Renee Boucher Ferguson

A relatively small developer of business process modeling software could have a big impact on IT if SAP AG and Microsoft Corp. fulfill plans to incorporate the developers platform into their respective infrastructures to help users create composite applications. The inclusion of process modeling capabilities that can, in turn, be executed in IT systems is […]

IBM announced Monday its intent to acquire data integration provider Ascential Software Corp. for about $1.1 billion, or $18.50 per share. The acquisition, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, adds to IBMs WebSphere Information Integrator product portfolio. That product enables users to manage and access disparate pieces of data from a centrally managed environment. Ascential, […]

Hosted CRM (customer relationship management) software provider Salesforce.com announced Wednesday a new application environment, called Multiforce, that will enable users to jump between hosted applications within the same environment. In other words, Salesforce.com subscribers using the Multiforce application environment will have the ability to use the same data model, security features and user interface for […]

With the intent of weakening the suspected blow of radio-frequency identification mandates for small and midsize businesses, SAP AG announced Tuesday an alliance with Intermec Technologies Corp. that will provide a basic starting point for smaller companies to implement RFID pilot programs. Intermec develops automatic data collection hardware including RFID readers and scanners. Over the […]

Just when it seemed like the ERP (enterprise resource planning) market was calming down after Oracle Corp.s successful coup of PeopleSoft Inc., Oracle is at it again. The company announced late Tuesday afternoon its intent to acquire, for $9 a share, retail software developer Retek Inc.—a company that SAP AG announced last week it would […]

With much of the small-and-midsize-business market still unpenetrated, Microsoft Corp. is intensifying development efforts to provide that hard-to-reach space with more-viable products. At its Business Solutions Convergence conference in San Diego this week, the Redmond, Wash., company is expected to reveal more details about Project Green, its plan to unite the business application suites acquired […]

As it builds channels into small and midsize businesses, IBM is sending the message that partners are crucial to its success—and the company is putting its money where its mouth is. At its PartnerWorld conference here last week, IBM pledged an additional $100 million to promote its partner programs. IBM officials said they will spend […]

Capitalizing on its business process management capabilities, integration software provider Tibco Software Inc. will announce Monday afternoon an alliance with Protiviti Inc. that will offer ongoing compliance capabilities to users. Protiviti, of Menlo Park, Calif., is an internal audit and risk consulting firm that also develops its own brand of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance software. Under the […]

After a long-held silence around its next-generation ERP (enterprise resource planning) suite, Microsoft Corp. finally announced details Monday around Project Green, the Microsoft Business Solutions divisions effort to align its four ERP suites under a single code base. Initially expected around 2006 and then delayed until 2008, Microsoft announced Monday at its MBS Convergence conference […]

Supply chain planning software developer JRG Inc. announced Monday new hosted software for the Consumer Packaged Goods industry. The suite, JRG On-Demand Supply Chain Planning, is geared toward helping manufacturers connect their factories directly to retailers for daily production planning and scheduling on a real-time basis. Founded a year ago, JRG began offering its software […]

LAS VEGAS—IBM and AT&T are combining forces to give small and midsized businesses more options for collaboration over the Internet. The two companies will announce the new offering, dubbed IBM Workplace Services Express, on Wednesday at IBMs PartnerWorld conference here. The package combines IBMs WebSphere-based Workplace Express suite—a compilation of collaboration tools and middleware—with AT&Ts […]

To better enable customer responsiveness and speed of decision-making, SAP on Tuesday announced an organizational restructuring of its executive board that realigns software development and product innovation into separate camps. Under the new structure, effective immediately, SAP AG executive board member Shai Agassi will lead software development for the entire company, a realignment that not […]