Renee Boucher Ferguson

Answering the long-asked question of whether Microsoft Corp. will testify in the U.S. Department of Justices much ballyhooed case against Oracle Corp., the Justice Department released Tuesday night its witness list, and it included the software giant. The Justice Department will call Microsoft to the witness stand to support its claim that Oracles proposed—and hostile—takeover […]

Product manufacturers rushing to comply with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.s mandate that they use radio-frequency identification technologies by next January are contending with evolving standards for moving RFID data through their IT environments. For example, the RFID tags that transmit inventory and other data through the supply chain are still an emerging technology. To lead customers […]

SAP AG wants customers to begin moving to a service-oriented architecture, and to help them along, the enterprise software developer is developing the tools that will make it all possible. SAPs Enterprise Services Architecture will help users rapidly respond to changing business needs and innovate quickly without changing core processes, said SAP CEO Henning Kagermann […]

NEW ORLEANS—In his keynote address Thursday before a packed auditorium at SAPs Sapphire user conference here, SAP co-founder and chairman Hasso Plattner did what he does best: look at the what-ifs and wonderment of application development. A self-described developer at heart, Plattner brought up the notion of how a company such as SAP AG innovates […]

NEW ORLEANS—At its Sapphire user conference here this week, SAP AG made a slew of announcements, primary among them a development relationship with Microsoft Corp., adaptive computing capabilities for NetWeaver and new packaged applications for the midmarket. Building on an established 11-year relationship, the newest agreement between Microsoft and SAP will provide for a deeper […]

New Orleans—Executive board member Shai Agassi used his keynote address at SAPs Sapphire user conference here to review where the company has been over the past three years and to show how those efforts will lead it—and its customers—into the next 15 years. Agassi said SAP AG will use Web services as a cornerstone to […]

NEW ORLEANS—After an hour-and-a-half of talking about the companys new approach to a service-oriented architecture, SAP AG CEO Henning Kagermann finally got to the point for users: Start now. At its Sapphire conference here on Wednesday, Kagermann urged SAP users to start now in developing their own roadmap for building an SOA, using SAPs Enterprise […]

SAP AG and longtime partner IDS Scheer Inc. are readying software that enables companies in specific industries to better manage their business processes. At its Sapphire user conference in New Orleans this week, SAP will announce two new Industry Solutions applications packages for SMBs (small and midsize businesses) in the service provider and defense industries. […]

SAP AG is working on a common application base that it hopes will serve as a beacon to the future for legacy R/3 enterprise application customers. The Walldorf, Germany, company at its Sapphire user conference in New Orleans this week will spell out its claim that the SAP Enterprise Services Architecture will provide a more […]

Authoria, a small company that develops human resources software, is beginning to expand through acquisition. Waltham, Mass.-based Authoria Inc. on Monday will announce the purchase of Advanced Information Management Inc., which provides integrated performance management and compensation management software. The addition of AIM should complement Authorias benefits, compensation and HR policy information software, company officials […]

The judge overseeing the U.S. Department of Justices antitrust suit against Oracle Corp. will get a lesson in enterprise resource planning technology later this month. Both the Justice Department and Oracle are readying technical presentations to present to the court on May 21st. The presentations are a lead in to the June 7 trial brought […]

After spending the past couple of years redefining internal management, strategy and product directions, supply-chain-management vendors are now focusing on moving forward with new product capabilities and bolstered balance sheets. Manugistics Group Inc. and Manhattan Associates Inc. each are in the works with new supply-chain functionality, while i2 Technologies Inc. is amassing cash to shore […]