SAP safety but Oracle Off SAP

SAP says its Safe Passage offer, launched to help disaffected JD Edwards and PeopleSoft ERP users to migrate to mySAP following the takeover by Oracle, is attracting serious users. But it’s not all plain sailing. Oracle last month launched Off SAP as a campaign to tempt R/3 users faced with the need to upgrade to mySAP or mySAP Business Suite, with free business analysis and free licences if they switch to equivalent Oracle software. Meanwhile SAP claims 21 firms on the programme in the first six months, with many more in the pipeline. Latest is luggage manufacturer and distributor Samsonite, which went for the mySAP Business Suite with consumer packaged goods content. Samsonite will use SAP’s Apparel and Footwear Solution, which provides functionality around size, style and colour managed. n SAP’s acquisition last month of privately held Lighthammer in the US may usher in better shopfloor connectivity for existing SAP ERP users, as the firm links in its Collaborative Manufacturing Suite. The system will be delivered as an SAP xApps composite application on the SAP NetWeaver platform, and could provide the route to enabling greater manufacturing flexibility.