Chief of SAP unit resigns; sale possible

SAP, the software maker accused by Oracle Corp. of stealing program codes, said Monday that the chief executive of its TomorrowNow unit resigned and that the company was considering selling the business.

TomorrowNow CEO Andrew Nelson and several members of his management team are leaving the company, Walldorf, Germany-based SAP said. Mark White, who became executive chairman of TomorrowNow in July, will remain in that position.

SAP and Oracle are the largest companies in the market for software that helps companies manage processes such as inventory and payroll. Their rivalry escalated in March, when Oracle filed a lawsuit claiming that workers at TomorrowNow hacked into a website and stole Oracle’s copyrighted software codes on a “grand scale.”

SAP acquired TomorrowNow in January 2005, immediately after Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle bought PeopleSoft Inc. to become the second-biggest maker of business management software. TomorrowNow provides maintenance services for PeopleSoft customers.