In general I don't use tertiary sources, but this looks pretty reliable and it's a just-for-fun blog post anyways: According to Insurancenetworking.com, according to DM Review, according to Aberdeen, the top 10 most influential technology (IT) companies are:

1.  Microsoft 2.  Oracle 3.  SAP 4.  IBM 5.  Cisco 6.  Hewlett Packard 7.  Dell 8.  Salesforce.com 9.  EMC 10. Sun Microsystems

This is part of a top 100 list according to and available on the insurance-related Web site. I did not see the list on the Aberdeen site so I don't know what the methodology is or how "influential" is defined.

But what the heck: It's a list. And lists are all about friendly arguments.

• So is your favorite guy here (or on the longer list)?
• What do you think of the order?

I telegraphed my opinion in this recent blog post. A lot of these guys are no longer technology companies but are instead services companies using technology. IBM is an exception, because whereas most of the services companies OEM or license the technology they need, IBM still acquires it. So my list would be winnowed down to:

Oracle Cisco Dell EMC Sun Microsystems

IBM and HP get dropped because they are already over on the services side. SAP and Microsoft get dropped because they want to be. Salesforce.com started out as a service provider.

To fill out my top 10, I'd dig deeper into Aberdeen's list and add RIM, Apple, Adobe, Nortel and Red Hat.

But that's based on Aberdeen's ranking. I'd also move Intel, Progress and CA up into the top 10, replacing RIM, Nortel and Red Hat. Ranking Intel so low is really odd; I'd even put Intel in the top 5 replacing Sun. RIM, Nortel and Red Hat would still make my list, however.