Computerworld SAP News

SAP lays out cloud strategy post-SuccessFactors deal

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:06:00 GMT

SAP announced a broad set of plans to become a player in cloud computing, spanning from a "loosely coupled suite" of business applications to data integration and PaaS (platform as a service) Tuesday during the Sapphire conference in Orlando.

SAP offers mobile device management on Amazon's cloud

(Mikael Ricknäs) — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:36:00 GMT

SAP's Afaria mobile device management tool is now available on Amazon Web Services' cloud, offered as a way to make it easier to start using the platform, SAP said at the Sapphire conference on Monday.

SAP rolls out new mobile apps, boosts HTML5, iOS, Android support

(Chris Kanaracus) — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:42:00 GMT

SAP on Monday unveiled a series of mobile applications covering areas such as expense management and e-learning, as well as improved support for iOS and Android devices. The announcements came at the start of the vendor's Sapphire conference in Orlando.

SAP points to consumerisation of enterprise apps to drive growth

(Derek du Preez) — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:12:00 GMT

SAP is planning to target the customers of its enterprise customers in a bid to achieve rapid growth rates over the next three years.

SAP certifies Business All-in-One for Amazon Web Services

(Chris Kanaracus) — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:31:00 GMT

SAP has certified its Business All-in-One ERP application for cloud-based deployments on Amazon Web Services, the companies announced Friday.

SAP gets tough on violation of software use terms

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:11:00 GMT

A recent crackdown by SAP AG on companies that it considers are indirectly accessing its software without paying for it could spell trouble for some longstanding customers of the software vendor, an analyst firm said this week.

Tibco adds Hadoop support to Spotfire analytics tool

(Chris Kanaracus) — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:06:00 GMT

Tibco has brought its Spotfire in-memory analytics software into the burgeoning ecosystem around Hadoop, an open-source framework for processing large sets of information, the company announced Tuesday.

Oracle, SAP fight over 'hypothetical license' damages

(Chris Kanaracus) — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:20:00 GMT

Oracle and SAP are at odds over whether the concept of "hypothetical" software license fees can be factored into damages in the upcoming retrial of Oracle's intellectual-property lawsuit against SAP, and the outcome could sharply affect the scope of any judgment in the case.

SAP's Sikka fires back against Oracle's 'falsehoods' about HANA

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:31:00 GMT

SAP's technology chief has given a strong rebuttal to a recent presentation by an Oracle executive that was critical of SAP's HANA in-memory database, saying it is full of "falsehoods."

Wall Street Beat: Tech earnings offer bright spots

(Marc Ferranti) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:16:00 GMT

With Apple leading the revenue charge midweek and Amazon providing a kick to trading in tech shares Friday morning, bright spots appeared in what has otherwise been a mixed earnings season.

SAP sees strong momentum for HANA and SuccessFactors business

(John Ribeiro, Loek Essers) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:42:00 GMT

Business software vendor SAP expects software and software-related service revenue to increase in the range of 10 to 12 percent at constant currencies during the year, largely in line with preliminary estimates that the company released earlier this month.

Amazon Web Services offers one-click purchase of cloud apps from IBM, SAP, others

(Chris Kanaracus) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:06:00 GMT

Amazon Web Services on Thursday announced a new online marketplace that allows customers to buy software and services from a variety of vendors at hourly rates through its cloud infrastructure platform.

Workday update pushes it deeper into Oracle, SAP's turf

(Chris Kanaracus) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:03:00 GMT

Workday is rolling out version 16 of its cloud-based ERP (enterprise resource planning) software to customers this week, an update that includes upgrades to the financials component that could help it steal away deals with large enterprises from the likes of Oracle and SAP.

SAP aims for 'agile' cloud application development

(Chris Kanaracus) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:26:00 GMT

SAP intends to become a major player in cloud-based software, and has been adopting agile software development practices as one means of reaching that goal.

SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott explains its five-market focus

(John Gallant and Patrick Thibodeau) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:50:00 GMT

If you think SAP equals ERP, Bill McDermott would like a few minutes to set you straight about the 2012 version of the software giant, which he claims is in the midst of "an intellectual renewal." McDermott has been co-CEO -- along with Jim Hagemann Snabe -- of SAP since 2010 and has helped broaden the company's strategy beyond traditional applications and analytics to the cloud, mobile, Big Data and a bet-the-business focus on real-time computing with the HANA in-memory database at the forefront. Insider (registration required)

SAP revenue rises 11% in first quarter, but margin shrinks

(Peter Sayer, Chris Kanaracus) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:54:00 GMT

SAP published preliminary figures for its first-quarter results on Friday, showing revenue up 11% year on year, but margins shrinking with operating profit up only 6%.

Judge dismisses one Marin County suit versus Deloitte

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:54:00 GMT

A former judge hired to settle a protracted legal dispute between Marin County, Calif., and Deloitte Consulting over a botched SAP project last week dismissed all charges made by the county in one of two lawsuits.

SAP lays out plans to become big player in databases, mobile

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:47:00 GMT

SAP made a series of announcements on Tuesday as part of its bid to become a high-profile player in the database market alongside the likes of Oracle and IBM.

BAT signs Â£132m deal for cloud-based SAP

(Antony Savvas) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:15:00 GMT

British American Tobacco (BAT) has signed a seven-year a!160 million (APS132 million) cloud-based SAP business software deal with Deutsche Telekom's IT subsidiary T-Systems.

Mark Hurd spells out Oracle analytics vision

(Chris Kanaracus) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:44:00 GMT

Oracle rolled out a series of announcements aimed at portraying itself as a dominant player in business analytics on Wednesday, as well as one relevant to customers of rival SAP.

