SAP and CommerceOne tipped to forge e-marketplace deal

NEWS SAP is reportedly looking to expand into the business to business marketplace arena by signing a deal with ecommerce systems specialist, Commerce One. SAP and CommerceOne were in partnership talks in 1997, but an agreement was never finalised. But a report in the Wall Street Journal suggests that a deal is imminent, in which the ERP giant will resell CommerceOne's products. SAP has already embarked on two online ventures - mySAP.com and SAPmarket - both of which offer businesses e-procurement and Internet-based supply chain management services. But a deal with CommerceOne would see SAP's profile rise in the US - a territory in which it has been performing poorly of late. Duncan Chapple, business software analyst with research group, Ovum, claimed that the two companies' products will work well together. Chapple said: "Technically, SAP is one of the few ERP products that could be integrated out of the box with Commerce One products." A CommerceOne spokesperson told Silicon.com that the deal "at the moment is still market speculation". SAP was not available for comment.