ERP ASSIGNMENT

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ERP (ENTERPRISE RESOURSE PLANNING)

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is an integrated computer-based system used to manage internal and external resources including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and human resources. It is a software architecture whose purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. Built on a centralized database and normally utilizing a common computing platform, ERP systems consolidate all business operations into a uniform and enterprise wide system environmentAn ERP system can either reside on a centralized server or be distributed across modular hardware and software units that provide "services" and communicate on a local area network. The distributed design allows a business to assemble modules from different vendors without the need for the placement of multiple copies of complex, expensive computer systems in areas which will not use their full capacity

To implement ERP systems, companies often seek the help of an ERP vendor or of third-party consulting companies. These firms typically provide three areas of professional services: consulting; customization; and support. The client organization can also employ independent program management, business analysis, change management, and UAT specialists to ensure their business requirements remain a priority during implementation.

HERE ARE SOME ERP VENDORS :

SAP

SAP is a multinational software development and consulting corporation, which provides enterprise software applications and support to businesses of all sizes globally. Headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, with regional offices around the world.SAP is the largest software enterprise in Europe and the fourth largest software enterprise in the world as of 2009.The company's best known product is its SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (SAP ERP) software.

HistorySAP was founded in 1972 as ("System Analysis and Program Development")by five former IBM engineers in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg (Dietmar Hopp, Hans-Werner Hector, Hasso Plattner, Klaus E. Tschira, and Claus Wellenreuther).As part of the Xerox exit strategy from the computer industry, Xerox retained IBM to migrate their business systems to IBM technology. As part of IBM's compensation for the migration, IBM acquired the SDS/SAPE software, reportedly for a contract credit of $80,000. The SAPE software was given by IBM to the founding ex-IBM employees in exchange for founding stock provided to IBM, reportedly 8%. Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was SAP's first ever customer in 1972

The acronym was later changed to stand for("Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing"). 1976, "SAP GmbH" was founded and the following year, it moved its headquarters to Walldorf. SAP AG became the company's official name after the 2005 annual general meeting (AG is short for Aktiengesellschaft).Henning Kagermann became the sole CEO of SAP in 2003.In February 2007, his contract was extended until 2009. In April 2008, along with the announcement of Apotheker as co-CEO, the SAP supervisory board also appointed three new members to the SAP Executive Board, effective 1 July 2008: Corporate Officers Erwin Gunst, Bill McDermott, and Jim Hagemann Snabe. With the retirement of Kagermann in May 2009, Apotheker took over as the sole CEO. He was replaced by new co-CEOs Bill McDermott, head of field organization, and Jim Hagemann Snabe, head of product development, effective Feb 7, 2010

Milestones technical solutionsIn 1973, the SAP R/1 solution was launched.Six years later, in 1979, SAP launched SAP R/2. In 1981, SAP brought a completely re-designed solution to market. With the change from R/2 to R/3 in 1992, SAP followed the trend from mainframe computing to client-server

architectures. The development of SAP’s internet strategy with mySAP.com redesigned the concept of business processes (integration via Internet).SAP was awarded Industry Week’s Best Managed Companies in 1999.

Business and marketsSAP is the world's largest business software company and the third-largest independent software provider in terms of revenues (as of 2007).It operates in three geographic regions – EMEA, which represents Europe, Middle East and Africa; the Americas (SAP America, headquartered in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania), which represents both North America and Latin America; and Asia Pacific Japan (APJ), which represents Japan, Australia, India and parts of Asia. In addition, SAP operates a network of 115 subsidiaries, and has R&D facilities around the globe in Germany, Turkey, Canada, China, Hungary, India, Israel, Bulgaria, and North America.SAP focuses on six industry sectors: process industries, discrete industries, consumer industries, service industries, financial services, and public services.It offers more than 25 industry solution portfolios for large enterprises and more than 550 micro-vertical solutions for midsize companies and small businesses.

ProductsSAP's products focus on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The company's main product is SAP ECC. The current version is SAP ECC 6.0 and is part of the SAP Business Suite. Its previous name was R/3. The "R" of SAP R/3 stood for realtime - even though it is not a realtime solution. The number 3 related to the 3-tier architecture: database, application server and client (SAPgui). R/2, which ran on a Mainframe architecture, was the predecessor of R/3. Before R/2 came System RF, later dubbed R/1.SAP ECC is one of five enterprise applications in SAP's Business Suite. The other four applications are:

customer relationship management (CRM) - helps companies acquire and retain customers, gain marketing and customer insight

product lifecycle management (PLM) - helps manufacturers with product-related information

supply chain management (SCM) - helps companies with the process of resourcing its manufacturing and service processes

supplier relationship management (SRM) - enables companies to procure from suppliers

Other major product offerings : On 19 September 2007 SAP announced a new product named SAP Business By Design. SAP Business By Design is a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, and provides a fully integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, On Demand. SAP Business By Design was previously known under the code name "A1S". In October 2007 SAP AG announced the friendly merger and acquisition of Business Objects. This acquisition has expanded SAP's Product Suite of Business Intelligence (BI) solutions and expanded the customer installed base to 89,000.(50) (SAP Press releases).SAP officials say there are over 100,600 SAP installations serving more than 41,200 companies in more than 25 industries in more than 120 countries.

PartnershipPartnerships are core to SAP’s strategy and in its 35 years of history the network of software solution providers, value-added resellers, distributors, technology and services partners has developed into a broad ecosystem that is among the industry's largest.SAP partners include Global Services Partners with cross-industry multinational consulting capabilities, Global Technology Partners providing user companies with a wide range of products to support SAP technology, including vendors of hardware, database, storage systems, networks, and mobile computing technologySAP partners with [Wipro,[Seal Infotech]], CSC, Capgemini, Ernst & Young, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Deloitte, IBM, Fujitsu,PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hewlett-Packard, Newgen Software Techonolgies Ltd., Siemens IT Solutions and Services, ITC Infotech and Accenture in offering services, including assessment, government and architecture for R3.

SAP Partner EdgeSAP solutions for small businesses and midsize companies are delivered through its global partner network. In 2008, SAP signed SAP Global Service partnership with HCL Technologies, a $4.9 b technology service provider, headquartered in India.. The SAP PartnerEdge program, SAP's partner program, offers a set of business enablement resources and program benefits to help partners including value added resellers (VARs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) be profitable and successful in implementing, selling, marketing, developing and delivering SAP solutions to a broad range of customers.

CommunitiesSAP Developer Network (SDN) is a community of developers, consultants, integrators, and business analysts gaining and sharing knowledge about ABAP, Java, .NET, SOA, and other technologies via expert blogs, discussion forums, exclusive downloads and code samples, training materials, and a technical library. The Business Process Expert (BPX) Community is a collaborative environment for business process experts to share information, experiences and best practices to leverage enterprise SOA in order to increase business agility and IT value. The SAP Enterprise Services Community serves as a platform for members from customers, industry experts and partners working collaboratively to define enterprise services. Industry Value Networks (IVN) bring together customers, partners and SAP to co-innovate and develop solutions to solve industry-specific customer challenges. There are currently eleven active IVNs (e.g. Banking, Chemicals, Consumer Products, High Tech, Public Sector, Retail).

