All,

Anybody involved with SAP might find this a worthwhile read.


Josh
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http://www.cnnfn.com/1999/12/07/europe/sap_ibm/
http://www.cnnfn.com/1999/12/07/europe/sap_ibm/

NEW YORK (CNNfn) - IBM staged a coup Tuesday when
leading German software firm SAP chose the company to
replace Oracle Corp. as its primary provider of
database software.

Under the agreement, IBM's DB2 database software take
over Oracle`s (ORCL) slot as the primary database on
IBM (IBM), Sun and Linux platforms within SAP. Although
SAP will continue to use Oracle databases, Tuesday's
announcement means SAP will cooperate with IBM to
enable its future software to work best with DB2.

As part of the deal, SAP, Europe's largest software
provider, will sell its mySAP.com Internet-business
software with IBM's DB2 database technology.

The move represents a blow to Oracle, which had been
SAP's preferred database supplier.

Meanwhile, the agreement gives SAP an alternative to
Oracle, which competes with SAP in the market for
enterprise resource planning software, which helps big
companies manage their operations.

No value for the agreement was given, although the Wall
Street Journal estimated Tuesday that IBM could gain
$400 million in annual revenue from the deal. IBM
posted sales of more than $81 billion in 1998.

IBM shares rose 1-11/16 to 117-11/16 in afternoon
trade. Oracle shares slipped 1 to 77-7/16.


--
Joshua S. Bassi
Joshua S. Bassi
Senior Technical Consultant
Symatrix Technology, Inc.
Tivoli Certified Consultant - ADSM V3
IBM Certified Specialist- AIX Support
jbassi AT gloryworks DOT com
(503) 702-3371