Business Processes, Business Rules, and BI: SAP Buys YASU Technologies

by Curt Hall

A couple weeks ago, I discussed the significance of SAP AG's acquisition of BI vendor Business Objects SA (see "SAP Buys Business Objects, Or Keeping Up with the Jones II," 16 October 2007). Last week, SAP made another acquisition: YASU Technologies. Unlike the Business Objects acquisition, SAP buying YASU Technologies received hardly any notice, mostly because YASU is a very small company -- so small that SAP didn't even bother releasing financial details of the deal. Nevertheless, don't be deceived by this lack of attention. This deal is important because it gives SAP business rules technology it can use to enhance its business process management (BPM) capabilities and enterprise applications.