sap

Jury selection for a major copyright case involving Oracle and its smaller competitor SAP started in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, marking the beginning of a trial between the two software rivals that's been more than two years in the making

Shares of SAP fell Wedneday after the German software company's third-quarter profit grew less than analysts had expected. Sales beat Wall Street expectations, growing 20% year over year, but net income rose only 12% on lower margins.

In a trial that starts Monday, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison says he intends to prove that incoming Hewlett-Packard chief executive Leo Apotheker stole ideas from Oracle in his previous position as head of European competitor SAP.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison doesn't think highly of Hewlett-Packard's board. In fact, he thinks the entire board should resign -- pronto. Why? Because "the madness must stop," Ellison said, referring to HP's hiring of Leo Apotheker, a former chief of German software giant SAP

In a somewhat surprising move, HP went outside its walls -- and all the way to Germany -- to find the chief executive to replace the ousted Mark Hurd. Apotheker had stepped down as CEO of German software giant SAP in 2010.

Enterprise software giant Oracle reported a 25% rise in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, helped by strong sales of new licenses and market share gains at the expense of the company's chief rival SAP.

NTT Data, a major info-tech player in Japan, has taken notice of the rising fortunes of IT services company Intelligroup. The U.S. is company is tiny compared to NTT, but its allure is a solid business in a key major market.

As European markets sell off, there are bargain stocks to be found overseas. We screened for beaten-down, big-cap multinationals in the eurozone (trading on U.S. exchanges) that should benefit from currency weakness.

Enterprise software company SAP is willing to take on more large acquisitions, despite its recent $5.8 billion Sybase deal.

SAP, a massive provider of business software, is making its biggest acquisition in three years with a $65-a-share offer for Sybase. The combination could be a marriage made in business heaven as the companies build on their existing partnership in mobile apps.