BigMachines

BigMachines was an enterprise software company founded in 2000 by Godard Abel and Christopher Shutts. It developed software for configure, price, and quote (CPQ) processes, helping businesses manage complex product configurations, calculate prices, prepare quotations, and connect sales activity with broader commercial and operational systems. Its technology was designed for organizations selling products or services with variable configurations, pricing rules, bundles, options, channels, or approval requirements. The company’s software could support several kinds of users involved in the sales process, including internal sales teams, channel partners, value-added resellers, distributors, customers, and external representatives. Its primary role was to automate and control activities that traditionally depended on spreadsheets, manual product knowledge, disconnected pricing systems, and repeated coordination between sales, operations, finance, and engineering. BigMachines positioned its platform as a way to improve sales efficiency while reducing configuration errors and producing more consistent commercial proposals. The platform was designed to integrate with enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and other business applications. This integration-oriented approach made BigMachines relevant to larger organizations that needed quoting and configuration functionality to operate as part of an existing enterprise technology environment rather than as an isolated sales tool. The company was headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, and had development offices in San Mateo, California, and Hyderabad, India. BigMachines received recognition from technology, sales, and supply-chain publications during the 2000s and early 2010s. Reported distinctions included a Start Magazine Technology & Business Award in 2003, placements in Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s Top 100 in 2004, 2006, and 2007, repeated inclusion in the Inc. 5000 over five consecutive years from 2008 through 2012, a 2010 Sales 2.0 Award for Best Sales Enablement Program, and a 2010 Codie Award for Best Business Productivity Solution. Vista Equity Partners acquired majority ownership through transactions beginning in January 2001 and completed during the following years, with the firm holding majority ownership by 2010. Founder Godard Abel left the company in 2011. Oracle announced its acquisition of BigMachines on October 24, 2013. Following the acquisition, Oracle retained the software and developed it under the CPQ Cloud name, later presenting it as Oracle Configure, Price, Quote, or Oracle CPQ. The product became part of Oracle’s broader Sales portfolio within Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience. In 2017, Oracle integrated Order Management from Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Management with CPQ Cloud, enabling use of the supply-chain configurator in the CPQ environment. BigMachines therefore no longer operates as an independent company, but its core CPQ technology continues through Oracle’s enterprise cloud software offerings.

BigMachines was established in 2000 by Godard Abel and Christopher Shutts as a software company focused on the automation of complex sales transactions. Its core specialization was configure, price, and quote software, commonly abbreviated as CPQ. CPQ systems help companies define valid product or service configurations, apply pricing and discount rules, assemble quotations, and route transactions through appropriate sales or approval processes. BigMachines targeted enterprise environments in which quoting could involve many products, options, dependencies, commercial rules, and distribution relationships. The company’s software was intended to work with enterprise resource planning systems, customer relationship management platforms, and other business applications. It could be used by employees, channel partners, value-added resellers, distributors, customers, and external representatives. This broad user model reflected the company’s focus on coordinating sales activity across direct and indirect routes to market rather than serving only a single internal sales department. The company was headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, with development offices in San Mateo, California, and Hyderabad, India. During the 2000s, it received recognition from technology, supply-chain, sales, and business-software organizations. Its reported honors included a 2003 Start Magazine Technology & Business Award; Supply & Demand Chain Executive Top 100 recognition in 2004, 2006, and 2007; five consecutive Inc. 5000 appearances from 2008 through 2012; a 2010 Sales 2.0 Award for Best Sales Enablement Program; and a 2010 Codie Award for Best Business Productivity Solution. Ownership changed over time. Vista Equity Partners acquired majority ownership through multiple transactions beginning in January 2001, and by 2010 it was identified as the company’s majority owner. Co-founder Godard Abel left BigMachines in 2011. Oracle announced the acquisition of BigMachines on October 24, 2013. The transaction ended BigMachines’ existence as an independent software company, but Oracle continued developing and selling the underlying product. Under Oracle, the product became known as CPQ Cloud and was later described as Oracle Configure, Price, Quote, or Oracle CPQ. It was incorporated into Oracle Sales, which forms part of Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience. Oracle Sales includes sales-force automation, sales planning and forecasting, customer-data intelligence, sales-performance management, subscription management, partner-relationship management, and CPQ capabilities. In 2017, Oracle connected CPQ Cloud with Order Management in Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Management. This integration enabled customers to use the supply-chain configurator within CPQ, extending the original BigMachines proposition from sales quotation into a more connected order and fulfillment workflow. BigMachines is consequently best understood as a retired company brand whose principal technology survives within Oracle’s CPQ product family.

