Microsoft Developer

Striking while Oracle is at sixes and sevens over Sun, SAP and Microsoft, two of its worst enemies, have cut an anti-Oracle accord.

Microsoft will recommend SAP's BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation application to its customers as its preferred solution, which should irritate Oracle as well as help SAP tickle its flagging sales.

They were down 9% last quarter with software licenses down 31% and similar expectations ahead.

The companies said Wednesday that they are identifying targeted go-to-market initiatives to accelerate the adoption of the SAP software by Microsoft's user base and by small to mid-size organizations - not to mention trumping Oracle's similar widgetry in the process. SAP is focusing more on SMEs these days since large accounts are tapped out.

The planning, budgeting, forecasting and financial consolidation software already works on Microsoft's platform but will be further optimized.

SAP says it takes advantage of the latest available versions of Microsoft Office 2007, including integration with Excel 2007 and SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server Analysis Services.

Microsoft toyed with the notion of acquiring SAP a few years ago before settling for the partnership that has just been expanded rather than try to push the merger past the regulators.

Indicative of the state of affairs between SAP and Oracle, SAP last week admitted that it was one of the companies creating problems for Oracle-Sun with the European Commission and - according to what it said "a number of other antitrust authorities throughout the world."

The admission came in a statement that was supposed to rebut the interpretation the Wall Street Journal put on a leaked letter sent by SAP CEO Leo Apotheker to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in September. The Journal took it that SAP was offering to facilitate the Oracle-Sun merger with the EC.

SAP's statement said:

"In light of the proposed Oracle-Sun merger, we, like many others, have concerns about customer choice in the database market and the future open licensing of Java. We communicated our concerns to both Oracle and Sun at the working level as far back as the end of July 2009.

Since there was no response, our CEO Leo Apotheker took the initiative and wrote to both Oracle and Sun CEOs in the middle of September to voice our concerns again, offer a dialogue and attempt to clarify the issues. We have not heard back from Oracle, but instead found Leo Apotheker's letter leaked to the press last week. This is both telling and disappointing as it demonstrates that there is no real interest by Oracle to listen and explain how it wants to ensure the required level of customer choice in the database market as well as open access to Java."

SAP said it means to "cooperate" with the EC.