Federighi worked at NeXT, followed by Apple, and then spent a decade at Ariba where he held several roles including vice president of Internet Services and chief technology officer.

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He then left for Ariba, where he worked in a variety of roles, including chief technology officer.

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In an attempt to fend off a growing group of challengers, SAP has been investing heavily in acquiring cloud companies including recently Ariba and SuccessFactors, as well as building out a global cloud infrastructure, which it plans to offer its enterprise customers.

FORBES: The Art Of Reinvention: SAP Puts Its Weight Behind A Better, Faster And Stronger Cloud Computing Strategy

With some functional similarities to the online data base jointly announced by IBM, Microsoft, and Ariba earlier this month, the Red Hat Network will serve as a central warehouse where developers can register information on their hardware and software systems, enabling other developers to better pursue joint projects.

CNN: Red Hat unveils new support network for users