Oracle sets its sights on “enterprise PLM”

Oracle will acquire product life-cycle management (PLM) vendor Agile Software for approximately $495 million, signaling Oracle's newest front in the battle against rival SAP.

PLM is an enterprisewide discipline that spans product design systems, and interacts with a wide range of enterprise applications. The combination of Agile and Oracle seeks to create an integrated, enterprisewide PLM solution.

“Profitable product innovation is critical to product-based industries, making PLM one of the fastest-growing application segments,” says Oracle President Charles Phillips. “The addition of Agile—which will serve as the foundation of our PLM offering—will further Oracle's strategy of delivering industry-specific enterprise applications, and allow us to offer yet another strategic application to SAP customers.”

The merger is expected to close in July.