SAP deadline for TomorrowNow buyers to weigh in draws near

Ever want to own a third-party enterprise applications software maintenance and support company?

Better hurry. Tuesday's the deadline to declare your interest to its owner SAP, as the deadline draws near, according to sources.

SAP, back in November, said it was considering putting TomorrowNow on the auction block, and apparently it's headed in that direction. But whether the software applications vendor ultimately selects a buyer from among TomorrowNow's competitors and new parties interested in entering the market has yet to be seen, sources said.

SAP could also just wind down the operations and let it go at that. In its recent preliminary fourth quarter announcement, SAP noted is in its footnote about its U.S. GAAP requirements that the company is "required to present its results of discontinued operations (TomorrowNow) separately from its results from continuing operations."

That TomorrowNow reference was part of SAP's preliminary fourth quarter announcement and is not my add.

One source speculated SAP may want to let its TomorrowNow business slip into the sunset without a buyer, if it cannot find one that can adequately care for its TomorrowNow customers. The last thing SAP needs is more controversy surrounding TomorrowNow, which is entangled in a legal mess with arch-rival Oracle.

Oracle in March filed a lawsuit against SAP and its TomorrowNow subsidiary, alleging TomorrowNow downloaded proprietary Oracle software that it was not entitled to access.

TomorrowNow provides third-party maintenance and support to PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards, and Siebel customers--all companies that Oracle has acquired over the years.