InternetSAP to Innovate Heavily in SMB On-Demand Suite

Business intelligence to pervade enterprise software giant's forthcoming products.

PALO ALTO, Calif. – SAP said it plans to aggressively pursue new markets with a slew of innovative new technologies for its troubled Business ByDesign on-demand suite of products for small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers. When SAP first detailed its plans for Business ByDesign a year ago, it was met with tepid reviews. "When you come to challenging times, you have to take risks," co-CEO Henning Kagermann told a press conference at SAP's offices yesterday. "Business ByDesign is not just about product, we also want to focus on profitability, and in the volume business you have to do a lot of innovation to make the business profitable," Kagermann said. At SAP (NYSE: SAP), the word innovation now takes on a whole new meaning. "You can look at it from two angles," said Jim Snabe, who heads SAP's business solutions and technology organization. "One is how to convert money into ideas; the other is how to convert ideas into money." The new version of the suite will incorporate an innovative approach to customer relationship management (CRM) (define) and incorporate business intelligence technology from Business Objects, for which SAP bid $6.7 billion in October. The deal was finalized in December. RELATED ARTICLES SAP, Business Objects in $6.7B Merger SAP: It's 'Business ByDesign' SAP Talks Up Business Objects Union SAP CEO Defends Price Hikes as Customers Gripe IBM Targets SMBs With 'Start' Appliance For more stories... [ Read more on www.internetnews.com ]

InternetActors, advertisers extend commercials contract (AP)

AP - Two actors unions and the U.S. advertising industry said Monday they agreed to extend a contract covering commercials on TV, radio, the Internet and other new media by six months through March.

InternetCan JavaFX make a play for rich Internet apps? (InfoWorld)

InfoWorld - With its new JavaFX technology for rich Internet applications, Sun Microsystems hopes to leverage the strength of the Java development base and Java's ubiquitous presence on devices to make a strong run in a race it has entered very late -- and where Adobe Systems and Microsoft have a huge head start.