Oracle-SAP court faceoff postponed

FRANKFURT, Germany - SAP AG's first court meeting with rival Oracle Corp. over an industrial espionage lawsuit has been rescheduled for Sept. 11, the German company said Wednesday.

The two companies were set to meet in a San Francisco federal court this week but the judge fell ill.

The Sept. 11 date is tentative, pending final approval from the court, SAP told Dow Jones Newswires.

Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle sued SAP on March 22, accusing the Walldorf-based company of "corporate theft on a grand scale" and claiming that SAP obtained secret product information to gain new customers.

SAP has acknowledged "some inappropriate downloads of fixes and support documents occurred at TomorrowNow" - a Texas-based customer support unit authorized to download materials from Oracle's Web site. But it said the data remained within that unit's system and SAP did not have access to Oracle's intellectual property.

SAP and TomorrowNow have been asked by the U.S. Justice Department to provide documents related to Oracle's lawsuit, the company said.

SAP bought TomorrowNow in early 2005, around the same time Oracle completed its $11.1 billion PeopleSoft acquisition. TomorrowNow, which operates as SAP TN, was formed by several former PeopleSoft engineers promising to provide less expensive software support.

SAP said TomorrowNow was authorized to download materials from Oracle's Web site on behalf of TomorrowNow customers.

In its lawsuit, Oracle claimed that TomorrowNow infiltrated Oracle's systems by using the log-in information of defecting customers and then tried to conceal its actions by using phony phone numbers and fake e-mail addresses, the lawsuit alleged.

Oracle and SAP have long engaged in public exchanges of one-upmanship as they fight for new customers and try to pull service contracts from their each other's existing customer base.

Source: www.mercurynews.com

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Oracle to buy network intelligence company Netsure

Oracle Corp. has agreed to acquire Netsure Telecom Ltd., a provider of network intelligence and network data integrity software.

The deal is expected to boost Oracle's ability to help networking and telecommunications customers improve their network utilization, optimize capacity, financial modeling and streamline network life cycle management, the Redwood Shores, California company said in a statement dated Sunday.

Oracle plans to add Netsure's products to its communications applications suite, it said.

Netsure, a private company based in Dublin, Ireland, makes software that helps ensure the smooth operation of existing and next-generation networks and services, Oracle said. The company counts Vodafone Group Plc and Cable & Wireless Plc as users of its software. Its main software is the Active Network Optimisation product suite.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Oracle expects the deal to be finalized later this month.

Author: Dan Nystedt

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Oracle buys access control apps maker

ORACLE, the most acquisitive company in the software industry, has purchased closely held Bridgestream, acquiring programs that control access to corporate data, researcher 451 Group reports. Bridgestream disclosed the takeover to 451 Group, which tracks technology mergers.

The purchase is the seventh this year for California-based Oracle, the world's third-biggest software maker.

The Bridgestream purchase complements Oracle's acquisition of Bharosa, announced last month, 451 Group research director Steve Steinke says.

With Bharosa, Oracle added software that confirms the identities of users signing on to corporate networks.

Oracle has spent more than $25 billion to acquire 33 companies since its January 2005 takeover of PeopleSoft.

"This fills one of the gaps in Oracle's identity and access management strategy," Steinke says. "There is a trend towards consolidation'' in this area."

Bridgestream chief executive Mark Tice and marketing vice-president Ed Zou didn't return phone calls seeking comment. Oracle spokeswoman Kimberly Pineda also didn't return a call.

Bridgestream, based in San Francisco, makes software that designates what information employees can access based on their job responsibilities.

Source: www.australianit.news.com.au

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