Special Report: Oracle vs. SAP

The SAP vs. Oracle battle for business applications supremacy is raging on -- who will come out on top, Oracle or SAP? All this month, SearchOracle.com will examine this controversy from all sides. We'll be bringing you new articles and analysis, as well as providing one easy resource of related content from our archives.

• NEW In SAP vs. Oracle war, promise of Fusion puts Oracle strategy on top, report says: SAP and Oracle swap spots in this year's Forrester strategy report, because while Oracle pushes on with Fusion, SAP continues to push customers onto a two-year-old ERP release.
• Oracle vs. SAP: Top five headlines : Get up to date on Oracle's longtime battle with its biggest rival, enterprise resource planning giant SAP AG.
• Oracle takes on SAP with new GRC suite: Oracle's new GRC suite should help the database and business apps giant level the playing field with SAP, according to one expert.
• Podcast: Oracle vs. SAP -- SOA and Web services security : Oracle and SAP have been slowly getting their customers to build a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and adopt Web services practices. In this podcast, Jason Bloomberg, an analyst with Web services analysis firm ZapThink, gives an overview of the security issues that are unique in an SOA environment.
• Oracle vs. SAP: The new battlegrounds: IT industry experts predict where the coming battles between Oracle and SAP will be fought and rate the success of Oracle's acquisition spree thus far.
• Iron Age Shoes gives the boot to Microsoft and SAP: When Iron Age Shoes execs wanted to gain more insights into business processes, they chose the Oracle E-Business Suite over competing products from Microsoft and SAP.
  
• Report finds SAP winning war with Oracle: A new report from Forrester Research finds that SAP has the edge in its longstanding battle with Oracle.
  
• SAP, Oracle playing catch-up with BPM technologies: Large software vendors are 12 to 18 months away from catching up to the established pure-play business process management vendors, according to an analyst with Gartner Inc.
  
• Expert predicts new front in Oracle-SAP battle: Forrester Research analyst Ray Wang sizes up the past, present and future of Oracle and SAP's fight for business applications dominance.
  
• Face-off: SAP vs. Oracle: The SAP/Oracle battle for supremacy in the business applications market is as fierce as ever. Who will emerge victorious? Who should? In this face-off article, two prominent experts from both sides of the fence make their respective cases.
  
• SAP vs. Oracle: Users speak out: As the battle for business applications supremacy heats up, Oracle users are standing by Larry Ellison and Fusion while SAP customers say NetWeaver will lead the way to victory.
  
• SAP vs. Oracle: Round two: We recently asked two prominent experts to argue their respective cases for SAP vs. Oracle. These follow-up columns are their official rebuttals of each other's arguments.
  

• Oracle further unwraps Fusion, nips at SAP: Oracle Corp. executives said the company is at the halfway point in building a services-enabled Fusion Application suite as the battle of words between Oracle and SAP continues.
  
• Can Oracle be unseated as a top SAP database?: SAP would love to change the fact that the Oracle database is highly used among its customers, explains Joshua Greenbaum, principal analyst at Enterprise Applications Consulting.
  
• Words of welcome from SAP's hosted competition: As SAP jumps into the on-demand CRM market, established vendors have some interesting things to say.
  
• Is Ingres a viable alternative to Oracle for SAP users?: Database pros responding to a column express serious reservations about one venture capitalist's plan to market open source Ingres to SAP users.
  
• SAP, Oracle make public services push: Many municipalities are seeking to standardize their IT systems to run more efficiently. In response, Oracle and SAP are entering bidding wars to get license wins.
  
• SAP set to launch hosted CRM: SAP plans to enter the hosted CRM market in 2006 and will make an announcement to that effect as early as February, according to remarks from CEO Henning Kagermann.
  
• Microsoft's strong midmarket channel thwarts Oracle, SAP: As Oracle and SAP aim for more small and midsized businesses, they are encountering a strong and complicated Microsoft channel partner network.
  
• SAP's new ad blitz takes aim at Oracle: Hoping to improve brand recognition in the U.S., SAP launched a major advertising campaign, with a TV ad that aims at Oracle's newly acquired J.D. Edwards and PeopleSoft customers.
  
• SAP protest of Oracle contract called standard procedure: SAP is protesting an $88.5 million contract awarded to Oracle Corp., to install a combat support system for the U.S. Air Force. The protest delays Oracle's revenue gains.
  
• SAP launches midmarket push against Microsoft, Oracle: SAP is aiming at the midmarket with new versions of its preconfigured best practices software. Challenges exist as Microsoft is gaining the most momentum, according to analysts.
  
• SAP trumps Oracle in march to SOA: SAP is several steps ahead of rival Oracle Corp., as it makes its business software services based by 2007, according to a report by Forrester Research Inc.
  
• Oracle's Phillips swings at SAP: Oracle president Charles E. Phillips Jr. sharply criticized SAP, and touted his company's ability to deliver a complete infrastructure and application package.
  
• Oracle's OFF SAP program shows early results: It's only been a month, but already Oracle is touting its OFF SAP program as a growing pipeline of success.
  

• Oracle takes integrated approach with G-Log buy: Oracle bought G-Log to address a growing demand for logistics software integration, but the firm still trails rival SAP and other transportation software makers, analysts said.
  
• Siebel's reign ends as shareholders approve acquisition: Siebel's shareholders approved Oracle's acquisition of their company, further shrinking the number of enterprise CRM vendors and setting up a battle between SAP and Oracle.
  
• Oracle adds pieces to retail suite: Oracle acquired two software vendors in recent weeks to bolster its retail-specific software suite against rival SAP. Meanwhile, SAP hangs its hat on two retail customer wins.
  
• Column: Oracle vs. SAP: The Siebel Factor: The sudden uptick in big deals reported by Siebel made Oracle look good, but it's unlikely a Siebel acquisition will alter the competition between SAP and Oracle.
  
• Oracle acquisition highlights data management wars: The Oracle-Siebel combo not only gives Oracle access to Siebel's customers, but also its infrastructure, improving Oracle's standing in the battle against SAP and IBM.
  

• Nortel to dump Oracle, solve fiscal woes using SAP: Nortel Networks is implementing SAP's master data management. But SAP MDM lacks functionality, and customers need third-party tools to meet typical MDM requirements, an analyst says.
  
• Pennsylvania firm chooses Oracle over SAP: An evaluation team at York, Pa.-based York Water Company chose Oracle over SAP, citing cost as a major factor in the decision.