By now it's obvious that enterprise is one of the hottest areas in tech these days.
Enterprise tech is undergoing a major transformation with new apps, cloud computing, mobile devices, and many, many changes to the way networks and data centers are built and managed.
Plus, enterprise tech is enriching investors. So far this year we've seen investors gobbling up IPOs from companies like Tableau Software, Marketo, Gigamon, and numerous billion-dollar acquisitions.
So it's time again to shine a spotlight on the people in enterprise tech who are transforming your world.
Oracle's Larry Ellison: Perpetually on top.
Larry Ellison, CEO, Oracle.
Year, after year, decade after decade, Ellison's power grows along with Oracle's. He has crafted his most ambitious plan yet for the software giant: to turn it into a hardware and data center giant.
Although Oracle hasn't hit its stride with these new plans yet, it's hard to doubt the man. He's been successful at almost everything he's done, including winning the most prestigious sailing race ever: The America's Cup. He brought the 2013 race to his home base in San Francisco this summer to try and win again.
Microsoft's Steve Ballmer: Navigating the iconic company through rough waters.
Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft.
Ballmer has given Microsoft a no-holds-barred makeover, including getting into the PC business with Surface, launching a radically different version of Windows, and revamping its software for the cloud.
While some of these plans have been off to a rocky start, particularly Windows 8 and Surface, Ballmer's got his eye on Microsoft's long-term future. Enterprises are still likely to slowly buy into his vision.
Cisco's John Chambers: Setting his sights on IBM and HP.
John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco.
Chambers has been CEO of Cisco Systems since 1995. Although he's been talking about his retirement more now than he ever has, he's still running the company with all his might. He's trying to navigate Cisco past its roots as a network equipment company becoming a bigger IT company that competes with IBM and HP.
He needs to succeed because new technologies called software-defined networking threaten the way networks will be built and Cisco's stronghold on that market.
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