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SAP's plans to move small parts of its enterprise-applications suite, which are called 'composites,' as Web services onto the NetWeaver platform is underway, but still has a way to go before it is complete. The composite application built by SAP and Microsoft called Mendocino, which brings Microsoft Office offerings to SAP platforms, will start shipping in December 2005, and is expected to be generally available in the spring of 2006. SAP will also release analytical applications in 2006, but conversion of all of its mySAP platform into Web services has yet to be finished. Analysts contend that until this is done, the application cannot be considered as a service-oriented architecture platform. SAP's strategy with composites is a bold one, since organizations usually rewrite applications when they are struggling and desperate, and not when they are market leaders such as SAP. The company is also targeting its Web-services wares to mainly United States firms that have less than $1.5 billion in revenue. Oracle, SAP's main competitor, is looking toward the enterprise-applications market. The company has put its focus largely on acquisitions and has spent approximately $18 billion in 2005 on purchasing companies such as Retek, Siebel Systems, and PeopleSoft. SAP's response has been to put an additional $50 million into research and development.
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