As part of this program, SAP acquired TomorrowNow, a provider of support and maintenance for PeopleSoft and JD Edwards customers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. SAP estimates there are 2,000 companies running SAP solutions that also have PeopleSoft and JD Edwards solutions. TomorrowNow will continue to offer a less-expensive alternative to PeopleSoft support in addition to the Safe Passage program.

What’s this mean for customers? First of all, SAP has taken advantage of the many months of uncertainty in the enterprise market caused by the Oracle/PeopleSoft/JD Edwards acquisition dealings to gain market share and grow revenue. For example, SAP software revenue increased by 27% in 2004 over the company’s reported 2003 figures.

TomorrowNow will also gain extensive knowledge about SAP applications and will be well positioned to help customers migrate to SAP applications. The company will also gain resources to extend its offerings. The company will also be able to take advantage of PeopleSoft expertise that becomes available as Oracle consolidates the two companies.

This program not only presents a compelling cost incentive for joint SAP/PeopleSoft customers, it may also become a compelling migration path if Oracle falters in its aggressive plan to develop and deliver a new set of tools and applications to the market in the coming years.

This is enough of a threat that during Oracle’s Analyst Day, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison warned SAP to be “cautious” not to violate any intellectual and contractual property rights as they promote and develop the Safe Passage offering.