SAP will step up its defector programme for Siebel customers with an offer to support its rival's applications at a rate that undercuts Oracle, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal.

The support will be provided through SAP subsidiary TomorrowNow which specialises in supporting JD Edwards and PeopleSoft applications and was acquired by SAP in January 2005.

The company claims that its support fees are about 50 per cent below those charged by Oracle.

JD Edwards, PeopleSoft and Siebel have all recently been acquired by Oracle, and SAP has been attempting to poach users of applications from these firms ever since the deals were sealed.

SAP's Safe Passage programme offers trade-in credits for software that users replace as well as support of both applications during a migration period.

Safe Passage aims to capitalise on uncertainty about Oracle's plans for its enterprise software as the company prepares to launch its Fusion suite by 2008.

TomorrowNow markets its services primarily to PeopleSoft and JD Edwards users, but also aims to tempt firms to switch to the SAP enterprise software suite.