sap

Features

• SAP-Sybase: What to expect in the first 90 days

  Now that SAP's roughly $US6 billion acquisition of Sybase has gained clearance from European regulators, it may not be long before the deal is finalised. With that in mind, users and partners of the companies have much to consider during the next few months, analysts say.

• SAP aims to acquire forecasting software vendor SAF

  SAP plans to buy SAF Simulation, Analysis and Forecasting, a Swiss developer of retail forecasting software.

• SAP adds Web services to Business ByDesign

  Users of SAP's Business ByDesign on-demand ERP (enterprise resource planning) suite now have "one-click" integration with a range of third-party Web services such as Google's search engine and news and financial feeds such as Business Wire and Hoover's.

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  SAP wants to help microcredit groups manage loans

  SAP hopes to help lower the cost of managing loan portfolios for organizations offering microcredits as part of a partnership announced Wednesday with French nonprofit group PlaNet Finance.

• eBeef: RFID from birth to plate

  Computers determine the quality of meat on your dinner plate, long before it turns up on the doorstep of your butcher, and the increasing uptake of technology in the meat industry means armers across the country are liberating themselves from the global financial crisis, the ravages of drought and other environmental problems.

• What to do if your cloud provider disappears

  Software developer Christopher Shockey saw the first signs of trouble in late 2008. A sales rep who had always represented Web application development provider Coghead was now calling on behalf of Coghead's much larger rival Salesforce.com.