So now the giant Oracle faces a slog. “Oracle is solid, massive, secure. But with their sheer size comes a perception problem,” says branding strategist Brent Turner, digital director of the Boathouse Group, a branding and advertising firm. “Oracle is seen as for the Fortune 500. Salesforce is for the mom-and-pop shops.”

It’s far from clear that Oracle’s on-demand CRM push will hurt Salesforce.com much, if at all. Price isn’t the only arena in which Salesforce.com has distinguished itself. The company’s support of e‑commerce is widely considered superior to Oracle’s, and Salesforce.com has that all-important reputation for adaptability. “The perception is that Salesforce is still small enough, they’ll create a solution tailored to each client’s needs,” says Turner. “We’re in a time of hypertargeted marketing, and everybody wants something personalized to them. No one expects that kind of attention from Oracle.” Even if it is the giant.