SAP admission of liability highlights Oracle third-party support issues

07.08.2010
SAP AG's admission of in a lawsuit brought against it by Oracle Corp. over third-party support services will likely speed resolution of the dispute between the two companies.

However, it really is a second similar lawsuit that filed earlier this year against another third-party service provider, which could prove more meaningful for Oracle customers, analysts said.

agreed on Wednesday to assume liability for .

The charges relate to a now defunct SAP subsidiary called TomorrowNow, which provided third-party support services to Oracle customers at about 50% of the cost that the vendor charged for it.

In its lawsuit, Oracle accused TomorrowNow of illegally downloading Oracle updates and maintenance tools in providing its third-party support.

In January, Oracle filed a somewhat similar lawsuit against , another third-party service provider that has managed to snag a growing number of Oracle and SAP customers largely by virtue of the fact that its prices are about half that of the vendors.