Oracle, SAP upgrade apps packages

Meanwhile, rival SAP has inked a deal intended to help its customer relationship management applications communicate better with other software.

Already available to buyers, the new version of Oracle Financials, a component of the Oracle E-business Suite, will include financial risk management tools for corporate treasurers and more financial analysis reports, incorporating budget and planning information.

The new application is also designed to let financial managers check key data, such as profit and loss information and corporate expenses, via a private Web portal, Oracle said.

For its part, Oracle rival SAP said Wednesday that it plans to jointly develop software with Pumatech, whose products are designed to synchronize e-mail, calendar, and other data among personal computers, servers and mobile computers.

The deal calls for the two companies to develop synchronization software for SAP's customer relationship management applications, used by sales, marketing and customer service workers to improve efficiency.

SAP will use Pumatech's software development tools, based on the Extensible Markup Language, to link SAP applications to Pumatech's synchronization software--an effort to make it easier for SAP applications to exchange data with programs like Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes.