Overall, Oracle's entry into IaaS "is likely to mean one thing: lower prices for computing power from all of the big incumbents," Canaccord Genuity analyst Richard Davis said in a research note issued Friday.

This is good news for "disruptive technology startups" and SaaS (software as a service) vendors as well, according to Davis.

: San Franciscans are still reeling from the last big software event held at the Moscone Center, Salesforce.com's Dreamforce. That show reportedly drew 90,000 registered attendees, a figure helped by the fact there was no charge to attend keynotes as well as a number of musical events.

Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff crowed that this year's Dreamforce was the industry's largest-ever "vendor-led" enterprise technology event.

Given that he and Ellison have a long-standing rivalry, it's not so surprising that Oracle is offering a special US$75 "Discover Pass" to OpenWorld, which provides entry to keynotes, the exhibition hall, the Oracle music festival and other aspects of the show, albeit none of the 2,000 sessions.