Latest on SAP: News, Features, Opinions and More  Oracle buying Taleo for $1.9B in direct hit at SAP
Oracle is buying cloud-based talent management and employee recruitment software vendor Taleo for roughly $1.9 billion, the company announced Thursday. The move comes shortly after SAP's move to acquire SuccessFactors, a close competitor of Taleo, for $3.4 billion in a deal that has yet to close. Oracle seeks new trial in IP theft suit against SAP
Oracle's plan to drag its legal fight against rival SAP's defunct TomorrowNow subsidiary through a second trial is not surprising, analysts said Tuesday. SAP unveils HANA in-memory database offerings for SMBs
SAP on Tuesday announced the first products based on its HANA in-memory database aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, including a new Edge edition of the software as well as HANA-powered analytics for the Business One ERP (enterprise resource planning) suite. Unilever in major SAP usage expansion
Unilever has extended an SAP enterprise resource planning rollout to North America, vital to its core business processes including supply chain management in one of its largest business regions. Oracle asks for retrial against SAP in TomorrowNow case
Oracle has chosen a new trial in its lawsuit against SAP for copyright infringement, rejecting the reduction of a jury verdict by about US$1 billion by a federal court in September last year. SAP community portal launch date still unclear due to bugs
Serious technical problems that have delayed the rollout of an upgrade to SAP's community portal are persisting, to the point where the company is no longer specifying a launch date. SAP-SuccessFactors deal delayed as US regulators conduct investigation
SAP's US$3.4 billion purchase of cloud software vendor SuccessFactors has been delayed indefinitely while a U.S. regulatory body investigates the deal, an SAP spokesman confirmed Wednesday. When ERP is botched, CFOs must act
While ERP projects go awry for many reasons, each incident reveals its own set of troublesome repercussions, financial and otherwise. IBM buys Worklight for mobile software platform
IBM on Tuesday announced plans to buy Worklight, a move that will give it a range of cross-platform mobile application development technologies. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter, were not disclosed. Wall Street Beat: Tech shines as earnings come in strong
This week's tsunami of tech earnings, led by Apple's jaw-dropping quarterly report, has given market watchers something to cheer about and also points to industry shifts around tablets and cloud computing. SAP's HANA in-memory database will gain ability to run ERP this year
SAP plans to roll out support for the ERP module within its flagship Business Suite product family on the HANA in-memory database platform in the fourth quarter of this year, executive board member and technology chief Vishal Sikka said in an interview Wednesday. SAP confident of crossing $26B in revenue by 2015
SAP said Wednesday that it had exceeded its guidance for revenue and profit in 2011, its best year in its 40-year history, and was positioned to exceed its revenue target of a!20 billion (US$26 billion) in 2015. SAP buys training software from Germany-based Datango
SAP has acquired software from Datango that will allow it to add multilingual online help and training materials to enterprise software applications. SAP Q4 revenues jump 11%
SAP on Friday reported preliminary fourth-quarter results that showed revenue rise 11 percent to $5.7 billion, according to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). Oracle updates TimeTen in-memory database, aims at SAP HANA
Oracle on Thursday rolled out an updated version of its TimesTen In-Memory Database, which is a key component of its upcoming Exalytics appliance as well as a competitor to SAP's HANA platform. Oracle prices its SAP HANA rival Exalytics, signaling imminent release
Oracle made a splash on Tuesday when it announced the general availability of its Big Data Appliance, but the company also quietly released pricing information for Exalytics, another new member in its family of specialized hardware-software appliances and a likely competitor to SAP's HANA product, suggesting that a general-availability announcement for that product is imminent. Infor CEO Charles Phillips discusses software vendor's remaking
Infor CEO Charles Phillips mostly kept out of the limelight after landing the job in October 2010, following a high-profile stint as co-president of Oracle. Shell completes transition of HR application services to Accenture
Energy company Shell has completed a move to outsource all of its SAP-based HR and payroll application management services to Accenture. Why enterprise software will never be the same
It's a stretch to call 2011 a truly transformative year for enterprise software, given all the old warts that remain, from large-scale IT project failures to creaky legacy systems that will take years and great expense to replace with the latest-and-greatest. Judge tosses racketeering claims in Marin County lawsuit against SAP
A judge has tossed out a number of claims in a California county's lawsuit against SAP over an allegedly failed ERP software implementation, including the claim that SAP had engaged in a racketeering conspiracy with Deloitte Consulting, which served as a systems integrator on the project. SAP acquisition of SuccessFactors clears antitrust hurdle
