Enterprise headlines and summaries, 2010-08-06

All caught up! Enterprise news headlines from the first week in August.

• #Google ordered to defend against age bias lawsuit
  The issue for the Supreme Court was whether to apply in California employment bias cases a federal court doctrine under which courts ignore "stray remarks" by non-decisionmaking co-workers or by supervisors outside the decisional process.
• #SAP accepts #TomorrowNow liability, says #Oracle damages inflated
  SAP wants to put this trial to bed, pay Oracle “legally available damages” and move on.
• #ORACLE USA, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. SAP AG, et al., Defendants.
  Plaintiffs leap from that contention to billions in
  damages based on an alleged sinister plot by SAP.
  As always, the truth is less exciting than the pleadings.
• #NetSuite Announces Record Second Quarter 2010 Financial Results and Raises Outlook for Fiscal Year 2010
  GAAP operating loss for the second quarter of 2010 was $7.0 million, compared to a GAAP operating loss of $5.0 million in the second quarter of 2009. On a GAAP basis, net loss for the second quarter of 2010 was $7.2 million, or $(0.11) per share, as compared to a net loss of $5.0 million, or $(0.08) per share in the second quarter of 2009.
• #NetSuite 2Q Loss Widens Even As Sales Rise 17%
  The on-demand business software provider said revenue for the period ended in June rose 17% to $47.1 million.
• #Microsoft, #Salesforce.com Conflict Suggests Future #Cloud Battles
  The dustup between Microsoft and Salesforce may be a portent of things to come, as the vendors work out their battles over who-owns-what and who moves ahead."
• #Oracle's fine could top $1 billion
  Citing the opinion of several legal experts not representing any party in the dispute, Bloomberg reported that fines in the case could reach $1 billion if damages are tripled, a penalty that can be imposed by the court in this type of case.
• Larry Ellison, George Lucas Join Billionaires in Following Buffett-Gates Charity Pledge
  So why am I going public now? Warren Buffett personally asked me to write this letter because he said I would be 'setting an example' and 'influencing others' to give," Mr. Ellison wrote. "I hope he's right."
• The Giving Pledge
  Many years ago, I put virtually all of my assets into a trust with the intent of giving away at least 95% of my wealth to charitable causes. I have already given hundreds of millions of dollars to medical research and education, and I will give billions more over time. Until now, I have done this giving quietly – because I have long believed that charitable giving is a personal and private matter. So why am I going public now? Warren Buffett personally asked me to write this letter because he said I would be “setting an example” and “influencing others” to give. I hope he’s right.
  
  Larry Ellison
• Best of Breed vs. Suite in the #SaaS Era
  The overarching need for a business "truth" pushed us to a single suite solution that was capable of tying all master business data and processes together.
• #Microsoft, #Salesforce.com settle patent dispute
  Microsoft said Salesforce.com will pay it an unspecified amount. Each company will receive a license to the other's patents, Microsoft said in a statement. Cloud-computing software is delivered over the Internet from a third party rather than hosted on a company's servers.
• #Microsoft and #Salesforce.com Settle Patent Infringement Cases, Reach Patent Agreement
  Microsoft indicated that it is being compensated by Salesforce.com based on the strength of Microsoft’s leading patent portfolio in the areas of operating systems, cloud services and customer relationship management software.
• #Microsoft strikes #Salesforce patent payola
  Microsoft has slyly said that while the contents of the companies' agreement have not been disclosed, Salesforce is paying Microsoft.
  
  Amid the familiar and non-committal language of settlement, Microsoft slipped into the third person saying:
  
  Microsoft indicated that it is being compensated by Salesforce.com based on the strength of Microsoft's leading patent portfolio in the areas of operating systems, cloud services and customer relationship management software.
• Developers Respond to #Microsoft's LightSwitch Launch
  He said the product is aimed squarely at in-house IT application developers who are struggling with varied tools like Office, Access and Visual Studio, and need to manage the complexity of working with multiple data sources and offline/online scenarios.
• Frustrated #Microsoft calls #Google Apps today's 'New Coke'
  The online Office alternatives suck, in Redmond's mind.
• FTC, #Intel announce antitrust settlement
  While admitting no wrongdoing, Intel has agreed to a range of concessions that bar it from practices such as undertaking actions aimed solely at hurting competitors to utilizing incentives and penalties to persuade computer manufacturers to choose Intel processors over the competition.
  