SAP Labs CentersSAP Labs is the research and development organization of the parent company. SAP has its development organization spread across the globe. Many, but not all, labs locations are hosting SAP Research groups.

Green SAP LabsSAP opened in June, 2009 its new SAP Labs campus in Brazil, representing the first SAP Labs Center in Latin America and the eighth worldwide. The facility is located in Sao Leopoldo in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and employs 375 people. Of particular note are the building’s structure and interior, which are composed entirely of environmentally friendly materials. Since these materials were not available in Brazil, constructing the facility did not come cheap for SAP. However, Erwin Rezelman – director of SAP Labs Brazil – emphasizes that the project was an effort not only to create a “green house” in Latin America, but also to design offices with a pleasant work atmosphere.SAP Labs Brazil has just received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for the building.

User groupsUser Groups are independent, not-for-profit organizations of SAP customer companies and partners within the direction, exchange best practices, and provide insight into the market needs. Examples of User Groups are the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG),[37] the German speaking SAP User Group (DSAGSAP Ecosystem that provide education to their members, influence SAP product releases and

List of SAP products Enterprise Applications

SAP Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

SAP ERPThe SAP ERP application is an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software manufactured by SAP AG that targets business software requirements of midsize and large organizations in all industries and sectors. It allows for open communication within and between all company functions.

OverviewSAP stands for Systems, Applications and Products (Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung, in the original German) in Data Processing. It uses the concept of modules ("individual programs that can be purchased, installed, and run separately, but that all extract data from the common database").SAP AG, the company that provides the enterprise resource planning solution has upgraded the package and launched it as SAP ECC 6.0 in 2005. ECC stands for ERP Central Component. The purpose of positioning it as ECC is to enable SAP to build and develop an environment of other products that can function upon the foundation of the central component.SAP's ERP solution includes several modules that support key functional areas - some of them are -

SAP ERP Financials SAP ERP Logistics SAP ERP Human Resource Management

The evolution of mySAP ERPSAP R/3 through version 4.6c consisted of various applications on top of SAP Basis, SAP's set of middleware programs and tools.When SAP R/3 Enterprise was launched in 2002, all applications were built on top of the SAP Web Application Server. Extension sets were used to deliver new features and kept the core as stable as possible. The Web Application Server contained all the capabilities of SAP Basis.As a result of marketing changes and changes in the industry, other versions of SAP have been released that address these changes. The first edition of mySAP ERP was launched in 2003 and bundled previously separate products, including SAP R/3 Enterprise, SAP Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM) and extension sets. The SAP Web Application Server was wrapped into NetWeaver, which was also introduced in 2003.A complete architecture change took place with the introduction of mySAP ERP edition 2004. R/3 Enterprise was replaced with the introduction of ERP Central Component (SAP ECC). The SAP Business Warehouse, SAP Strategic Enterprise Management and Internet Transaction Server were also merged into SAP ECC, allowing users to run them under one instance. Architectural changes were also made to support an enterprise services architecture to transition customers to a services-oriented architecture.

Deployment and maintenance costsSAP ERP systems effectively implemented can have cost benefits. Integration is the key in this process. "Generally, a company's level of data integration is highest when the company uses one vendor to supply all of its modules." An out-of-box software package has some level of integration but it depends on the expertise of the company to install the system and how the package allows the users to integrate the different modules.It is estimated that "for a Fortune 500 company, software, hardware, and consulting costs can easily exceed $100 million (around $50 million to $500 million). Large companies can also spend $50 million to $100 million on upgrades. Full implementation of all modules can take years," which also adds to the end price. Midsized companies (fewer than 1,000 employees) are more likely to spend around $10 million to $20 million at most, and small companies are not likely to have the need for a fully integrated SAP ERP system unless they have the likelihood of becoming midsized and then the same data applies as would a midsized

company. Independent studies have shown that deployment and maintenance costs of a SAP solution can greatly vary depending on the organization. For example, some point out that because of the rigid model proposed by the SAP tools, a lot of customization code to adapt to the business process may have to be developed and maintained.Some others pointed out that a return on investment could only be obtained when there was both a sufficient number of users and sufficient frequency of use.Deploying SAP itself can also involve a lot of time and resources.

Advantages and disadvantages of SAP ERPAdvantages:

ERP allows easier global integration (Barriers of currency exchange rates, language, and culture can be bridged automatically)

Updates only need to be done once to be implemented company wide Provides real-time information, reducing the possibility of redundancy errors Creates a more efficient work environment making it easier for employees to do their

job which leads to effectiveness Vendors have past knowledge and expertise on how to best build and implement a

system No hardware purchase or maintenance costs No developer training costs and the vendor will train the users

Disadvantages: Locked into relationship by contract and manageability with vendor - a contract can

hold a company to the vendor until it expires and it can be unprofitable to switch vendors if switching costs are too high

Inflexibility- vendor packages may not fit a company's business model exactly and customization can be very expensive

Return on Investment may take too long to be profitable SAP ERP implementations have a risk of project failure

IMPLEMENTATION

SAP Implementation is the whole of processes that defines a complete method to implement the Enterprise Resource Planning SAP ERP software in an organization. The SAP implementation method described in this entry is a generic method and not a specific implementation method as such. It is based on best practices and case studies from various literature sources and presents a collection of processes and products that make up a complete implementation method to allow any organization to plan and execute the implementation of SAP software.

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

Supply Chain Management (SCM) Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)

[ Business Solutions SAP Business Objects Suite (BOBJ) SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO) SAP Analytics SAP Apparel and Footwear Solution (AFS) SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW) SAP Business Intelligence (BI) SAP Catalog Content Management (CCM) SAP Enterprise Buyer Professional (EBP) SAP Enterprise Learning SAP Portal (EP) SAP Exchange Infrastructure (XI) (From release 7.0 onwards, SAP XI has been

renamed as SAP

Industry Solutions SAP for Retail (ISR)

Solutions for Small and Midsize Enterprises SAP Business One (6.2, 6.5, 2004, 2005, 7.x) SAP Business ByDesign [1] SAP Business All-in-One :

MySAP All-in-OneSAP All-in-One is SAP's business software for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). It is a version of SAP that includes a range of products like SAP Customer Relationship Management, SAP ERP, SAP Product Lifecycle Management, SAP Supply Chain Management, SAP Supplier Relationship Management, SAP Human Resources and SAP Financial Management.

