Still, he says he's concerned that companies like Oracle will try to muscle into that turf, joining current competitors such as Intuit Inc and Salesforce.com. Also lurking is IBM Corp, which makes most of its money selling hardware, software and technology services to big organizations but has made a goal of getting more action from small businesses.
Ayala says MBS's growth has been stymied by the distractions of reorganizing the division. He says recent moves, which included some layoffs, are "not a retrenchment" but rather a sign that "we are putting the pedal to the metal."



