IBM has stopped trying to thwart Oracle from hiring one of its former managers to head its on-demand unit selling cloud versions of Oracle's applications.

When Oracle hired Joanne Olsten, an 31-year IBM veteran, back in June, IBM sued claiming she was part of an "elite" group privy to its secrets and plans, and waved around her two - count ‘em two - non-competes, tactics that have served Blue well before in such circumstances.

Olsten and Oracle, however, countered that she couldn't negotiate the terms of the non-compete she signed last year- that it was a take-it-or-leave-it situation - which made it anti-competitive under California law, and IBM turned tail, according to the Wall Street Journal. It wanted monetary damages.

As senior VP of on-demand Olsten will report to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison himself. She was general manager of IBM's business continuity and resiliency services right before she quit.