BEA, the middleware maker that was in Oracle's crosshairs for months, is now another trophy in Larry Ellison's showcase. Gotta hand it to the guy, is he ever rebuffed at anything besides the America's Cup? He'll put his latest kill right up there with the antlered heads of PeopleSoft, Seibel and Hyperion. Middleware is the stuff that lives between a company's web site and its database(s) and enables you to get into the data more readily and effectively. Nice fit for Oracle, nice little premium on the share price, too: 19 bucks and change compared to the $14 where BEA had been stalled. And Oracle continues to dominate the landscape of industrial-strength software as starkly as any brand holds sway over any category you can name. Amazing what an overwhelming market position and many tons of cash can accomplish. Just about anything. Except America's Cups on demand. But, hey, next time rather than race in it, he'll just acquire it.
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