Analytics firm Gartner has revealed that Oracle has overtaken IBM as the second largest software vendor, as increased cloud uptake drives the technology firm’s growth.

Oracle posted $29.6 billion in revenue for 2013 compared to IBM’s $29.1 billion, with increased profits coming from greater cloud uptake and the rising perception of big data analytics. Microsoft continued to hold on to the number 1 spot with $65.7 billion in revenue.

Gartner research vice president Chad Eschinger said: “Global trends around big data and analytics with business investment in database and cloud-based applications helped to drive Oracle's top-line growth".

The report by Gartner revealed that global spending software increased by 4.8 per cent in total over 2013, with SaaS representing a major new player in the technology market.

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