SAP's US$3.4 billion acquisition of SuccessFactors has passed an important regulatory step, with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission deciding on Friday to grant early termination of the waiting period required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, SAP announced Wednesday. RightNow shareholders approve $1.5B sale to Oracle
Oracle's $1.5 billion purchase of cloud software vendor RightNow Technologies took another step forward as a vast majority of RightNow shareholders approved the deal. Oracle Q2 net income jumps 17 percent, but hardware sales slump
Oracle's net income for the second quarter ended Nov. 30 rose 17 percent to US$2.2 billion, with software sales rising but hardware-related revenue falling, the company reported Tuesday. Revenue for the quarter rose 2 percent to $8.8 billion. SAP, Google gearing up Google Apps, Business ByDesign integration
SAP and Google executives on Tuesday provided a preview of the companies' plans to tie their respective cloud-based business applications together, but a number of details have yet to be finalized. 10 biggest ERP software failures of 2011
With the year drawing to a close, one thing seems abundantly clear: There are still an awful lot of ERP and other software projects running off the rails out there. ERP makes a comeback
Most big companies rolled out their first ERP systems more than a decade ago. Now one in four businesses plans to upgrade or roll out a new ERP system Deal Means More SAP Cloud Changes
If its $3.4 billion bid to buy SuccessFactors is successful, SAP could finally stabilize its cloud computing strategy, which has so far been mostly ineffectual. Salesforce.com acquires Rypple for push into cloud HR software
Salesforce.com announced Thursday it will acquire cloud-based performance management vendor Rypple in a bid to enter the human resources software market. IBM buys Emptoris for contract managment, supply software
IBM has signed a deal to buy supply and contract management software vendor Emptoris in another bid to fill out its growing catalog of business-to-business and business-to-consumer commerce technologies, the company announced Thursday. Terms of the deal, which is scheduled to close in the first quarter of next year, were not provided. SAP spells out vision for HANA-driven software architecture
SAP executives provided new details about the company's plan to make the HANA in-memory database the focus of a sweeping reinvention of its software architecture during an event in Boston on Tuesday. Top tech stories of 2011: From Jobs to Android, Anonymous to Egypt
In 2011, the increasingly mobile and socially networked world of technology became more intertwined than ever with politics and the law. Patent wars shaped competition in tablets and smartphones, hacktivists attacked a widening array of political and corporate targets, repressive regimes unplugged citizens from the Internet, and the U.S. government moved to block the giant merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA. With the passing of Steve Jobs, the world lost a technology icon who redefined the computer, entertainment and consumer electronics industries. These are the IDG News Service's picks for the top 10 technology stories of the year: Serious bugs force SAP to put brakes on community site upgrade
SAP has abruptly put the brakes on a planned upgrade to its massive community network portal, which was set to be rolled out this month, due to a number of lingering, "critical" bugs. SAP gets into the social analytics game with NetBase partnership
Taking a cue from rivals such as Salesforce.com, SAP on Monday announced a partnership under which it will resell and support social media analytics software from NetBase. World's largest zinc producer moves to SAP ERP
Nyrstar is implementing SAP enterprise resource planning to replace ten legacy systems. Citrix: Desktop virtualization makes good security sense
One of the main reasons for deploying desktop virtualization is the security advantages it can provide, such as keeping sensitive data off the endpoint, according to Citrix. Auditor: Big Aussie SAP project behind schedule, over budget
A major SAP ERP (enterprise resource planning) software project being conducted by the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities has hit a rocky patch, with projected costs for the first phase ballooning from A$153 million (US$157 million) to A$210 million (US$215 million), according to a new report by the Australian state's auditor. SuccessFactors acquiring Jobs2web days after SAP deal
Cloud-based human resources software vendor SuccessFactors said Tuesday it is acquiring Jobs2web for US$110 million, just days after SAP announced it would buy SuccessFactors in a $3.4 billion deal. Update: SAP faces cloud questions with SuccessFactors buy
SAP's $3.4 billion purchase of SuccessFactors not only gives the company an increasingly popular set of on-demand human resources applications, but could also bring its entire cloud software portfolio into a new focus. Update: SAP pays $3.4B for cloud vendor SuccessFactors
SAP America said Saturday that it is paying US$3.4 billion in cash to acquire SuccessFactors, a provider of cloud-based human capital management tools. SAP buying SuccessFactors for $3.4 billion
SAP America is paying US$3.4 billion for SuccessFactors, a provider of cloud-based human capital management. Lars Dalgaard, founder and CEO of SuccessFactors, will join SAP to lead its cloud business, while continuing to head SuccessFactors, which will be run as an independent company. IDC on 2012: Prep for cloud wars, mobile explosion, higher IT spending
