Oracle said Wednesday that it has released an updated version of its Enterprise Manager application management software that's designed to help IT departments gain better control over service-oriented architectures.

Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 3 features an SOA management pack that gives users the ability to centrally monitor and control enterprise-wide SOAs. SOAs rely on collections of online utilities that, when used in combination, can in some cases eliminate the need for traditional, single-function computing applications.

Oracle's new software also adds identity management monitoring capabilities to its Fusion middleware offering. The company says German retailer Metro Group is among the early adopters of Release 3 of Enterprise 10g and is using it to automate the management of its data centers.

Separately, Oracle on Wednesday unveiled several enhancements to its Siebel CRM 8 customer relationship management software for the life sciences industry.

The new features in Siebel CRM 8 enable pharmaceutical companies to manage, synchronize, and coordinate all customer interactions across multiple channels, including the Web, call centers, and e-mail, Oracle said.

Earlier this month, Oracle made headlines when it announced its intention to acquire business intelligence software provider Hyperion Solutions for $3.3 billion.