1. 2017CPQ Cloud was integrated with Oracle Order Management

   Oracle integrated Order Management from Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Management with CPQ Cloud, including access to the SCM Configurator within CPQ.

   Source
2. 2013Oracle announced the acquisition

   Oracle announced on October 24, 2013 that it would acquire BigMachines.

   Source
3. 2011Co-founder Godard Abel departed

   Godard Abel left BigMachines after the company’s ownership transition.

   Source
4. 2010Majority ownership and industry awards

   Vista Equity Partners was identified as BigMachines’ majority owner. The company also received a Sales 2.0 Award for Best Sales Enablement Program and a Codie Award for Best Business Productivity Solution, while continuing its Inc. 5000 recognition.

   Source
5. 2008First reported Inc. 5000 appearance in the five-year sequence

   BigMachines began a reported five-year consecutive run of Inc. 5000 recognition.

   Source
6. 2006Supply & Demand Chain Executive Top 100 recognition

   BigMachines again appeared in Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s Top 100.

   Source
7. 2004First reported Supply & Demand Chain Executive Top 100 recognition

   BigMachines was recognized by Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s Top 100.

   Source
8. 2003Start Magazine technology award

   BigMachines received a Start Magazine Technology & Business Award.

   Source
9. 2001Vista Equity Partners began ownership transactions

   A series of transactions associated with Vista Equity Partners began in January 2001 and eventually resulted in majority ownership of BigMachines.

   Source
10. 2000BigMachines was founded

    Godard Abel and Christopher Shutts founded BigMachines as an enterprise software company focused on automating complex sales and quoting processes.

    Source

Enterprise configure, price, and quote software for complex products, guided selling, sales automation, and integration with CRM, ERP, supply-chain, and partner-channel systems.

• BigMachines CPQEnterprise configure, price, and quote software

  BigMachines’ principal software offering automated the configuration of complex products and services, application of pricing rules, and preparation of sales quotations. It was designed to connect with ERP, CRM, and other enterprise systems and could support direct sales teams, channel partners, distributors, resellers, customers, and outside representatives. The software addressed organizations where manual quoting and disconnected product or pricing information created delays or errors.

• Oracle CPQCloud configure, price, and quote software2013

  Oracle CPQ, formerly called CPQ Cloud, is the Oracle continuation of the BigMachines technology after the 2013 acquisition. It provides configuration, pricing, quoting, and related sales-process capabilities within Oracle’s broader Sales portfolio. Oracle subsequently connected it with Order Management and the Supply Chain Management Configurator, extending the product’s role across quoting, ordering, and fulfillment-related workflows.

• 2017Oracle connected CPQ Cloud with Order ManagementStrategy

  Oracle sought to connect sales configuration and quoting with downstream supply-chain and order-management processes.

  What changed. Order Management from Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Management was integrated with CPQ Cloud, including use of the SCM Configurator within the CPQ environment.

  Aftermath. The former BigMachines product became more closely linked to Oracle’s broader sales, ordering, and supply-chain cloud applications.

  Source
• 2013Oracle acquired BigMachinesM&A

  BigMachines had built a specialized enterprise CPQ business serving complex sales processes and integrations with ERP, CRM, and related systems. Oracle announced the acquisition as part of its expansion of enterprise cloud and customer-experience software.

  What changed. Oracle announced the acquisition on October 24, 2013 and retained the product within its portfolio, subsequently presenting it as CPQ Cloud and Oracle CPQ.

  Aftermath. BigMachines ceased to operate as an independent company. Its technology became part of Oracle Sales and was later integrated with Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Management Order Management capabilities.

  Source

• 2017Oracle integrated Order Management with CPQ Cloud

  Oracle integrated Order Management from Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Management with CPQ Cloud, allowing the supply-chain configurator to be used within the CPQ environment.

  Product generationProduct launch
  Source
• 2013Oracle announced its acquisition of BigMachines

  Oracle announced on October 24, 2013 that it would acquire BigMachines, bringing the CPQ software into Oracle’s enterprise cloud portfolio.

  M&A
  Source
• 2011Godard Abel left BigMachines

  BigMachines co-founder Godard Abel departed the company while it remained under majority ownership associated with Vista Equity Partners.

  Leadership change
  Source
• 2010Vista Equity Partners acquired majority ownership of BigMachines

  Vista Equity Partners held majority ownership of BigMachines following a series of transactions that began in January 2001.

  M&A
  Source

1. BigMachines