Researchers at International Data Corp. say some big battles will be brewing in 2012 in the cloud, mobile and Big Data arenas, so much so that "companies like Microsoft, HP, SAP, RIM, and others -- including Apple -- will face 'crossroads moments' in 2012. By the end of the year, we should have a good idea which vendors will -- and won't -- be among the industry's leaders at the end of the decade," said Frank Gens, senior vice president and chief analyst at IDC in a statement. CIOs forge vendor collectives to extract business benefits
Shell and other big businesses use their clout to get normally hyper-competitive vendors to work together on IT projects and reveal their R&D plans. Insider (registration required) CIO Q&A: How Citrix supports more workers with lower IT budget
Citrix CIO Paul Martine is the poster child for everything that Citrix markets to other CIOs. Centrica implements new HR system using SAP Ramp-Up programme
Utility company Centrica, which owns British Gas, is implementing SAP’s ERP Enhancement Package 5 through the company’s Ramp-Up programme, in a move that will enable it to offer a more efficient, functional HR system. SAP could benefit from social networking company acquisition
Enterprise software giant SAP could be close to buying a social networking company, according to Constellation Research analyst Ray Wang. Software vendor says partnership with SAP led to stolen trade secrets
Former SAP partner Wellogix is accusing the vendor of stealing its trade secrets and swindling it out of lucrative software projects, according to a lawsuit Wellogix filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. How to Cut Better Deals With SAP
Here are nine negotiating tips for SAP customers who are hammering out deals with the vendor as the Dec. 31 end of its fiscal year approaches. Insider (registration required) Site tracks 'love,' 'hate' of SAP, Oracle and other software vendors
Enterprise software vendors have been rushing to build or buy "sentiment analysis" technologies that can analyze the tone of what people are saying about companies and brands on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. SAP co-CEO talks new product areas, in-memory computing
SAP could be entering significant new product categories soon, judging from remarks made by co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe on Thursday. 10 ways to beat SAP at the bargaining table
It's crunch time for SAP customers and salespeople around the world, as many new software deals and contract renewals get hammered out in the fourth quarter in time to be booked before the end of the company's fiscal year. Salesforce.com hires ex-Oracle, SAP software executive Wookey
Salesforce.com has hired former Oracle and SAP executive John Wookey, adding a seasoned software-development executive to its ranks at a time of rapid growth in both revenue and its breadth of offerings. SAP promises innovation for customers
SAP has promised its customers a wave of innovation in coming years. Accenture launches private-cloud service for SAP customers
SAP customers seeking to move from traditional deployments to a private cloud architecture have a new option from Accenture, the companies announced Wednesday during the Sapphire conference in Madrid. SAP pumps up its in-memory, mobile and cloud strategies
SAP is expected to make a slew of announcements related to in-memory computing, mobile applications and cloud-based services on Wednesday during the Sapphire conference in Madrid. Oracle accused of 'scare tactics' in Rimini Street case
The lawsuit between Oracle and third-party support provider Rimini Street has heated up further, with new allegations that Oracle is "abusing" the pre-trial discovery process and using "scare tactics" against customers in order to hurt Rimini Street's business. SAP's Business Objects
Company: SAP HDS to release converged computing platform for SAP
Hitachi Data Systems plans to release its latest flavor of Converged Platform data center offerings aimed at analyzing massive amounts of data in SAP environments. VMware out, Twitter in at Java oversight committee
VMware is no longer a member of the Java Community Process SE/EE Executive Committee, but Twitter has joined, according to election results finalized this week. Updated Sybase IQ supports Hadoop, MapReduce, 'Big Data'
Sybase is hoping its IQ analytic database can make its mark in the burgeoning "Big Data" market with an array of new features, including native integration with the open-source MapReduce and Hadoop programming frameworks for large-scale data processing. Wall Street Beat: Enterprise IT, smartphones boost tech earnings
Third-quarter earnings reports from major tech vendors continued to pour in this week, confirming upbeat trends for enterprise software and emerging markets but mixed results for hardware and components. SAP updates Business One application for small companies
SAP announced a version of Business One, its ERP suite for small companies, as it revs up the marketing strategy behind its Business ByDesign on-demand suite. SAP Q3 profits soar on reduction of TomorrowNow provision
SAP reported Wednesday a 14% increase in revenue in the third quarter ending Sept. 30, and said its business pipeline continues to remain very strong and companies continue to invest in IT. The business software vendor did not, however, revise its outlook for the full year 2011, citing the ongoing uncertain macroeconomic environment. What Your Cloud Consultant is Trying To Tell You