CompetitorsSAP All-in-One competes with Microsoft Dynamics (which is replacing Microsoft Business Solutions), Oracle Corporation and SSA Global Technologies globally, and with a variety of national packages such as those sold by Sage in many countries around the world.Recently new competitors with online offerings have emerged in the marketplace. Companies such as NetSuite and Salesforce.com offers similar functionality in web based applications.

Platforms and frameworks SAP Enterprise Services Architecture SAP NetWeaver Platform

SAP NetWeaver Portal (formerly SAP Enterprise Portal) SAP NetWeaver BW (formerly SAP NetWeaver BI-To remove confusion, the

term BI is now associated only with the solutions from the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio.)

Legacy Platforms SAP R/2 SAP R/3

Others SAP CCMS , monitoring program SAPgui eCATT SAP Central Process Scheduling , process automation and job scheduler SAP Solution Manager

SAP and Enterprise Service-Oriented ArchitectureService-oriented architecture moves the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) landscape toward software-based and web services-based business activities. This move increases adaptability, flexibility, openness and efficiency. The move towards E-SOA helps companies reuse software components and not have to rely as much on in-house ERP hardware technologies which helps make ERP adoption more attractive for small- or mid-sized companies.According to a press fact sheet from SAP, "SAP is the only enterprise applications software vendor that is both building service-orientation directly into its solutions and providing a technology platform SAP NetWeaver and guidance to support companies in the development of their own service-oriented architectures spanning both SAP and non-SAP solutions." [20]

SAP E-SOA AuthenticationSAP E-SOA, client certificate-based authentication is the only authentication method (besides username/password) and the only Single Sign-On method to be supported across all SAP technologies. Kerberos and logon tickets, for example, are not compatible with SAP service-oriented architecture.

Competitive landscapeSAP competitors are primarily in the Enterprise Resource Planning Software industry. SAP also competes in the Customer Relationship Management, Marketing & Sales Software, Manufacturing, Warehousing & Industrial Software, and Supply Chain Management & Logistics Software sectors.[43]Oracle Corporation, SAP's major competitor, filed a case against SAP for malpractice and unfair competition in the California courts on 22 March 2007. The complaint alleged that a

Texas subsidiary, SAP TN (formerly TomorrowNow before being purchased by SAP), which provides discount support for legacy Oracle product lines, used the accounts of former Oracle customers to systematically download patches and support documents from Oracle's website and appropriate them for SAP's use. Later SAP admitted wrong-doing on smaller scale than Oracle claimed in the lawsuit.SAP has admitted to inappropriate downloads; however the company denies the theft of any intellectual property.SAP claims to grow organically in contrast to its main rival, Oracle, which has been spending US$20 billion since 2004 acquiring 30 smaller competitors. SAP was able to increase its annual profits by 370% since 2002.In something of a departure from its usual organic growth, on 7 October 2007, SAP announced that it would acquire Business Objects, the market leader in business intelligence software, for $6.8B.SAP provoked controversy and frustration among its users in 2008 by raising the cost of its maintenance contracts. The issue was the subject of intense discussion among user groupsThe resulting pressure saw SAP and SUGEN (SAP User Group Executive Network) agree to a major benchmarking exercise to prove the value of the new support pricing policy to customers. In December 2009, SAP delayed its Enterprise Support price rises until agreement had been reached on the benchmarks and KPIs In January 2010 SAP did a U-turn on Enterprise Support and reintroduced its standard support package for customers, saying the move was “a demonstration of its commitment to customer satisfaction”. The move to reinstate standard support – at 18 percent of annual license fees, “will enable all customers to choose the option that best meets their requirements,” the company said. SAP has also announced that it is freezing prices for existing SAP Enterprise Support contracts at 2009 levels

QAD Inc

Founded

Carpinteria, California (1979)

Headquarters : Santa Barbara, California 93108

Key people : Pamela Meyer Lopker (Chairman of the Board and President)Karl F. Lopker (CEO)Gordon Fleming (CMO)Murray Ray (Chief People Officer)Kara Bellamy (CAO)Daniel Lender (CFO)

Industry Computer software

Products ERP, QAD APM Medical, QAD Configurator, QAD Customer Releationship Management, QAD Customer Self Service, QAD Demand Management, QAD Enterprise Asset Management, QAD Field Service Scheduler, QAD JIT Sequencing, QAD Mobile Field Service, QAD Multi-Level Pegging, QAD Planner, QAD Production Scheduler, QAD QSYNC-CP, QAD Sales and Use Tax, QAD Trade Management, QAD Warehousing, QAD Business Intelligence

Employees1,400 (December 23, 2009)

Website www.qad.com

QAD provides Enterprise Resource Planning software to manufacturing companies around the world. QAD sells its products and services to companies in six main industries: automotive, consumer products, high technology, food and beverage, industrial equipment and life sciences. As of December 2009, QAD software was in use at 6,000 manufacturing sites in more than 90 countries.QAD's main product suite is called QAD Enterprise Applications (prior to 2007 the main suite name was MFG/PRO).

About QADQAD was founded 1979 to develop software for manufacturing companies. Early in the company’s evolution QAD embraced the emergence of open systems, which today form the foundation of most companies’ applications architecture. Over 60 percent of revenue is derived outside the United States.

History

QAD was originally formed in 1979 by Pam Lopker, who remains QAD's President and Chairman today. QAD initially developed bespoke software applications for companies in Southern California. In 1984 QAD launched its flagship product MFG/PRO. MFG/PRO was built using the Progress Software Corporation's Fourth Generation Language (4GL) and relational database. MFG/PRO was one of the first software applications built for manufacturers following the principles of the American Production & Inventory Control Society (APICS). MFG.PRO was also one of the first applications to support closed loop Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II), as well as operating in the newly emerging open systems arena.In 2004 QAD Support achieved the Help Desk Institute, Support Center Global Certification. (Help Desk Institute Website)In 2006 QAD launched its next generation user interface called .NET UI.In 2007 QAD renamed its core product suite from MFG/PRO to QAD Enterprise Applications. With the launch of QAD Enterprise Applications 2007 QAD pioneered hybrid deployment, with the ability to deploy the application either On Premise, On Appliance or On Demand.In 2008, QAD launched a significant enhancement to its core suite with the release of the Enterprise Edition of QAD Enterprise Applications.

Enterprise Edition of QAD Enterprise Applications.

QAD MFG/Pro (now QAD Enterprise Applications 2009 ) is a complete suite of products with functionality that addresses the needs of single-site and multinational organizations. QAD MFG/Pro Applications support shared services, cross-border trade, multi-site manufacturing and multi-entity accounting.

QAD MFG/Pro Applications are built on a deep, foundational understanding of manufacturing. Designed to streamline the management of manufacturing operations, supply chains, financials, customers, technology, and business performance, QAD solutions provide manufacturers easy access to the time-sensitive information they need to plan for the future as they continue to meet daily manufacturing targets.