  The FTC said Intel's conduct extended beyond CPUs, the so-called brains of most computers, to graphics chips, another key battleground. Intel owns about 80 percent of the CPU market and has about half of the market for graphics chips. The remedies, therefore, were more substantial than previous cases, said the FTC.
• #Intel and U.S. Federal Trade Commission Reach Tentative Settlement
  FTC sued Intel alleging Intel had violated Section 5 of the FTC Act. The settlement agreement expressly states that Intel does not admit either any violation of law or that the facts alleged in the complaint are true. The agreement approved today by the Commission is subject to a 30 day public comment period and final approval by the Commission.
• In the Matter of #Intel Corporation, Respondent. Docket No 9341
  This Consent Agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by Respondent that the law has been violated as alleged in the Complaint, or that the facts as alleged in the Complaint, other than jurisdictional facts, are true.
• #StepStone Acquires #MrTed
  StepStone signed a binding agreement to acquire privately-owned e-recruitment software provider MrTed. MrTed, based in France, has approximately 100 customers, primarily from Global 2000 customers. The acquisition signals continued consolidation the talent acquisition market and the impact technology and pure software-as-a-service (SaaS) plays as vendors look to grow and scale their businesses.
• #StepStone Solutions Acquires #MrTed — Who’s Next
  It wasn’t the first, and this is by no means the last consolidation we’re going to see in the HCM software/services market. I expect to hear (and not because of any direct knowledge or involvement with them in this area) that Salary.com’s substantial embedded intelligence and quite good talent management applications have found a new home, probably separate from their old Genesys-based, latest possible adopter business. We’re all waiting to hear what Mr. Icahn has in mind for Lawson. TriNet has hired a corporate development executive out of their PE firm, General Atlantic, whom we can guess will be on the lookout, among other possibilities, for roll-up opportunities among the PEOs. And I think that Sonar6 would make an attractive acquisition
• #StepStone Solutions agrees to acquire #MrTed - expands global footprint, extends product set and strengthens true SaaS capability
  Over 100 customers use the MrTedTalentLink product to recruit staff across 100 countries and over 90% of MrTed’s current revenues come from ‘Global 500’ businesses, including large Recruitment Process Outsourcers (RPOs). The acquisition accelerates StepStone Solutions’ global growth, extends its product set and strengthens its SaaS capability. For more information see www.stepstonesolutions.com and www.mrted.com.
• #SAP Releases New Version of SAP® Business ByDesign
  # Customer relationship management (CRM) starter package - The CRM starter package provides customers with best business practices for sales force automation (SFA), enabling them to efficiently generate leads, manage all stages of the sales process and close deals, while laying the foundation to expand to the entire order-to-cash process. The CRM starter package can be implemented in approximately three weeks at a fixed implementation price of $13,500 (EUR 9,900) and a special subscription price of $89 (EUR 79) per user.
  # Enterprise resource planning (ERP) starter package - The ERP starter package provides customers that have outgrown accounting-only systems with the integrated financials, accounting and analytics capabilities needed to manage the next stage of growth.. The package can be implemented in approximately six weeks or less and is available at a fixed implementation price of $37,500 (EUR 24,900) and the usual subscription price of $149 (EUR 133) per user.
  # Professional ser
• Gartner: CIOs Should Plan for Recession No. 2
  CIOs should develop a list of IT projects that could be postponed or canceled -- if there's a second recession in the next 12 to 18 months.
• Interview with #SAP co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe
  Not everybody needs cloud computing.
• #SAP Co CEOs in an exclusive CNBC interview July 30
  Patricia Szarvas from the Frankfurt CNBC office conducted an exclusive interview with our Co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe. Contentwise it is about leadership and the overall strategy of SAP.
• #HP, #Dell to resell #Oracle #Solaris OS; #IBM out
  HP’s hidden message: Customers would change if they could.
  
