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SAP muddies the water with PeopleSoft support buy

Margaret Kane CNET News

Published: 19 Jan 2005 15:55 GMT

SAP has purchased TomorrowNow, a software company that provides support services for products sold by the former PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards.

The move, announced on Wednesday, is an attempt to lure customers in the wake of Oracle's recent acquisition of PeopleSoft.

SAP described the buy as part of a plan to give customers a "safe passage away from the uncertainties" associated with Oracle's takeover.

Oracle's buyout of PeopleSoft was completed earlier this month after a bitter battle. J.D. Edwards was a company that PeopleSoft bought not long before Oracle set its sights on PeopleSoft.

While PeopleSoft workers have been worrying about their jobs, customers have been concerned about their software.

On Tuesday, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison outlined plans aimed at persuading PeopleSoft customers to switch to Oracle software, or at the very least, to use Oracle for their support. In particular, Ellison is hoping the new plan will help bring in SAP customers.

SAP's offering will include maintenance and support for PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards products through TomorrowNow and will include the ability to connect their software with SAP's NetWeaver product.

SAP will initially target existing customers that are running both SAP and PeopleSoft or J.D. Edwards applications.

Financial terms of the TomorrowNow buy were not released.