Features--

ConsolidationThe Shared Services capability of QAD Enterprise Applications allows multi-entity consolidations and eliminations to be performed across multiple general ledgers. The sophisticated chart of account mapping capabilities allow for different charts of account to be consolidated, and full traceability to originating transactions can be maintained, which are critical for audit ability.Consolidation of the financial results of entities in different domains, with different base currencies and charts of account, can be achieved without the need to export and import the data. QAD's solutions support multiple or proportional consolidation and enable hierarchical reporting.

Multi CurrencyQAD Enterprise Applications support multiple currencies. Accounting transactions can be recorded in any currency and reported either in the transaction currency or converted to the operation's base currency at the prevailing exchange rate. Currency reporting options allow general ledger reporting to reflect the latest exchange rate. QAD Enterprise Applications enables companies to update and maintain exchange rates at any time. All capabilities for profit and loss on foreign exchange are accommodated within QAD General Ledger reporting. Support is provided for multiple bank accounts in separate currencies.Users can maintain and support a virtually unlimited number of currencies, and the application supports full currency dependent rounding to allow simultaneous support of different currencies. Multiple base currencies within a single database are supported by the Domain concept, and QAD General Ledger consolidation can accommodate operations running in different base currencies.

System Controls and Security

QAD has developed security and control functionality to meet strict security procedures — those required by internal corporate policies as well as mandated by governing bodies — such as the requirements of the SEC, IFRS, as well as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Part 11.

Define and enforce security policies on password management

Define the threshold of failed log-in attempts that will indicate a security violation Provide log-in access control and access restrictions to menu functions Control password complexity and aging with configurable parameters Allow administrators to force some or all users to change their password at next log-in Provide enhanced intrusion detection including the ability to record all or failed log-in

attempts Control password composition, frequency of change and rules for reuse Log all log-in events and lock accounts after a prescribed number of failed attempts Provide a flexible report for investigating log-in attempts Meet the requirements of 21 CFR Part 11

Multi-National Capabilities

QAD Enterprise Applications provide single-site companies and multinational organizations with a fully integrated enterprise solution that sets new standards for connectivity, functionality and ease-of-use. QAD Enterprise Applications operate factories and supply chains, manage and secure data, and provide corporate governance compliance at more than 5,500 sites in 90 countries.QAD Enterprise Applications are available in 27 languages and can handle an unlimited number of currencies. For both single-site manufacturers with customers and suppliers in many locations around the world, and global enterprises with factories and plants in dozens of countries, QAD can provide the solutions and support to operate multi-national businesses in the most efficient and profitable manner.MFG/PRO is an industry-leading manufacturing, financial, distribution and customer service management application from QAD. MFG/PRO is one of the world's top manufacturing and distribution packages.

PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft

Fate : Merger

Successor : Oracle Corporation

Founded : 1985

Defunct : 2005

Headquarters : Pleasanton, California, USA

Key people : David Duffield, Ken Morris

PeopleSoft, Inc. was a company that provided human resource management systems (HRMS) and customer relationship management (CRM) software, as well as software solutions for manufacturing, financials, enterprise performance management, and student administration to large corporations, governments, and organizations. It existed as an independent corporation until its acquisition by Oracle Corporation in 2005. The PeopleSoft name and product line are now marketed by Oracle.

History

Founded in 1987 by David Duffield and Ken Morris, PeopleSoft was originally headquartered in Walnut Creek, California before moving to Pleasanton, California. Duffield envisaged a client-server version of Integral Systems' popular mainframe HRMS package.The company's sole venture backing came from Norwest Venture Partners ("NVP") George J. Still, Jr. from NVP joined the Board of Directors.PeopleSoft version 1, released in the late 1980s, was the first fully-integrated, robust client-

server HRMS application suite.PeopleSoft expanded its product range to include a financials module in 1992, distribution in 1994, and manufacturing in 1996 after the acquisition of Red Pepper.

Product designApplicationsPeopleSoft's product suite was initially based on a client-server approach with a dedicated client. With the release of version 8, the entire suite moved to a web-centric design called Pure Internet Architecture (PIA). The new format allowed all of a company's business functions to be accessed and run on a web browser. Originally, a small number of security and system setup functions still needed to be performed on a fat client machine; however, this is no longer the case.

Development platformThe architecture is built around PeopleSoft’s proprietary PeopleTools technology. PeopleTools includes many different components used to create web-based applications: a scripting language known as PeopleCode, design tools to define various types of metadata, standard security structure, batch processing tools, and the ability to interface with an SQL database. The metadata describes data for user interfaces, tables, messages, security, navigation, portals, etc. This set of tools allows the PeopleSoft suite to be platform independent.

J.D. EdwardsIn 2003, PeopleSoft performed a friendly merger with smaller rival J.D. Edwards. The latter's similar product line, World and OneWorld, targeted mid-sized companies too small to benefit from PeopleSoft's applications. J.D. Edwards' software used the Configurable Network Architecture, which shielded applications from both the operating system and the database back-end.

Oracle Corporation

June 2003, Oracle made a $7 billion bid in a hostile corporate takeover attempt. In February 2004, Oracle increased their bid to approximately $9.4 billion, a 33% increase; this offer was also rejected forthwith by PeopleSoft's board of directors. Later that month, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit to block Oracle, on the grounds that the acquisition would break anti-trust laws. In September 2004, the suit was rejected by a U.S. Federal judge, who found that the Justice Department had not proven its anti-trust case. In October, the same decision was handed down by the European Commission. Though Oracle had reduced its offer to $7.7 billion in May, it again raised its bid in November to $9.4 billion, marking a 14% increase.In December 2004, Oracle announced that it had signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire PeopleSoft for approximately $10.3 billion. The following January, Oracle announced plans to cut approximately 9% of the 55,000 staff of the combined companies,

maintaining at least 90% of PeopleSoft's product development and support staff.[2]Oracle moved to capitalize on the perceived strong brand loyalty within the JD Edwards user community by rebranding former JD Edwards products. Thus PeopleSoft EnterpriseOne became JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and PeopleSoft World became JD Edwards World. Oracle has announced that a new product, Fusion, is to be released in the near future. Oracle says Fusion will take the best aspects of the PeopleSoft, JD Edwards and Oracle Applications

and merge them into a new product suite. PeopleSoft timeline 1988: PeopleSoft HRMS released. 1991: Begins opening international offices. 1994: Public distribution of Distribution and Financials modules. 1995: Launch of Student Administration System. 1996: Releases Manufacturing and PeopleSoft 6, their first ERP package. 1997: PeopleSoft 7 is released within upgraded ERP modules. 1997: Peoplesoft Inc is sued for $510 million by the state of Cleveland for fraud,

breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation. 1998: PeopleSoft 7.5 is released with improved client/server technology. Acquired

Intrepid Systems. 1999: Craig Conway named new CEO; release products to enable Internet

transactions. 2000: Acquired Vantive Corporation. 2000: Deliver PeopleSoft 8 with an in-house application service provider. 2003: Acquired J.D. Edwards 2004: Dave Duffield returns as CEO, replacing Craig Conway.[3] 2005: Acquired by Oracle Corporation. 2007: PeopleSoft FMS 9.0 is released. 2007: PeopleSoft HCM 9.0 is released.(December 2007) 2009: PeopleSoft HCM 9.1 is released.(October 2009) 2009: PeopleSoft FMS 9.1 is released.(November 2009

PEOPLE SOFT ERP

People Soft ERP is software that helps organizations to handle their H.R. functions easily. PeopleSoft ERP has helped companies in achieving path breaking practices and highly acclaimed professional way of managing human resources. Apart from all it has reduced costs and time take.

Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise applications are designed to address the most complex business requirements. They provide comprehensive business and industry solutions, enabling organizations to:

Increase Productivity Accelerate Business Performance Lower Cost of Ownership

PEOPLE CODE

PeopleCode is an (ool) object-oriented proprietary (case-insensitive) language used to express business logic for PeopleSoft applications. In its fundamentals, PeopleCode syntax resembles other programming languages. Some aspects of the PeopleCode language, however, are specifically related to the PeopleTools environment. However, the basic fundamentals of objects and classes are the same as in Java language. Definition name references, for example, enable you to refer to PeopleTools definitions, such as record definitions or pages, without using hard-coded string literals. Other language features, such as PeopleCode data types and metastrings, reflect the close interaction of PeopleTools and Structured Query Language (SQL). Dot notation, classes and methods in PeopleCode are similar to other object oriented languages, like Java.

Supported FunctionsPeopleCode supports the following types of functions:Built-in: The standard set of PeopleCode functions. These can be called without being declared.Internal: Functions that are defined (using the Function statement) within the PeopleCode program in which they are called.External PeopleCode: PeopleCode functions defined outside the calling program. These are generally contained in record definitions that serve as function libraries.External non-PeopleCode: Functions stored in external (C-callable) libraries.In addition, PeopleCode supports methods. The main differences between a built-in function and a method are:-A built-in function, in your code, is on a line by itself, and does not (generally) have any dependencies.-You do not have to instantiate an object before you can use the function.-A method can only be executed by an object (using dot notation).-You must instantiate the object first.

Executing SQL in PeopleCode Where a SQLExec(built-in function) only delivers a single row, using the SQL class

you can retrieve and process multiple rows. Instantiate a SQL object with the CreateSQL built-in function.

PeopleTools

PeopleTools is the proprietary software development environment that was created by the PeopleSoft Corporation. The PeopleTools consist of Application Designer, Application Engine, Data Mover, PeopleCode and various other developer tools.

Application DesignerThe Application designer is the core application used to create and customize PeopleSoft applications.

Current and Future releases

Since Oracle Corporation acquired PeopleSoft, Oracle has significantly increased its development of the PeopleSoft tools with Version 8.50 as the current "latest and greatest" version of PeopleTools.At Oracle's October 2006 trade show convention, Oracle stated that PeopleTools V8.49 has more man hours of development than any other version of PeopleTools ever released.

Issues revolving around People Soft and ERP

People soft continues be to the ERP software demanded highly in the market for H.R. operations. The collusion between people soft and oracle has given rise to many issues.

Some of them are as follows

ControversiesThe acquisition of People soft by Oracle has given rise to lots of controversies in the market. At one end customers are now convinced that they are able to make use of both facilities at an imaginable price. On the other hand it has sent shock waves to Oracle customers who are now questioning the ethics behind allowing People soft ERP customers to use the features and as well enjoy the benefits of oracle ERP software programs. They allege that the merger has brought more benefits to the later than the former. This is not to deny the additional facilities offered in PeopleSoft ERP solutions and Product Offerings.

Another challenging task lies for the personnel from people soft. They have to answer an important question. How is the product going to be projected in the market? Is it going to

have the tag of people soft or will it be sold under the banner of both or will it be a mix of the two. Another issue is that other big players in the market are also launching on a war footing to purchase the remaining applications in People soft. Infact some of them have already started to do them.

The customers of Oracle have to be convinced at any cost so that it does not reflect on the internal elements. This is imperative as a large number of them have expressed dissatisfaction either directly or indirectly. The company needs to exercise enough caution in seeing to that it does not snowball into a clamor which would otherwise defeat the purpose of this long tem plan. One possible alternative will be to charge people soft customers for using the services of Oracle. Now this will add to the agony of People soft customers. Oracle cannot afford to ignore by saying that their applications have been purchased and that they have no other choice. Some step should be taken to draw a line to make both ends meet. Whatsoever is the plan of action it will cost heavily on the company and they must be prepared to face them without any crunches.

It is not possible to sell the products under any other tag other than peoplesoftoracle. This will also clarify the answers to the earlier question but in a different angle. Oracle must develop core competencies by making use of the already purchased ERP applications so that they can solve all the three troubles not excluding facing the competitor and the acquisition of people soft products by business rivals. This is not a trivial task and the times will definitely get tougher for oracle in balancing these issues in a subtle manner.

Should companies change the way of doing businessThis is purely at the discretion of the company and the related factors (as usual). However companies first need to analyze their state of business before and after the people soft Oracle juggle. Companies need to have a look at the internal factors if they are convinced that the deal does not have any impact on them. On the other hand the companies should look at external factors if the deal is reported to have a considerable influence on them. If companies are able to analyze on this basis it will help them in deciding if they should go for a change or not. Such changes have to be made or rejected after considering the nuances of PeopleSoft ERP solutions and Product Offerings.

ORACLE'S stand

They are keen on purchasing the people soft customers in addition to the software. The efforts taken in this context are indeed laudable. They have been trying to impress on the fact that they are prepared to satisfy all the customers of People soft. This deserves appreciation because they have boldly taken up this step which no others will think twice before executing. The reason is that they care for all the customers irrespective of the size and volume of the business. PeopleSoft ERP solutions and Product Offerings are designed to meet these requirements.

