Business Tech

Correction, 2:02 p.m. PST: This story misstated the number of Allin's businesses being acquired by Dell. It is two.

Dell has acquired Allin's Microsoft IT consulting business, as well as its collaboration and business applications services business, in a $12 million stock deal.

The acquisition, announced Friday, aims to bolster Dell's consulting work in the areas of designing and implementing scalable networks and application architectures via Allin's technology infrastructure business, as well as in the areas of collaboration and business applications.

"The expertise we gain from Allin further deepens our ability to help customers exploit Microsoft technologies for business advantage," Stephen Murdoch, vice president of Dell's Global Infrastructure Consulting Services, said in a statement.

The acquisition will further increase , as a means to further sales of its hardware.

The acquisition does not include Pittsburgh-based Allin's interactive media and business process consulting units.

Oracle on Wednesday announced that it plans to acquire Primavera Software, a maker of project management software.

(Credit: Primavera Software)

The deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, is expected to close by the end of the year. Through it, Oracle aims to integrate its enterprise applications and infrastructure software with Primavera's PPM software, which is designed to aid companies in proposing, planning, managing and controlling complex projects and projects within a portfolio.

"Enterprise PPM is moving to the forefront of business strategy for industries managing complex and capital-intensive projects, and has emerged as a global driver for value creation and business success," Oracle President Charles Phillips said in a statement.

Primavera was not alone in the project management software field. Seven years ago, Microsoft announced plans to step into the market with its own project software.

Once the deal closes, Oracle Enterprise PPM will be marketed to companies specializing in engineering, construction, aerospace and defense, utilities, oil and gas, manufacturing, and professional services, according to Oracle.

Shares of SAP and Google continued their downward trek, as Wall Street weighed in Tuesday with earnings cuts.

Google's shares dropped as low as 5.6 percent in intra-day trading to $350.26 a share, following a 2008 and 2009 estimated earnings cut and lowered price target offered by Stifel Nicolaus analysts. And SAP, which saw its shares pummeled Monday after issuing a warning its third quarter was not shaping up as anticipated, suffered a further decline as analysts cut their earnings estimates.

SAP, an enterprise software behemoth, had its price target reduced to $35 a share from $45 a share by Patrick Walravens, a JMP Securities analyst. He also reduced his SAP earnings estimates to 1.81 euros ($2.47) per share from 1.90 euros ($2.59) per share for 2008, and his 2009 forecast to 2.14 euros ($2.92) from 2.18 euros ($2.97) per share.

Walravens noted in his SAP research note:

While the valuation is getting interesting, we still have several concerns. First, one industry source suggested to us that 4Q could see "a big drop" in orders compared to prior fourth quarters. We think it is important to get a read on how the 4Q business is building and how 2009 might look. Second, our due diligence suggests that 2Q and 3Q may have each included license revenue in the tens of millions from a deal with a major food company--possibly setting up a more difficult sequential comp in 4Q. Third, as we discussed last week, another industry source suggested that one of SAP's customers may have stalled a deal as it saw its own customers beginning to delay payments. This behavior may well intensify in 4Q. Last, we note that it may be more difficult for SAP to reduce expenses than might be the case for Oracle given the high concentration of SAP employees in German and Europe.

On the Google front, analyst George Askew and Reed Meyer of Stifel Nicolaus lowered their Google price target to $525 a share from $600 a share, as well as cut the earnings estimates for 2008 and 2009.

The analysts cut Google's earnings estimates to $19.37 a share from $20.20 a share for 2008, while also trimming back 2009 to $23.51 a share from $26.01 a share.

Askew and Meyer noted in their research note:

We are reducing our financial projections for Google to reflect a more cautious global economic outlook. Our belief is based on 1) the apparent sharp slowdown in business activity late in 3Q08 for companies globally as the ongoing credit crisis depressed business and consumer confidence, and 2) the negative revenue impact of foreign currency moves relative to the stronger U.S. dollar. We conservatively project the economic slowdown to continue through 2009.

Google is scheduled to report its third quarter financial results on October 16, while SAP is scheduled to report its earnings on October 28.

Click here for ongoing coverage from CNET News, 'Tough times for tech'

SAP warned that its third-quarter revenues are expected to come in below Wall Street's projections, driving its stock down by a whopping 17.6 percent in intraday trading.

The enterprise software behemoth noted that a preliminary review of its financial performance indicates that its third-quarter software and software-related service revenues are expected to range between 1.97 billion and 1.98 billion euros ($2.66 billion to $2.68 billion), a 13 percent to 14 percent increase over the same time last year.

However, Wall Street had been expecting the company to post revenues of 2.863 billion euros ($3.87 billion), according to Thomson Financial.

Henning Kagermann, SAP's co-chief executive, had this assessment in a statement:

The market developments of the past several weeks have been dramatic and worrying to many businesses. These concerns triggered a very sudden and unexpected drop in business activity at the end of the quarter.

Throughout the third quarter, we felt quite positive about our ability to meet our expectations. Unfortunately, SAP was not immune from the economic and financial crisis that has enveloped the markets in the second half of September, causing us to report numbers below our expectations.

On the bright note, Kagermann noted that while revenues contracted, the business fundamentals of its operations remain intact.

"SAP did report double-digit growth in software and software-related service revenues for the quarter, and we expect to have gained further market share," he said.

Nonetheless, SAP shares fell 17.6 percent to $37.60 a share in intraday trading, as investors bailed on the stock.

SAP archrival Oracle, meanwhile, also saw its stock sink, as investors worried that SAP's woes are an industry problem and not just SAP-specific.

Oracle fell as much as 10.5 percent to $17.43 a share in intraday trading, compared to Friday's close.