Consultants have been a mainstay of IT departments forever. But in the cloud the commercial language is filled with a new set of euphemisms you need to understand. Here are some to look out for. Workday aims at enterprises with cloud ERP as IPO approaches
Workday unveiled upcoming versions of its cloud-based ERP (enterprise-resource-planning) software on Tuesday during an event in Las Vegas, and in the process fired a warning shot across the bow of the likes of Oracle and SAP. Salesforce.com to 'unlock' SAP's core software for 'social enterprises'
Salesforce.com is rolling out a set of consulting and integration services aimed at SAP customers that want to build "social enterprises" with Salesforce.com's Force.com platform. Forrester: Tech Changes to Expect in Next 3 Years
Business Intelligence tools, mobile apps and cloud application platforms are areas that will evolve and create significantly more business value between today and 2014, according to a new Forrester report on enterprise technology trends. Insider (registration required) NetSuite boosts global capabilities of its SaaS business software
NetSuite on Wednesday announced a series of enhancements and offerings meant to make its on-demand ERP (enterprise resource planning) software more desirable to larger companies, particularly those with international operations. Customer, Lawson Software, hosting provider in legal dustup over ERP project
Health-care business services provider MedSynergies has sued Lawson Software and hosting company Velocity Technology Solutions over a rash of alleged problems with an ERP (enterprise-resource-planning) application project, but Lawson and Velocity say MedSynergies is just trying to get out of a contract it inherited through an acquisition. SAP cuts provision for TomorrowNow litigation, boosting Q3 profit
SAP said its third quarter revenue rose 14% year on year, and operating profit more than doubled according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), boosted by a recalculation of the sum set aside to settle litigation with Oracle over its SAP's former TomorrowNow subsidiary. Buzz kill: Online reaction to iPhone 4S trends negative
Over two-thirds of the online buzz Tuesday about Apple's new iPhone 4S was negative, a social media monitoring company said today. Five outsiders who could lead Hewlett-Packard
Having gone through a rash of CEOs in the past 10 to 15 years, Hewlett-Packard may soon find itself looking for yet another new chief, despite just tapping Meg Whitman for that job this week. Apotheker out, Whitman in as HP CEO
HP CEO Leo Apotheker was ousted from his position on Thursday and replaced by HP director and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Apotheker ouster from HP CEO job appears imminent
Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Apotheker will likely be removed from his position on Thursday and replaced by HP director and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Was Apotheker doomed at HP from the start?
As reports swirled Wednesday of Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Apotheker's imminent ouster from the company after less than a year on the job, some observers suggested that if such a thing indeed comes to pass, it won't be that much of a surprise. SAP's HANA is hot, but still in early days
The potential of SAP's HANA in-memory computing engine permeated the agenda and had attendees' tongues wagging this week at the Tech Ed conference in Las Vegas, but the technology still has some maturing to do. SAP pays $20M to settle criminal charges in Oracle case
SAP has agreed to pay just over US$20 million to settle a criminal case brought against its TomorrowNow subsidiary. Infor tries for reinvention with Infor10 software launch
Infor and its CEO, former Oracle co-president Charles Phillips, are hoping to jump-start the ERP (enterprise-resource-planning) software vendor's profile and revenues with Infor10, a major new rebranding and technology effort that was launched Tuesday at an event in New York. SAP's Sikka preaches HANA-led 'renewal'
SAP is in the middle of a sweeping "renewal" of its software portfolio, powered by the HANA (High Performance Analytic Appliance) in-memory computing engine, executive board member and technology chief Vishal Sikka said during a keynote address Tuesday at the Tech Ed conference in San Francisco. SAP rolls out new in-memory applications for HANA
The family of specialized applications for SAP's HANA (High-Performance Analytic Appliance) in-memory computing engine is growing, with a new application that allows utilities to crunch information from smart meters, and another that companies can use to run sophisticated profitability analyses on financial data, SAP said Tuesday at the Tech Ed conference in Las Vegas. SAP adds security, management for app stores
SAP customers looking to open iTunes-like enterprise app stores through Apple's Volume Purchase Program (VPP) will soon have the ability to manage and deploy the software securely thanks to new VPP support in the Sybase Afaria platform, SAP said Tuesday at the Tech Ed conference in Las Vegas. SAP to plead guilty to DOJ criminal charges
Former SAP subsidiary TomorrowNow will plead guilty to criminal charges of copyright infringement for downloading software from Oracle's servers. Sorry, tablets. Laptops still dominate the enterprise.