Other alternatives

Companies that are currently using PeopleSoft ERP can customize their operations and make it Oracle friendly too. This would seem to be a good option for them when compared with the procedure of revamping the configuration and making way for the whole system to be under the influence of oracle. The former will require more manipulation and lesser monetary

investments. The later will require lots of money in addition to introducing changes in handling software and rewriting programs and source codes. Besides it is bound to consume lot of time and efforts. While both alternatives have their own merits and setbacks it is also important to understand that any choice made will reflect on the performance of the company. Hence they company should exercise maximum care in dealing with this

Oracle

Oracle’s acquisition of Peoplesoft has sparked a lot of controversy in the ERP marketplace in the early days. Some Oracle customers have felt that were getting the short end of the stick when the acquisition happened as Peoplesoft customers now had access to Oracles features and benefits that the former had paid dearly for prior to the collaboration. However, the dust seems to have settled and PeopleSoft continues to grow its market share in the HR enterprise resource planning sector.IIM Shillong will be the first centrally funded technical universities to complete and ERP implementation with Oracle and PeopleSoft. While they are not new to Universities and campuses across the globe with 800 implementations in campuses world wide, this is the first one in one of India’s centrally funded institutions. In today’s dynamic and ever changing environment, IIM Shillong has implemented the PeopleSoft solution to further its mission to raise the educational bar and standards in India by reducing expensive and time consuming manual processes, and providing the campus administrators, faculty and students access to real time information.The enterprise solutions will free up administrator and faculty resources to focus on delivering higher quality education by enabling students to better focus on the quality of their studies and learnings. The decision to implement the ERP technology will put the institution in the front of the technology adoption initiative that is a key initiative for the Indian Government in its higher education program for the country.Also known as Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, IIM Shillong has completed the integration and deployment of the world’s leading student enterprise management system and alumni management system for higher education. The institution has successfully deployed numerous modules from Oracle’s Peoplesoft suite of solutions specifically focused on higher education campuses and universities. Oracles has worked in partnership with Citagus India Private Ltd, a premier IT solutions and technology integration services firm specializing in large scale PeopleSoft applications.

Baan Market Analysis

INTRODUCTION:Baan is a software package that supports the concept of erp which in turn helps the company to organize and optimize its processes.finally to achieve better performance and profits.This package contains many modules like finance ,human resource ,manafacturing

Baan Corporation was created by Jan Baan in 1978 in Barneveld, Netherlands, to provide financial and administrative consulting services. With the development of his first software package, Jan Baan and his brother Paul Baan entered what was to become the ERP industry. The Baan company focused on the creation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.(Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a term usually used in conjunction with ERP software or an ERP system which is intended to manage all the information and functions of a business or company from shared data stores.)

It is a pure-breed client-server company whose products were available only in the Unix platform for many years. Today BaaN products run on multiple hardware and software

platforms. The focused development of BaaN has led to several technological strengths for BaaN products. Very few companies commit and deliver software products, whose code length decreases with the new release of their product. BaaN is definitely one of them. Their software is exceptionally strong in manufacturing. The software is much less complex, far easy to master, for less expensive to implement and permits a faster implementation. Another dimension of BaaN's innovation is their tool Dynamic Enterprise Modeler (DEM) which permits a model-based implementation of the BaaN IV product. BaaN can run under modest computing resources suiting the SME sector very well.

Jan Baan developed his first computer program on Durango F-85 computers in BASIC language. In the early '80s, Baan Company began to develop application on Unix computers with C and self-developed Baan-C language, which syntax was very similar to BASIC language[1].Baan gained its popularity in the early nineties. Baan software is famous for its Dynamic Enterprise Modeler (DEM), technical architecture and its 4GL language. Baan 4GL and Tools nowadays is still considered to be one of the most efficient and productive database application development platforms. Baan became a real threat to market leader SAP after winning a large Boeing deal in 1994. It went IPO in 1995 and became a public listed company in Amsterdam and US Nasdaq. Several large consulting firms throughout the world partnered to implement Baan IV for multi-national companies. It acquired several other software companies to enrich its product porfolio, including Aurum, Berclain, Coda and Caps Logistics. Sales growth rate was once claimed to reach 91% per year.

However the fall of the Baan Company began in 1998. The management exaggerated company revenue by booking "sales" of software licenses that were actually transferred to a related distributor. The discovery of this "creative" revenue manipulation led to a sharp decline of Baan's stock price at the end of 1998.

Like the other enterprise resource planning vendors, Baan was once a darling of Wall Street with a 70 percent yearly growth rate. But Baan and its competitors suffered in 1998 as demand of Erp software had declined. Baan posted a total 1998 net loss of $315 million or $1.59 per share.

But in 1998-Business software firm Baan today unveiled new Web-based procurement software, marking its official entry into the growing market of software that allows companies to communicate with suppliers over the Internet.

The market for procurement software is one that has attracted the attention of traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) software makers. Baan rivals Oracle and SAP have already entered the market with products of their own, treading turf formerly held solely by Ariba and CommerceOne.

The new software, first introduced in April as part of Baan's e-commerce application suite called E-Enterprise, enables businesses to delegate routine purchases within the company.

According to the company, the E-Procurement software can be easily installed alongside a firm's existing IT system, as it is based on Microsoft's distributed internetwork applications (DNA) architecture, which helps build and link information systems based on Microsoft

operating systems and products.-

In June 2000, facing worsening financial difficulties, law suits and reporting seven consecutive quarterly losses and bleak prospects, Baan was sold at a price of US$700 million to Invensys,[3] a UK automation, controls, and process solutions group to become a unit of its Software and Services Division.

In June 2003, after Allen Yurko stepped down, Invensys sold its Baan unit to SSA Global Technologies for US$ 135 million.

Upon acquiring the Baan software, SSA renamed Baan as SSA ERP Ln. In August 2005, SSA Global released a new version of Baan, named SSA ERP LN 6.1. In May 2006, SSA was acquired by Infor Global Solutions of Atlanta, which was a major ERP consolidator in the market.

Today Baan ERP software is still used by thousands of mid-range companies in the world, the majority on version BaanIVc4 and ERP LN.

Baan'sServer Platform:

Windows Server, Linux, IBM AIX, Sun Solaris,HP Unix, AS400(Obsolete),OS390 (Obsolete)

Database:

Oracle, DB2, Informix, MS SQL Server, MySQL (version 6.1 only), Bisam (Obsolete)[edit] Standard Modules

What are the special features of BaaN?

BaaN Company is driven by innovation. It is a pure-breed client-server company whose products were available only in the Unix platform for many years. Today BaaN products run on multiple hardware and software platforms. The focused development of BaaN has led to several technological strengths for BaaN products. Very few companies commit and deliver software products, whose code length decreases with the new release of their product. BaaN is definitely one of them. Their software is exceptionally strong in manufacturing. The software is much less complex, far easy to master, for less expensive to implement and permits a faster implementation. Another dimension of BaaN's innovation is their tool Dynamic Enterprise Modeler (DEM) which permits a model-based implementation of the BaaN IV product. BaaN can run under modest computing resources suiting the SME sector very well. The recent announcements from BaaN about the use of component based software engineering tools (using Microsoft DCOM technology), tight integration with Microsoft

BackOffice, component based licensing through its innovative BaaN Series product scheme etc show great promise.

Competitiors:

This includes SAP with their flagship product R/3, Oracle with their Oracle Applications and the world-class ERP Product Marshall from the rising Indian star Ramco Systems. The other major player in the global ERP Market, namely, PeopleSoft has entered the Indian market only very recently. Yet another leading product MFG/ PRO from QAD has been present for a while (the two customers Hindustan Lever & Godrej have been using it for over two years). SAP has been exceptionally successful in India with nearly two-thirds of the Indian market share. The major industrial houses Tata, Reliance, Essar, Mahindra & Kirloskar have embraced SAP. BaaN has been very successful in major manufacturing companies such as TVS. Oracle has been a playing a dominant role in the telecom centre with a stronghold among all cellular phone companies. Ramco Marshall has a good client base among the process industry in the south and a few public sector undertakings.

