of BEA in our fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.

 

The comparability of our operating results in fiscal 2007 in comparison to fiscal 2006 is impacted by our acquisition of Siebel in our third quarter of fiscal 2006, the consolidation of i-flex solutions limited at the beginning of fiscal 2007 and, to a lesser extent, our acquisition of Hyperion in our fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.

 

In our discussion of changes in our results of operations from fiscal 2008 compared to fiscal 2007, and fiscal 2007 compared to fiscal 2006, we quantify the contribution of our acquired products to the growth in new software license revenues, the amount of revenues associated with software license updates and product support, as well as On Demand services (in the fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2006 comparison), and present supplemental disclosure related to certain charges and gains (including acquisition accounting and stock-based compensation), where applicable. Although certain revenue contributions from our acquisitions are quantifiable, we are unable to identify the following:

	• 	The contribution of the significant majority of consulting and education services revenues from acquired companies in fiscal 2008, 2007 and 2006 (with the exception of the impact of BEA consulting and education revenues in fiscal 2008 in comparison to fiscal 2007, and i-flex and Hyperion consulting revenues and Hyperion education revenues for which we disclose the impact in fiscal 2007 in comparison to fiscal 2006) as the significant majority of these services have been fully integrated into our existing operations.

	• 	The contribution of expenses associated with acquired products and services in fiscal 2008, 2007 and 2006 (with the exception of the impact of certain BEA operating expenses in fiscal 2008 in comparison to fiscal 2007 and the impact of certain i-flex and Hyperion operating expenses for which we disclose the impact in fiscal 2007 in comparison to fiscal 2006) as the significant majority of these services have been fully integrated into our existing operations.



We caution readers that, while pre- and post-acquisition comparisons as well as the quantified amounts themselves may provide indications of general trends, the information has inherent limitations for the following reasons:

	• 	The quantifications cannot address the substantial effects attributable to our sales force integration efforts, in particular the effect of having a single sales force offer similar products. We believe that if our sales forces had not been integrated, the relative mix of products sold would have been different.

	• 	Our acquisitions in the periods presented did not result in our entry into a new line of business or product category. Therefore, we provided multiple products with substantially similar features and functionality.

	• 	Although substantially all of our customers, including customers from acquired companies, renew their software license updates and product support contracts when the contracts are eligible for renewal, amounts shown as support deferred revenue in our supplemental disclosure related to certain charges and gains (see below) are not necessarily indicative of