sap

SAP to pay $306M to Oracle after infringement fight

Oracle has won at least one legal battle this week. SAP is paying the hardware giant $306 million in damages resulting from a copyright infringement suit.

Unlike the fight against Google, it looks like victory over SAP really is a payday. SAP's bill to Oracle continues to get bigger as Oracle's general counsel Dorian Daley said in a statement that SAP will have to pay "a minimum of $426 million, including attorneys’ fees."

Oracle originally filed the lawsuit in 2007 against SAP, arguing that SAP downloaded and copied intellectual property. The case didn't go to … Read more

SAP buying Ariba with plans for a cloud super-network

SAP America is looking to develop "the business network of the future" with the acquisition of cloud-based business commerce network Ariba at the price of $45 per share. That rounds out to roughly approximately $4.3 billion.

Each party brings something significant to the table here. Ariba already has the buyer-seller collaboration network, which is intended to compliment SAP's existing customer base as well as its B2B solutions. Thus, this really gives SAP a big push in the cloud space.

SAP will also be bringing its own resources to boost Ariba. For example, SAP is integrating its … Read more

CIA said to be planning new software acquisition strategy

The Central Intelligence Agency is changing how it buys software, according to a new report.

The agency's top technology decision-maker, Ira "Gus" Hunt, told software vendors yesterday that it's transitioning to a pay-as-you-go purchasing model, according to Reuters. Previously, the CIA entered into licensing agreements with vendors, like SAP and Oracle, to acquire new software.

The move might not make those companies too happy, since they currently have the CIA locked into deals that competitors can't encroach on. With its new policy, however, the CIA has the ability to get what it wants, when it … Read more

Software giants start pouncing on cloud companies

Oracle bought RightNow. SAP acquired SuccessFactors. And it's likely a few other cloud-related companies will be coming to a software giant near you.

What remains to be seen is whether these cloud acquisitions really change anything or just ensure the giants keep their stranglehold on the market.

SAP's $3.4 billion acquisition of SuccessFactors, which was announced Saturday, is notable on many fronts. First, SAP paid a 52 percent premium to bolster its cloud efforts. In addition, SAP is taking Oracle's playbook, which revolves around buying companies that could cannibalize their traditional businesses. Meanwhile, SAP is putting … Read more

SAP to buy cloud-software firm for $3.5 billion

Germany's SAP said today that it will shell out $3.5 billion to acquire SuccessFactors, a maker of cloud-based software for human-resources management.

As reported in The New York Times, the all-cash transaction offers SuccessFactors shareholders a 52 percent premium above Friday's closing stock price and reflects the fact that many companies are switching to cloud-based software. The leap to the cloud lets companies avoid the up-front and maintenance fees associated with the traditional approach of hosting software on site.

"The premium is significant and it shows that SAP was struggling in its cloud strategy, especially in … Read more

Oracle's $1.3B award against SAP nixed as excessive

Oracle is involved in a number of legal battles at the moment--most notably with Google and Hewlett-Packard, among others--but a ruling yesterday is shaking everything up.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton is rejecting a $1.3 billion award that a jury offered to Oracle months ago in its corporate theft trial against SAP. That decision can be read online on SAP's Web site (PDF).

Here's a copy of the new ruling:

Oracle Sap New Trial

Oracle originally argued that SAP's subsidiary TomorrowNow wrongfully and illegally downloaded millions of Oracle files.

The reversal is not to say … Read more

SAP earnings dinged by TomorrowNow trial

SAP's fourth-quarter profit was hurt by a hefty payment to Oracle over the TomorrowNow lawsuit, but the software company's operations showed improvement.

The enterprise applications giant reported fourth-quarter earnings of 437 million euros ($596 million) on revenue of 4.06 billion euros, up 27 percent from a year ago. The company delivered software revenue of 1.51 billion euros, up 35 percent from a year ago. Software and software-related service revenue was 3.27 billion euros, up 27 percent. For 2010, SAP reported earnings of 1.82 billion euros on revenue of 12.46 billion euros.

However, those … Read more

SAP granted lower APR damages award in Oracle case

SAP would rather not pay Oracle interest on top of the $1.3 billion in damages awarded the company last month. But it has to, now that a court has granted Oracle's demand for prejudgment interest.

Late yesterday a federal judge ordered SAP to pay interest on the gargantuan sum Oracle won against it in a November copyright infringement trial. But it also agreed to calculate that interest using a different method from the one employed by Oracle. And in doing so it lopped about $195 million dollars off the prejudgment interest Oracle had originally sought.

So good news … Read more

Oracle to SAP: You owe us another $212 million

Oracle is putting the screws to SAP again.

In court papers filed Friday, the company demanded SAP pay it $212 million in interest on top of the $1.3 billion in damages it was awarded in the TomorrowNow lawsuit. Should Oracle's demand be approved, SAP's total penalties would rise to $1.63 billion.

SAP, which argued in court that it should be held liable for no more than $28 million, clearly has no plans to pay Oracle the interest to which it says it's entitled.

Said an SAP spokesman, "We don't believe that Oracle is … Read more