Conclusion

This paper describes the Baan Company as a visionary company, and discusses in particular the timeless aspects. Baan's immutable values, principles, and preconditions relate to the work ethic, stewardship, pioneering, the industrial approach, entering into strategic cooperative relationships, client-orientation, an open, informal organisation and serving leadership. Stability in this area has allowed Baan to be a great innovator in other areas.

ORACLE

Oracle Corporation was Founded in California, USA (1977)Founder(s) Larry Ellison Headquarters Redwood City, California,United States Area served Worldwide Key peopleLarry Ellison (CEO)Jeffrey O. Henley (Chairman)Safra A. Catz (President)Charles Phillips (President) Industry Computer softwareComputer database Products Oracle DatabaseOracle Fusion MiddlewareOracle ApplicationsOracle Enterprise ManagerOracle Financials Revenue ▲ US$ 23.252 billion (2009)[ Website Oracle.com

Oracle CorporationOracle Corporation is a multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing enterprise software products — particularly database management systems. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, United States, Oracle employs more than 101,950 people worldwide as of 2009[update]. It has enlarged its share of the software market through organic growth and through a number of high-profile acquisitions. By 2007 Oracle had the third-largest software revenue, after Microsoft and IBM.The corporation has arguably become best-known due to association with its flagship product, the Oracle Database. The company also builds tools for database development and systems of middle-tier software, enterprise resource planning software (ERP), customer relationship management software (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) software.As of 2010 Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle Corporation, has served as Oracle's CEO throughout its history. Ellison also served as the Chairman of the Board until his replacement by Jeffrey O. Henley in 2004. Ellison retains his role as CEO.

HistoryEllison took inspiration from the 1970 paper written by Edgar F. Codd on relational database management systems (RDBMS) named "A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks". He had heard about the IBM System R database from an article in the IBM Research Journal provided by Ed Oates (a future co-founder of Oracle Corporation). System R also derived from Codd's theories, and Ellison wanted to make his Oracle product compatible with System R, but IBM stopped this by keeping the error codes for their DBMS secret. Ellison co-founded Oracle Corporation in 1977 under the name Software Development Laboratories (SDL). In 1979 SDL changed its name to Relational Software, Inc. (RSI). In 1982, RSI renamed itself as Oracle Systems to align itself more closely with its flagship product Oracle Database. At this stage Robert Miner served as the company's senior programmer.

[Overall timeline June 16, 1977: Oracle Corporation incorporated in Redwood Shores, California as

Software Development Laboratories (SDL) by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.

December 13, 2004: After a long battle over the control of PeopleSoft, Oracle announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire PeopleSoft for $26.50 per share (approximately $10.3 billion).

April 20, 2009: Oracle announces its intention to acquire Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion ($9.50 per share)

January 27, 2010: Oracle acquires Sun Microsystems Technology timeline

1979: offers the first commercial SQL RDBMS 1983: offers a VAX-mode database 1984: offers the first database with read-consistency 1986: offers a client-server DBMS 1987: introduces UNIX-based Oracle applications 1988: introduces PL/SQL 1992: offers full applications implementation methodology 1995: offers the first 64-bit RDBMS 1996: moves towards an open standards-based, web-enabled architecture 1999: offers its first DBMS with XML support 2001: becomes the first to complete 3 terabyte TPC-H world record 2002: offers the first database to pass 15 industry standard security evaluations 2003: introduces what it calls "Enterprise Grid Computing" with Oracle10g 2005: releases its first free database, Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (XE) 2008: smart scans in software improve query-response in HP Oracle Database

Machine / Exadata storage

Application productsBesides databases, Oracle also sells a suite of business applications. The Oracle E-Business Suite includes software to perform financial- (Oracle Financials), manufacturing-, enterprise resource planning and HR- (Human Resource Management Systems) -related functions (Oracle HR). Users can access these facilities through a browser interface over the Internet or via a corporate intranet.Following a number of high-value acquisitions beginning in 2003, especially in the area of applications, Oracle Corporation currently[update] maintains a number of product lines

Oracle E-Business SuiteWithin the overall rubric of Oracle Applications, Oracle Corporation's E-Business Suite ("EB-Suite" or "EBS") consists of a collection of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and supply-chain management (SCM) computer applications either developed by or acquired by Oracle. The software utilizes Oracle's core Oracle relational database management system technology. The E-Business Suite (current version: 12.1)contains several product lines, including:

Oracle CRM (Siebel) enterprise resourse planning Oracle Financials (Siebel Analytics) Oracle HRMS (PeopleSoft) * Oracle Mobile Supply chain Applications Oracle Order Management Oracle Project Portfolio Management Oracle Quotes Oracle Transportation Management Oracle Warehouse Management Systems

Each product comprises several modules, each separately licensed.

Significant technologies incorporated into the applications include the Oracle database technologies, (engines for RDBMS, PL/SQL, Java, .NET, HTML and XML), the "technology stack" (Oracle Forms Server, Oracle Reports Server, Apache Web Server, Oracle Discoverer, Jinitiator and Sun's Java).

Enterprise resource planning

Financial Management Human Capital Management Project Portfolio Management

Procurement Oracle Advanced Procurement

Oracle Sourcing Product Life-cycle Management Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Planning Logistics & Transportation Management Order Management Price Management

Manufacturing

Oracle AccelerateOracle Corporation launched a set of applications for mid-size businesses in 2007 called Oracle Accelerate. Accelerate provides access to Oracle's ERP products through a local partner-network and packages the products to meet vertical industry requirements.

WHY ORACLEOracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise performance management enables organizations to achieve world-class performance by aligning the right information and resources to strategic objectives. PeopleSoft Enterprise performance management offers performance management solutions for every budget and every phase of the management cycle, helping managers formulate strategies for profitable growth, align strategies with operational plans, and actively monitor day-to-day operations.

Reduce month-end close from weeks to days to achieve best-in-class status against industry standards

Consolidate the financials from thousands of groups worldwide and report the numbers to Wall Street

Consolidate direct and indirect spend from PeopleSoft, legacy, and SAP systems to save millions of dollars

Capture millions of customer instruments monthly for profitability and risk analysis

MarketingSales practicesIn 1990 Oracle laid off 10% (about 400 people) of its work force because of a mismatch between cash and revenues. This crisis, which almost resulted in Oracle's bankruptcy[ came about because of Oracle's "up-front" marketing strategy, in which sales people urged potential customers to buy the largest possible amount of software all at once. The sales people then booked the value of future license sales in the current quarter, thereby increasing their bonuses. This became a problem when the future sales subsequently failed to materialize. Oracle eventually had to restate its earnings twice, and also settled (out of court) class-action lawsuits arising from its having overstated its earnings. Ellison stated in 1992 that Oracle had made "an incredible business mistake".

