This past week was quite eventful for the technology sector. There have been many interesting developments, which could affect the stock prices of certain tech companies like Salesforce.com (NASDAQ:CRM), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), SAP(NYSE:SAP), Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) and Verisign (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the near future.
Below we include some quick takeaways from this week’s action.
Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com concluded the Dreamforce 2011 conference last week and had several interesting announcements to make. It will partner with Infor to launch ERP applications powered by its Force.com platform. [1] It will also be addmultiple new features like real-time chat, groups, Sharepoint integration etc. to Chatter, its social networking tool for enterprises.
It also announced a partnership with Concur and Workday to launch an expense management application on Force.com. [2] Finally, it also announced a partnership with Kenandy Inc., a supply chain software vendor.
Check out our complete analysis for Salesforce.com
Microsoft
Microsoft announced that it will be unveiling an early build of Windows 8 for tablets on a Samsung tablet at the BUILD conference this upcoming week. [3] Last week, it also announced that Windows Phone 7 now has more than 30,000 apps for users. [4] It will also add additional features and tools to its display advertising products to keep customers from defecting to Facebook and Google’s display advertising platforms.
Check out our complete analysis for Microsoft
SAP & Oracle
Oracle had filed a lawsuit against TomorrowNow, a company which SAP acquired, for illegally downloading Oracle’s files. It had won $1.3 billion in damages earlier. However, this week a judge reversed the earlier ruling and awarded only $272 million in damages. [5] Oracle has stated that it will continue to pursue the lawsuit for more damages.
Check out our complete analysis for SAP
Check out our complete analysis for Oracle
Verisign
Verisign’s stock jumped about 10% during the course of the week following rumors of a takeover by a PE firm. [6] Verisign executives backed out of 2 technology conferences where they were supposed to be presenting, which fueled speculation of a potential takeover bid. Nothing has been confirmed yet though.
Check out our complete analysis for Verisign
Notes:- Salesforce.com gets into ERP with Infor, Workday, NetworkWorld [↩]
- Salesforce and Concur Team up to Deliver Travel and Expense Management Integration with CRM, Cloudtimes [↩]
- Samsung’s New Windows 8-Powered Tablet May Debut As Early As Next Week, Techcrunch [↩]
- Windows Phone 7 Hits 30,000 Apps, PCWorld [↩]
- Judge rejects Oracle’s $1.3 billion award against SAP, ZDnet [↩]
- VeriSign Cancels Appearances at Conferences, Fueling Takeover Speculation, Bloomberg [↩]
