SAP or Oracle?

I know that this question has been raging on for ages. This usually happens when two giant names in an industry have become household names or for this matter, office names. The same reminds of the similar questions like Coke or Pepsi?

As a backgrounder, Oracle is the second largest software supplier in the world and is based in the United States. SAP on the other and is based in Germany and is more focused on business solutions.

By the early 2000, in terms of ERP software, Oracle came only second to ERP. And as the years progressed, each claimed to be supreme over the other in terms of quality of software and the number of clients they are serving.

Even up to now, IT professional are divided on which side they want to take. Some think that Oracle is the supreme ERP provider and the vision and solid track record of CEO Larry Ellison. Others strongly believe that SAP's NetWeaver platform and battled tested ERP is SAP's greatest competitive edge.

Just these recent months, Oracle introduced more development of its Fusion which part service enabled middleware and part applications from PeopleSoft, Edwards & Co., Siebel Systems Inc., Retek Inc. and other Oracle acquisitions.

On the other hand, SAP is on the move to have its entire application suite around the NetWeaver platform service enabled.

One of the things which can give Oracle a boost is its price. Many ERP professionals agree that SAP is far more expensive than Oracle. In fact a study found out that the average three-year total cost of ownership of Oracle is 48% lower compared to SAP.

SAP supported strike back by faulting Oracle for its strategy of expansion by acquiring other companies instead of purely doing internal development.
Both Oracle and SAP have intensified the battle in the small and midsized business markets. Oracle is aggressively marketing its Special Edition products while on the other hand, SAP is also pushing its All-in-One and Business One suite.
I tried to scour the forums and the way I see it, there is almost 50-50 feelings between those who favor Oracle and those who favor SAP. But even though Oracle comes cheaper than SAP, SAP has an edge because it has more consultants and third party developers that can supply many add-in programs which can work together with products of SAP. Even if SAP is more expensive, there are more SAP users than Oracle.
According to an email from one ERP professional "SAP partners are more willing to invest … to get their SAP [All-in-One] solution verticalized compared to an Oracle solution, thus to the end customer; [SAP All-in-One] is essentially a shorter implementation, has a highly knowledgeable partner, and probably a more successful implementation."
I know this competition will go one for a couple more years and this is good. As one tries to outdo the other, there will be more investment in research within the companies and brilliant ideas innovations will come out.

In the end, the real winner is the consumers.