Oracle's proposed $7.4bn acquisition of Sun Microsystems has shaken up the tech industry !!

The mega-deal, which comes soon after IBM's bid for Sun fell apart, strengthens Oracle's hand in the software market and gives Oracle control over the Unix-based Solaris operating system and Java programming language. More dramatically, it could pave the way for database giant Oracle to become a systems vendor.

So what are the challenges for the players involved, and the implications for the industry as a whole? We asked a panel of expert analysts to weigh in on various aspects of the deal.