The Economist

CORPORATE IT
Creating the Cumulus
October 23, 2008

Software will be transformed into a combination of services

Even the biggest changes in IT have never spelt the death of anything, notes Josh Greenbaum of Enterprise Applications Consulting. IBM, for instance, is still making money with mainframes.
See complete article at http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12411908

PROGRAMMED FOR A FIGHT
October 18, 2007

Oracle and SAP are battling to dominate the business-software market

APPLE versus Microsoft, Informix versus Oracle, Netscape versus Microsoft. The history of commercial software can be written as a succession of epic battles for dominance of key markets. Now the industry is in the midst of another: America's Oracle is battling against Germany's SAP in the market for enterprise applications, the software that big companies use to run their businesses.
See complete article at http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9998821&CFID=1156092&CFTOKEN=44121450

LIQUID CONCRETE
September 13 2007 | WALLDORF, GERMANY
From The Economist print edition

As software shifts to an “on demand” model, can SAP move with the times?

WHAT'S in a name? Apparently everything—at least when it comes to a product being launched by SAP, the world's third-largest software firm, on September 19th. Although the technical details are known, the firm has kept its name secret. But whatever it is called, the launch of the new product, code-named A1S, could be a turning point for both SAP and the enterprise-software industry.
See complete article at http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9803788&CFID=1156092&CFTOKEN=44121450

The New York Times

SHIFT AT THE TOP EMPHASIZES SAP'S BOTTOM LINE
August 25, 2008

WALLDORF, Germany — Henning Kagermann wants you to know that he is more than just a software geek.

Mr. Kagermann, the longtime chief executive of SAP, the giant maker of complex computer applications for business, is in the middle of a slow transition in which he will yield the top job entirely to Léo Apotheker, now the co-chief executive, in March. Mr. Apotheker rose through the ranks of the SAP sales force, a notably different career path than Mr. Kagermann, a former physics professor who made his name as a developer.
See complete article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/technology/25sap.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

Marketwatch

IS YAHOO A WRONG TURN FOR MICROSOFT?
February 27, 2008

Merger could distract software giant from lucrative business market

For companies like PeopleSoft, Oracle Corp. and SAP, Microsoft's acquisition of Great Plains Software in late 2000 was an alarming sign: The world's No. 1 software maker was moving more aggressively into their turf, the highly-lucrative market for business applications.
See complete article at http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsofts-play-yahoo-could-distract/story.aspx?guid={CE32698D-E282-4E5F-92AF-734A8761E216}&dist=msr_1

SAP DEAL MAY HURT MICROSOFT RELATIONSHIP
October 8, 2007

Analyst says relationship may be on the rocks amid $6.8 billion buyout

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - SAP AG's decision to dramatically buy its way further into the burgeoning business intelligence market has opened another front for competition with fellow software giant Microsoft Corp.
See complete article at http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/saps-big-deal-adds-new/story.aspx?guid={F28B1C70-6AF8-42B3-8E9C-49706916D33C}&dist=msr_2

Business Week

2008 IT OUTLOOK: 'LESS THAN COMFORTING'
October 15 , 2007

Joshua Greenbaum, principal of Enterprise Applications Consulting, says there's "tremendous interest" inside IT departments to cut costs. Some CIOs are paring back in anticipation they'll have their budgets sliced.
See complete article at http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2007/tc20071014_444767_page_2.htm