IDS Scheer is, or was for a large part of its history, nearly synonymous with SAP. The two companies started working together more than 20 years ago, when IDS Scheer's business process modeling software (in whatever iteration it was way back then) worked with SAP's R/3 software.

Several years ago the two companies announced that SAP would integrate IDS Scheer's Aris process modeling platform into its NetWeaver integration platform.

But in the past two years or so IDS Scheer has broadened its horizons, bringing in a number of partners on the platform (and in Oracle's case, applications) front. In addition to Oracle, IDS Scheer has forged partnerships with IBM, Microsoft, BEA and Fujitsu, with more to come, according to the company's new CEO and president, Thomas Volk.

While IDS Scheer (and SAP) talks about the deep integration between Aris and NetWeaver, the truth is, according to one analyst that I spoke to here at IDS Scheer's annual user conference in Amelia Island, Fla., that it is actually pretty difficult to translate process flows from Aris into SAP's Solution Manager ("that's good for us consultants," he explained to me).

The same could be said for Oracle. The difference is Oracle is building a meta data integration layer that will, according to the analyst, enable the Aris process models to be interpreted directly to Oracle's many applications (E-Business, PeopleSoft, JDE, Siebel, Fusion)

I haven't verified that Oracle is in fact building this middle tier optimized for process models, which would be a component of Fusion Middleware. But it makes sense, given Oracle and every other vendor's move toward SOA, and the role business processes plays there. And I do know that the folks responsible for application development at Oracle have had the 'buy or build' discussion when it comes to modeling capabilities. The decision, apparently, has been somewhere in the middle: partner with IDS Scheer. In Oracle's case, partner (or even a glancing interest) often means acquire. Which leads to the question: Is Oracle planning to buy IDS Scheer?

The consultant I spoke with said a lot of customers he works with are asking the same question. He's taking a wait-and-see approach, but hoping for an Oracle buy over a SAP acquisition (SAP Ventures, by the way, used to own a stake in IDS Scheer), given that Oracle is portraying itself as more open these days. That, of course, is another story.

I put in a call to Oracle more as a formality. The response from Oracle PR: "We don't comment on rumors or speculation regarding acquisitions." Speculation it is.