wipro Technologies want to increase their foreign workforce to as much as 15 percent of their total workforce. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reportedly wants to double its foreign engineering workforce from the current 10,000 in five years.

"How can you justify the fact that despite significant revenues coming from overseas, we still have over 95 percent Indians on [its] payroll?" the Times quoted Pratik Kumar, Wipro's human resources head and corporate vice president as saying.

A Wipro spokesman reached this week said the company would not discuss its hiring plans or elaborate on the Times report. However, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji has said the company has been "investing in near-shore centers, including in the U.S. and U.K., and we have plans of scaling them. There is a strong push to hire and deploy locally where competitive local talent is available."

Wipro said it will launch a second U.S. center after its Atlanta development center becomes fully operational in a few months. It expects to have about 750 U.S. workers at its Atlanta center. "We aim to undertake significant local hiring starting this year," Kumar said.

TCS employs the most foreign workers among the top Indian tech companies, totaling about 9 percent of its total workforce. Foreign workers make up about 5 percent of the workforce at Wipro and Infosys, the report said.

Infosys human resources director, T.V. Mohandas Pai, downplayed moves to hire more foreign engineers, asserting that it has been difficult to find U.S. or U.K. engineers with adequate programming skills. "We want to double our foreign workforce, but we don't find people with adequate skills in those markets," Pai said.

The report quoted experts as saying that Indian tech companies must shed their strategy as a landing spot for jobs shipped overseas by U.S. and European companies. "One of the chief recommendations we might make is for offshore outsourcers to de-emphasize any specific offshore location and to emphasize the fact that [most] of them are really global companies with locations in many places, including having workers in the U.S.," one expert was quoted as saying.

ST's Q1 Loss Widens; Wireless JV To Cut 1,200 Jobs

Posted By: Technology Staff Editor In: Information Technology
written by Dylan McGrath, courtesy of EE Times

SAN FRANCISCO—STMicroelectronics NV Wednesday (April 29) reported that its first quarter loss widened on a decline in revenue and announced its wireless joint venture with Ericsson would eliminate 1,200 jobs.

ST's first quarter revenue fell to $1.66 billion in the first quarter, down 27 percent from the previous quarter and 33 percent compared with the same period of 2008, the company said Wednesday (April 29).

ST (Geneva) posted a net loss for the quarter of $541 million, based on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), wider than the company's GAAP net losses of $366 million for the fourth quarter of 2008 and $84 million for the first quarter of 2008, ST said.

ST's loss per share for the first quarter, 62 cents, was greater than the 42 cents per share it lost in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the 9 cents per share it lost in the first quarter of last year, the company said.

Revenue declined year-over-year across all market segments, ST said, reflecting the global economic slowdown. Automotive revenue declined by 47 percent year-to-year, the company said, and computer market revenue was down 42 percent. Revenue was also down sequentially across all markets, the company said.

ST said its wireless joint venture with Ericsson, ST-Ericsson, would eliminate 1,200 jobs as part of a restructuring plan that is expected to save $230 million per year by the second quarter of 2010. This plan is incremental to the $250 million cost synergies program announced by ST-NXP Wireless in November 2008, ST said.

For the first two months of its existence, the ST-Ericsson JV posted a net loss of $89 million on sales of $391 million, according to a statement by the firms Wednesday.

The ST-Ericsson restructuring is being carried out to reflect lower sales volumes and limited visibility on the timing of market recovery and further integration activities following the February merger of Ericsson Mobile Platforms with ST-NXP Wireless.

"Overall, in the first quarter of 2009 we reduced headcount by 3,200, excluding the wireless transaction," said Carlo Bozotti, president and CEO of ST, in a statement. "I believe these actions and others demonstrate that we are well aligned with our goal to reduce costs by over $700 million in 2009 compared to the Company's 2008 fourth quarter annualized base."

Oracle To Acquire Sun Microsystems For $7.4 Billion

Posted By: Technology Staff Editor In: Information Technology
written by Paul McDougall, courtesy of InformationWeek

Business software maker Oracle said Monday that is has agreed to acquire Silicon Valley neighbor Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion.

Under the terms of the deal, Oracle will pay $9.50 per share for Sun's common stock. Oracle said it expects Sun's operations will boost earnings per share by at least 15 cents in the first full year after the deal closes while contributing more than $1.5 billion in first-year profits.

The agreement is subject to closing conditions and could require a nod from trustbusters in the Justice Department if it's deemed that the tie-up represents a threat to competition in the computing industry.

Word of the merger comes just days after IBM reportedly backed off acquisition talks with Sun after executives from the two companies failed to agree on a price.

Oracle executives said the acquisition would allow their company to offer a complete portfolio of products and services and help spare customers the frustration of having to build business IT systems from piece parts.

"The acquisition of Sun transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class software and mission-critical computing systems," Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said in a statement. "Oracle will be the only company that can engineer an integrated system -- applications to disk -- where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves."

Sun's proprietary hardware business has all but dried up in the face of competition from commodity players such as Intel and Dell, and it's struggling to keep pace with larger players in the software business, such as IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle itself.

Yet the company retains key, widely used assets, including the Solaris operating system, the open source MySQL database -- which boasts more than 11 million installations -- and the Java programming language, which has become a standard for Web application development.

Ellison said combining those offerings with Oracle's database and back-office automation applications would help businesses cut computing costs while increasing efficiency. "Our customers benefit as their system integration costs go down while system performance, reliability, and security go up," said Ellison.

Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz said in a statement that the deal marks "a fantastic day" for Sun and its customers, while chairman Scott McNealy called the agreement "an industry-defining event" and said Sun and Oracle have been close partners "for more than 20 years."

Ellison is no stranger to mergers. Under his watch, Oracle has in recent years gobbled up a number of key players in the IT industry, including PeopleSoft, Siebel, I-flex, Primavera, BEA, and Hyperion.