Oracle Targets The Energy And Environment Business Apps Market

Wednesday, 27 July 2011

A new front has opened up in the long-running battle between arch-rivals Oracle and SAP in the enterprise application market. Oracle has entered into the sustainable business software market with two new applications developed from its acquisition of Ndevr’s IP in February. These early forays into the fast expanding market are Oracle Environmental Accounting & Reporting and JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Environmental Accounting and Reporting. Can Oracle catch up with SAP?

SAP entered the sustainable business software market back in 2009, when they acquired Clear Standards, later renamed SAP Carbon Impact. SAP has several other energy and environment applications, such as Sustainability Performance Manager, Environmental Compliance and Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence. Between 2009 and 2011, SAP’s broad sustainable business software portfolio helped the firm win new customers, raise its brand association with sustainability and develop a partnership network of domain experts, such as CDP and ERM, to support its product distribution beyond direct sales.

At present the divergence between the Oracle and SAP corporate sustainability programmes could hardly be more stark. In 2009 SAP announced a long-term strategic commitment to sustainability in both its operations and products. The appointment of Peter Graf as the firm’s first Chief Sustainability Officer accelerated commercial and corporate programmes. By contrast Oracle currently pursues a sales-led strategy for sustainability and recently rejected shareholder requests for information on sustainability. Selling energy and environment business apps to buyers who think sustainability is an important differentiator will be that bit harder for Oracle sales reps if they can’t explain their firm’s own policy and strategy for sustainability. For Oracle to catch up with SAP in the energy and environment apps market they will need a stronger corporate sustainability programme.
 

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