  We can’t wait to hear what IBM has to say when the Solaris shoe drops.
• #Oracle Buys Intellectual Property Assets of #Tacit Software
  Oracle has also hired all of the software engineers from Tacit Software.
  
  “The addition of Tacit Software’s technology to Oracle Beehive underscores our commitment to a strong, differentiated presence in the collaboration software industry,” said Terry Olkin, Chief Architect and Vice President, Oracle Collaboration Technologies. “This ability enables coordination and collaboration to occur between the right people at the right time based on the information present in the documents, conversations and messages within the enterprise.”
• #Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g adds 3000 new features
  OFM 11g has more than 2900 new features, which is four times as compared to other releases. This is one of the basic differentiator of OFM 11g from the rest.
  
  In addition, it has the highest quality and automated upgrade with 13 million hours of automated testing and 376 customers in the largest beta ever during its global launch in June 2009. It will allow customers to dramatically simplify the process of incorporating security into their applications.
• Latest Release of #Oracle Enterprise Pack for #Eclipse 11g Accelerates #Java Development
  Support for Eclipse 3.6 – allows users to develop on the latest Eclipse platform and leverage new Java EE 6 tools including JSF 2.0 tools, which simplify project configuration and support XHTML editing, facelets, and composite component development; support for other new Java EE 6 standards like Servlet 3.0, EJB 3.1, and JPA 2.0.
  Oracle Coherence tools – enable Eclipse users to develop, run, and debug against Oracle Coherence. Tools include Oracle Coherence launch configurations, which help streamline debugging and deployment to Oracle Coherence from within Eclipse; Oracle Coherence project facet, to enable project and library configuration; Oracle Coherence override descriptor editor with wizards, validation and integrated help for the Coherence Override configuration file.
  WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) features – bring new Oracle WebLogic Server administration support to Eclipse with:
  Jython/Python IDE for WLST, based on PyDev – provides full syntax highlighting, validation, and cod
• "Stop Thinking Of #Microsoft As An Innovator And Start Thinking Of Them As A Fast, Low Cost, Mass Market Follower"
  Her point is that Microsoft has a history of missing new technologies, but it hasn't hurt the company. From operating systems, to browsers to the gaming market, Microsoft comes in with patience and a big checkbook and makes its mark.
• #IBM Offers VARs Bounties For Displacing Competing Software Products
  Sandy Carter, vice president of IBM Software Group business partners, said the company would pay up to twice the usual margins -- what IBM calls “software value incentives” -- for the competitive displacements.
• As promised, #SAP expands open source efforts, execs say
  In 2009, SAP contributed 1.8 million lines to the Eclipse project, making it the third-largest corporate contributor.
• Stupid GSA. They should have been able to figure that one out about #Oracle with a few phone calls
  One thing that baffles me – the Feds and various US States collected a treasure trove of pricing intelligence during the US versus Oracle antitrust suit in 2004. I remember there were detailed price sheets on various accounts on the web site – which have since been redacted from public view.
• Software maker #SAP completes #Sybase acquisition
  SAP, based in Walldorf, Germany, said all outstanding Sybase shares not tendered in the previously completed tender offer were converted into the right to receive $65 per share in cash.
• #SAP aims to broaden customer base by 2015
  SAP hopes to broaden its customer base by bringing its mainly desktop-focused software solutions on to a wide range of mobile devices, a strategy for which it recently acquired US database and mobile software specialist Sybase for $5.8bn.
  
  With the help of Sybase, the group aims to increase the number of users from the current 35m to 1bn in the next five years, Mr McDermott said.
• Whistleblower details alleged #Oracle contract violations
  But former Oracle manager Paul Frascella claimed the company encouraged its salesforce to structure deals — and even use "white-out" to hide figures on printed contracts — so the government wouldn't learn about repeated violations of that agreement.
  
  Those allegations now could cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars or even jeopardize its ability to do business with the government in the future. While claiming the discounts were approved by company higher-ups, the lawsuits filed by Frascella and the Justice Department do not name Oracle CEO Larry Ellison or say whether top executives were aware of the alleged violations.