SAP goes after SAS, IBM with predictive analytics software

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:52:00 GMT

SAP is hoping to stake out some turf in the predictive analytics software market with a new application, BusinessObjects Predictive Analysis software, which was announced Tuesday.

Danone targets carbon footprint cut with SAP rollout

(Antony Savvas) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:11:00 GMT

International food group Danone has brought in SAP to enable it to measure its envirionmental footprint using a bespoke reporting platform.

SuccessFactors offers free version of Jam software in hit against Salesforce.com

(Chris Kanaracus) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:57:00 GMT

SAP's SuccessFactors subsidiary is rolling out a version of its Jam social collaboration platform at no charge to all users, the company announced Wednesday.

Oracle set to update analytics strategy, go after SAP customers

(Chris Kanaracus) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:12:00 GMT

Oracle co-President Mark Hurd is scheduled to reveal new details about the vendor's BI (business intelligence) and analytics strategy, including new applications aimed at SAP customers, during an event on April 4.

Governance at the speed of change

(Raju Pusapati) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:06:00 GMT

The right approach to governance -- using real-time metrics -- can enable more reliable applications, more agile IT, more satisfied business owners and, ultimately, happier customers. Insider (registration required)

Oracle net income rises 18%, but hardware sales slump

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:43:00 GMT

Oracle on Tuesday said third-quarter net income rose 18 percent to $2.5 billion, while revenues grew 3% to $9 billion. However, hardware systems revenues sagged 16% to $869 million.

Salesforce.com rolls out Rypple, revamps website-builder tools

(Chris Kanaracus) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:05:00 GMT

Salesforce.com is set to unveil new products for employee performance management and rapid website development on Thursday during the Cloudforce conference in San Francisco.

SAP ports HANA database to financial planning app

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:02:00 GMT

SAP on Tuesday further expanded the reach of its HANA in-memory database, announcing that HANA now supports the 10.0 version of its BusinessObjects financial planning and consolidation application running on NetWeaver.

SAP rolling out cloud-savvy version of Business One

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:28:00 GMT

SAP has created a multitenant version of its Business One ERP (enterprise resource planning) suite, which will be sold exclusively through partners as Business One OnDemand, the company is expected to announce Tuesday during the Cebit conference in Hannover, Germany.

Cloud consultants Cloud Sherpas, Global One merge

(Brandon Butler) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:30:00 GMT

Cloud Sherpas and Global One, which advise clients in implementing cloud-based Software as a Service applications, have merged in what is a sign of the continually busy M&A activity in the SaaS market.

Spinnaker expands Oracle support services, aims at Rimini Street

(Chris Kanaracus) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:03:00 GMT

A company that has been providing third-party support for Oracle's JD Edwards ERP software is undergoing a significant expansion of its efforts, despite the ongoing cloud of litigation over the market.

Industry heavies unite to float 'The Science Cloud'

(Brandon Butler) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:48:00 GMT

More than a dozen international IT firms have partnered to create Helix Nebula - The Science Cloud, which will be used by European researchers to provide cloud-based computing support for scientific discoveries.

Oracle's Exalytics now available, set for showdown with SAP's HANA

(Chris Kanaracus) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:49:00 GMT

Oracle on Monday announced the general availability of Exalytics, the latest in its family of specialized appliances and a direct competitor to SAP's HANA product.

Oracle discusses Taleo product plans, girds for new battle with SAP

(Chris Kanaracus) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:55:00 GMT

Oracle moved quickly on Friday to lay out its plans for the HCM (human capital management) software market, a couple days after rival SAP did the same thing.

Oracle lawsuit alleges 'gray market conspiracy' over support services

(Chris Kanaracus) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:02:00 GMT

Oracle is alleging that two companies violated its intellectual property as part of a "gray market" conspiracy to provide support for Oracle's Sun Solaris OS and hardware, according to a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

SAP lays out product direction post-SuccessFactors deal

(Chris Kanaracus) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:18:00 GMT

SAP on Wednesday released details for its road map for HCM (human capital management) software following the US$3.4 billion acquisition of SuccessFactors, which focuses on cloud-based applications.

Auditor: State's HR software system has series of 'material weaknesses'

(Chris Kanaracus) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:25:00 GMT

An SAP-based human resources software system implemented last year by Kentucky's government suffered from a series of "material weaknesses" that could result in significant financial misstatements, according to a report released this week by the state's auditor.

Oracle and SAP given June court date for TomorrowNow retrial

(James Niccolai) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:31:00 GMT

Oracle and SAP may be back in court on June 18 to begin a retrial of Oracle's corporate theft lawsuit involving SAP's former TomorrowNow subsidiary, according to a judge's order Thursday.

Oracle buying Taleo for US$1.9 billion in direct hit at SAP

(Chris Kanaracus) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:33:00 GMT

Oracle is buying cloud-based talent management and employee recruitment software vendor Taleo for roughly US$1.9 billion, the company announced Thursday. The move comes shortly after SAP's move to acquire SuccessFactors, a close competitor of Taleo, for US$3.4 billion in a deal that has yet to close.

Oracle seeks new trial in IP theft suit against SAP

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:13:00 GMT

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

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:47:00 GMT

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

(Leo King) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:16:00 GMT

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

(John Ribeiro) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:26:00 GMT

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

(Chris Kanaracus) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:45:00 GMT

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

(Chris Kanaracus) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:12:00 GMT

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

(Fred O'Connor) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:39:00 GMT

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

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:32:00 GMT

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

(Marc Ferranti) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:43:00 GMT

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

(Chris Kanaracus) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:29:00 GMT

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

(Chris Kanaracus, John Ribeiro) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:08:00 GMT

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.