CompetitionAlthough IBM dominated the mainframe relational-database market with its DB2 and SQL/DS database products, it delayed entering the market for a relational database on UNIX and Windows operating systems. This left the door open for Sybase, Oracle, and Informix (and eventually Microsoft) to dominate mid-range and microcomputers.Around this time Oracle technology started to lag technically behind that of Sybase.In 1990–1993 Sybase became the fastest-growing database company and the database industry's darling vendor but soon fell victim to its merger mania and to technical issues with System X.[ Sybase's 1993 merger with PowerSoft resulted in its losing its focus on its core database technology. In 1993, Sybase sold the rights to its database software running under the Windows operating system to Microsoft Corporation, which now markets it under the name "SQL Server."In 1994 Informix Software overtook Sybase and became Oracle's most important rival. The intense war between Informix CEO Phil White and Ellison made front-page news in Silicon Valley for three years. Ultimately, Oracle defeated Informix in 1997. In November 2005 a book detailing the war between Oracle and Informix appeared,providing a detailed chronology of the battle of Informix against Oracle, and how Informix Software's CEO Phil White landed in jail because of his obsession with overtaking Ellison.Once it had overcome Informix and Sybase, Oracle Corporation enjoyed years of dominance

in the database market until use of Microsoft SQL Server became widespread in the late 1990s and IBM acquired Informix Software in 2000 (to complement its DB2 database). Today[update] Oracle competes for new database licenses on UNIX, Linux, and Windows operating systems primarily against IBM's DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server (which only runs on Windows). IBM's DB2 still dominates the mainframe database market.In 2004 Oracle's sales grew at a rate of 14.5% to $6.2 billion, giving it 41.3% and the top share of the relational-database market (InformationWeek - March, 2005), with market share estimated at up to 44.6% in 2005 by some sources. Oracle Corporation's main competitors in the database arena remain IBM DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server, and to a lesser extent Sybase and Teradata , with open-source databases such as PostgreSQL and MySQL also having a significant share of the market. EnterpriseDB, based on PostgreSQL, has recentlymade inroads by proclaiming that its product delivers Oracle compatibility features at a much lower price-point.In the software-applications market, Oracle Corporation primarily competes against SAP. On March 22, 2007 Oracle sued SAP, accusing them of fraud and unfair competition.Due to the expanding market for business-intelligence software, many other software companies — small and large — have successfully competed in quality with Oracle and SAP products. Some commentators expect that more products and business intelligence services will appear within the next 10 years

Oracle and SAPFrom 1988 Oracle Corporation and the German company SAP AG had a decade-long history of cooperation, beginning with the integration of SAP's R/3 enterprise application suite with Oracle's relational database products. The marketplace regarded the two firms' products as complementing one another, rather than as substitutes. Despite the current SAP partnership with Microsoft, and the increasing integration of SAP applications with Microsoft products (such as Microsoft SQL Server, a competitor to Oracle Database), Oracle and SAP continue their cooperation. According to Oracle Corporation, the majority of SAP's customers use Oracle databases.In recent years, however, competition between Oracle and SAP has increased, and as a result, the rivalry between the two companies has grown, even developing into a feud between the co-founders of the two companies, where one party would frequently voice strong negative comments about the other company.In 2004 Oracle began to increase its interest in the enterprise-applications market (in 1989, Oracle had already released Oracle Financials). A series of acquisitions by Oracle Corporation began, most notably those of PeopleSoft, Siebel and Hyperion.SAP recognized that Oracle had started to become a competitor in a market where SAP had the leadership, and saw an opportunity to lure in customers from those companies that Oracle Corporation had acquired. SAP would offer those customers special discounts on the licenses for its enterprise applications.Oracle Corporation would resort to a similar strategy, by advising SAP customers to get "OFF SAP" (a play on the words of the acronym for its middleware platform "Oracle Fusion for SAP"),and also by providing special discounts on licenses and services to SAP customers who chose Oracle Corporation products.CurrentlyOracle and SAP also compete in the third-party enterprise-software maintenance and support market (the latter through its recently acquired subsidiary TomorrowNow). On March 22, 2007, Oracle filed a suit against SAP. The complaint alleged that TomorrowNow, which provides discount support for legacy Oracle product lines, used the accounts of former Oracle customers to systematically download patches and support documents from Oracle's

website and to appropriate them for SAP's use. Some analysts have suggested the suit could form part of a strategy by Oracle Corporation to decrease competition with SAP in the market for third-party enterprise software maintenance and supportOn July 3, 2007, SAP admitted that TomorrowNow employees had made "inappropriate downloads" from the Oracle support web site. However, it claims that SAP personnel and SAP customers had no access to Oracle intellectual property via TomorrowNow. SAP's CEO

MARKET ANALYSIS

QAD Inc.(NasdaqGS: QADI)

After Hours: 5.2828 -0.02 (-0.32%) 4:05pm ET

Last Trade: 5.30 Trade Time: Mar 12 Change: 0.21 (3.72%) Prev Close: 5.51 Open: 5.20 Bid: 4.80 x 300 Ask: 5.61 x 300 1y Target Est: 12.00 Day's Range: 5.19 - 5.40 52wk Range: 2.30 - 6.72 Volume: 42,971 Avg Vol (3m): 43,804.9 Market Cap: 165.58M

P/E (ttm): N/A

SAP AG ADS(NYSE: SAP)

After Hours: 46.0541 0.00 (0.01%) 4:12pm ET

Last Trade: 46.05 Trade Time: Mar 12 Change: 0.10 (0.22%) Prev Close: 45.95 Open: 46.13 Bid: N/A Ask: N/A 1y Target Est: 46.18 Day's Range: 45.84 - 46.25 52wk Range: 33.02 - 52.73 Volume: 1,113,125 Avg Vol (3m): 2,312,110 Market Cap: 54.75B P/E (ttm): N/A EPS (ttm): N/A Div & Yield: 0.50 (1.10%)

Oracle Corporation(NasdaqGS: ORCL)After Hours: 25.05 0.00 (0.00%) 6:07pm ET

Last Trade: 25.05 Trade Time: Mar 12 Change: 0.09 (0.36%) Prev Close: 25.14 Open: 25.12 Bid: 25.02 x 400 Ask: 25.17 x 300 1y Target Est: 28.68 Day's Range: 24.73 - 25.19 52wk Range: 14.65 - 25.64 Volume: 35,344,747 Avg Vol (3m): 28,897,300 Market Cap: 125.53B P/E (ttm): 21.82

EPS (ttm): 1.15 Div & Yield: 0.20 (0.80%)