Oracle files new charges against SAP

Oracle has filed new charges against SAP alleging that its TomorrowNow subsidiary stole Oracle software with the knowledge of SAP executives, according to court papers filed yesterday.

Oracle claims its revised complaint will reveal "a pattern of unlawful conduct that is different from, and even more serious than the mass downloading," which was the focus of the original case.

Oracle filed its first complaint against SAP in 2007, alleging that TomorrowNow employees posed as Oracle customers to download patches and support documentation from Oracle's website.

TomorrowNow then used the materials to provide cheap services to Oracle customers, and made attempts to switch them onto SAP's platform, Oracle alleges.

Oracle now claims that TomorrowNow workers downloaded Oracle business applications, as well as just its support materials and that SAP executives may have been complicit - something SAP has vehemently denied.

"It appears that SAP AG and SAP America knew - at executive levels - of the likely illegality of TN's business model from the time of their acquisition of TN and, for business reasons, failed to change it," said Oracle.

SAP claimed that it did not have access to Oracle materials downloaded by TomorrowNow. SAP explained that it intentionally created a business structure that maintained a firewall between TomorrowNow and SAP and that it was satisfied that SAP AG or SAP America did not access Oracle intellectual property via TomorrowNow.

The parties' next case management conference will be held on April 24.

Author: John-Paul Kamath @ www.computerweekly.com

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Indian industrial sector relies on Oracle technology

Oracle announced that more and more midsize companies in India are relying on Oracle technology to enhance their business operations, particularly companies in the industrial manufacturing sector. KPIT Cummins (Pune), Secure Meters (Udaipur), Swaraj Automotives (Chandigarh), J K Cements (Lucknow), Apollo Tyres (Surat), Andhra Pradesh Power Electricity Distribution Company (Vizag), JBM Auto (Nasik), Kalyani Steels (Pune), Balasore Alloys (Bhubaneswar), Sheeshayee Paper Mills (Coimbatore), Nitin Spinners (Jaipur) are some of the companies who are enjoying the benefits of low cost IT solutions on Oracle Database, to help achieve their business goals and reap profits.

To address the business requirements of industrial manufacturing companies, Oracle has teamed with specialized independent software vendors and local channel partners to help them develop solutions on Oracle Database and Oracle Fusion Middleware platforms. Independent software vendors (ISV) namely 3i Infotech, Chain-Sys (India), Eastern Software Systems, Matrix Infosystems and Nippon Data Systems have developed low cost, Oracle-based software solutions that can be used for specific business tasks like financial accounting, materials management, sales and distribution, HR and payroll, production planning and control, plant maintenance, fixed asset schedule, customer care and order management, administration and security among others.

Oracle Partner Network (OPN) members market these solutions in close association with Oracle ISV partners. They have the domain knowledge to address the needs of midsize companies as well as the technical knowledge of Oracle's product offerings. They are instrumental in selling, implementing and supporting the customer's IT infrastructure locally.

"With automation of business processes, industrial manufacturing organizations have started to seriously consider IT investments to help propel their business," said Anup Varma, Regional Director, Technology Commercial Sales, Oracle India. "Several industrial manufacturing organizations across the metro cities and other high growth cities in India are using Oracle's technology and applications to run their critical business processes."

"With Oracle, our critical data is secure because we can limit access to unauthorized users," said Rakesh Mehra, MD, Rajit Paints, Ludhiana. "We can let the database manage itself and focus on issues that directly impact our business such as improving customer service."

"We chose Oracle because it is more cost effective and much more robust and flexible," said Arvind Bhosale, Dai-lchi Karkaria, Pune. "It also handles more complex applications than other similar products available in the market." "Oracle is the best database - affordable for any size of business, including large corporations and medium sized companies," said Ajit Kumar Jain, General Manager (Systems), HEG, Mandideep, Bhopal. "We have been able to achieve near zero-downtime at the highest levels of performance."

Oracle provides scalable, industry-specific, and best-in-class functionality for fast-growing companies with limited budgets. Oracle's proven, open technology and network of partners help ensure that its software is easy to buy, install, and maintain, but still give midsized companies the power, security, and functionality of enterprise-strength systems - at a fraction of the cost. Its business applications solutions give customers an unequalled level of choice in the market, and include the Oracle E-Business Suite, and Oracle's J.D. Edwards, PeopleSoft, and Siebel product lines.

Source: http://www.computerworld.com.sg

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Oracle Issues 41 Security Fixes in Latest CPU

Oracle plugs a critical security hole in Oracle Application Server in its latest round of patches.

Oracle released fixes for a total of 41 bugs in its April Critical Patch Update, including a serious vulnerability affecting Oracle Application Server.

The CPU, Oracle's second of the year, includes 17 fixes for Oracle Database products, 11 for the Oracle E-Business Suite, six for the Oracle Siebel Enterprise Suite, three for Oracle Application Server, three for the PeopleSoft-JD Edwards Suite and one for Oracle Enterprise Manager.

The most serious of the vulnerabilities affects Oracle Application Server, specifically Oracle Jinitiator, and has a CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) rating of 9.3. Jinitiator allows a Web-enabled Oracle Forms client application to run within a browser. According to the company's advisory, the vulnerability applies only to the client portion of Application Server.

"The impact of this vulnerability is limited to Jinitiator; there is no Oracle Application Server impact," company officials stated in the advisory. "Oracle Jinitiator Versions 1.3.1.15 and later are not affected."

All three of the vulnerabilities affecting Application Server can be exploited remotely without authentication. Seven of the 11 vulnerabilities affecting Oracle E-Business Suite can be exploited remotely without a user name or password.

January's CPU featured 26 security fixes for Oracle products. The next CPU is slated to be released July 15.

Author: Brian Prince @ www.eweek.com

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