Larry Ellison: Oracle not interested in buying a tech-services firm, unlike rivals

Oracle CEO: We’re not eyeing services buys

SAN FRANCISCO — Oracle CEO Larry Ellison says his company won’t follow one of the technology world’s hottest trends: buying services companies.

Ellison’s comments Thursday during the Oracle OpenWorld conference go against the grain of Oracle Corp.’s rivals’ strategies.

IBM Corp. transformed itself from a lumbering computer seller into a profitable services powerhouse with acquisitions, and Hewlett-Packard Co. is aping elements of that strategy, with its $13 billion takeover of Electronic Data Systems in 2008 and other moves. Dell is as well.

Ellison says services buys are important for companies whose products aren’t very different from rivals’. He says Oracle’s products are highly differentiated and that Oracle is content reselling them through services companies, including HP and IBM.

Ellison says Oracle is more interested in buying intellectual property like semiconductor or software companies.