Oracle, SAP announce cloud deals

U.S.-based software giant Oracle says it has agreed to acquire Vitrue, a cloud-based social marketing platform, for $300 million. The announcement Wednesday comes one day after SAP announced a $4.3 billion deal to acquire the cloud-based business commerce network Ariba, Inc. "The cloud has profoundly changed the way people interact," SAP Co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe said Tuesday in a statement. "The impact will be even greater as enterprises connect and collaborate in new ways with their global networks of customers and partners," Cloud software allows to companies to access services through remote servers maintained by vendors. This allows the companies to preserve their own server space and use tools through multiple portals, such as mobile devices, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News said. "The proliferation of social media and an increased demand by consumers to engage with brands across multiple social channels is driving chief marketing officers to look for an integrated social marketing platform," Thomas Kurian, executive vice president of Oracle Development, said in a statement.