Image via Parature

This week kicked off with a flurry of exits in the enterprise IT space, a rapidly changing market that is being squeezed by consolidation as big vendors gobble up their smaller rivals. Microsoft got in on the action yesterday with the acquisition of self-service support specialist Parature for a reported $100 million.

The Virginia-based Parature offers a set of cloud-based solutions for creating and maintaining knowledge bases, managing help desks, carrying out online surveys and responding to customer feedback. The firm delivers these capabilities across both the web and mobile devices, which means clients don’t have to add extra staff to effectively engage their audiences through more channels.

The deal, which is expected to close within a month, is meant to strengthen Microsoft’s Dynamics Customer relationship management offering. Parature’s 100-strong workforce will be integrated into the software titan as part of its renewed push to reposition against rivals Salesforce and Oracle.

The database giant is also hoping to gain an edge over the competition with Tuesday’s acquisition of Corente, a 15-year old company that develops software-defined networking solutions for globally distributed enterprises. The firm’s WAN virtualization software simplifies network provisioning and streamlines the process of extending on-premise infrastructure to the public cloud, functionality that fits nicely with Larry Ellison’s plan to transform Oracle into a cloud vendor.

Edward Screven, Oracle’s chief corporate architect, noted that “by combining Oracle’s technology portfolio with Corente’s industry leading platform extending software-defined networking to global networks, enterprises will be able to easily and securely deliver applications and cloud services to their globally distributed locations.”

Cloud service management provider Apigee is also doubling down on enterprise apps, with a particular emphasis on Big Data. It just bought out predictive analytics startup InsightsOne for an undisclosed amount to help companies in the healthcare, financial services, telecommunication, and e-commerce sectors proactively improve customer care.