Consumers may be flocking to tablets, but laptops are holding their own in the enterprise, where they're viewed as the mobile device most likely to get the work done. SAP buys Right Hemisphere for 3-D visualization
SAP is to buy 3-D visualization toolmaker Right Hemisphere in a bid to improve the user interfaces of its various lines of business software, the companies announced Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Oracle vows to continue IP theft suit against SAP
A defiant Oracle Thursday vowed to continue its legal battle against rival SAP, saying it will reject a federal judge's compromise plan. Update: Judge overturns Oracle's $1.3B award against SAP
A federal judge has overturned the $1.3 billion judgment Oracle won against SAP in its corporate theft trial, according to a ruling made Thursday. The iPad takes on manufacturing
iPads and other tablets are making their way into the warehouse, bringing unprecedented mobility and real-time data visibility to industrial applications. SAP will issue patch for NetWeaver vulnerability
A reportedly serious security bug affecting the J2EE (Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition) engine in SAP's NetWeaver middleware will be patched soon, SAP said Friday. SAP, Rent-a-Center in battle over millions in fees
SAP and Rent-a-Center are locked in a legal battle over whether the rent-to-own chain owes the vendor about $9 million in fees for excess use of its Business Objects analytics software. SAP co-CEO McDermott talks up HANA, mobility and SaaS
SAP has seen software sales rebound steadily after a dip during the global recession, and is hoping to supercharge its business with forays into in-memory computing, SaaS (software as a service) and mobile applications, a business it entered with last year's acquisition of Sybase. SAP to link analytics tools to Google Maps, Earth
SAP is planning to connect its analytics software with Google's Maps and Earth software, allowing users to mine insights from plotting business data against locations around the world. SAP Q2 revenue rises 14%
SAP's second-quarter revenues grew 14%, driven by strong software sales in all regions, the company reported. SAP hopes partners will rev up mobile apps sales
Thousands of SAP partners who sell the Business All-in-One ERP suite and Business Objects analytics software can now also offer customers Sybase mobile technology and applications. Study: Sharp rise in ERP users mulling support alternatives
A growing number of ERP software customers are considering a jump to third-party software support providers, according to new data from analyst firm Constellation Research. SAP-IBM payroll system woes fouled up nurses' pay
Problems with an SAP software implementation led by IBM consultants have resulted in six months of erroneous paychecks for nurses in Nova Scotia, although now officials say the issues have been resolved. Oracle, SAP say last-minute TomorrowNow deal unlikely
Lawyers for Oracle and SAP are due in court Wednesday to argue post-trial motions in their TomorrowNow lawsuit, with SAP seeking a new trial and a reduction of the $1.3 billion jury award it was ordered to pay. SAP to argue for new trial in Oracle lawsuit
Lawyers for Oracle and SAP are due in court Wednesday to argue post-trial motions in their TomorrowNow lawsuit, with SAP seeking a new trial and a reduction of the $1.3 billion jury award it was ordered to pay. Auditors: Army's huge SAP project 'at high risk'
The U.S. Army's massive SAP software project is "at high risk" of running further over time and budget, according to a recent report by the Department of Defense's Inspector General's Office. SAP extends contracts of co-CEOs through mid-2017
SAP announced Thursday that its supervisory board has extended the contracts of co-CEOs Jim Hagemann Snabe and Bill McDermott until June 30, 2017. SAP's Sybase adds scalability to IQ analytic database
SAP's Sybase division announced the latest version of its IQ columnar database on Thursday. Deloitte wants software lawsuit kept away from jury
Deloitte Consulting is fighting an attempt by Marin County, Calif., to bring allegations over a failed ERP software project before a jury, calling it a tactical ploy to gain publicity and avoid a skeptical judge.
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