SAP Expands On-demand Plans
In a keynote presentation at the OnDemand Europe conference in Amsterdam yesterday, SAP executive VP John Wookey made clear SAP's commitment to on-demand applications: “On demand is the next stage in the evolution of application development [… ] It is absolutely essential from SAP’s perspective that we embrace this change.”
In the days, weeks, and months ahead, much will be made of Wookey's address. There no-doubt will be a great mish-mash of fact, speculation, fawning and bashing. The Optimal SAP Advisor editorial team will do our best to serve as your one-stop resource for all breaking news and commentary relating to SAP's latest initiative to advance the on-demand cause. Check back frequently as this post will be updated regularly.
The story of SAP's expanded on-demand strategy breaks...
While direct reporting of Wookey's address first broke with a post by ZDnet blogger Phil Wainewright, Wall Street Journal enterprise technology blogger Ben Worthen and Financial Times reporter Richard Waters both wrote pieces one day prior to the OnDemand Europe conference. All three articles present interesting and unique high-level perspectives on SAP's latest major announcement pertaining to on-demand applications.
Read WSJ blog post by Ben Worthen: SAP to Make Online Push
Read Financial Times article by Richard Waters: SAP Reshapes Online Strategy
Read ZDnet blog post by Phil Wainewright: Wookey: SAP's Future is On-demand
Setting the table with a bit of background on SAP's on-demand play...
Most are familiar with SAP's Business ByDemand offering, the company's first major foray into the on-demand space loudly announced in 2007 and targeted sharply at the low end of the SME space. SAP made some pretty bold claims on the future of BBD:
- BBD will generate $1 B in annual revenue by 2010
- SAP will rack up more than 1,000 BBD customers by 2008 and more than 10,000 customers by 2010
- Market potential for BBD is $15 B
- SAP co-CEO Kagarmann on BBD: "the most important announcement of my career"
SAP's BBD launch hit a few snags -- the more serious of which revolve around devising a profitable business model for the fledgling product. Today, SAP has 80 BBD customers and has pushed full market rollout to sometime in 2010 - 2011, with SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner stating that "a market-ready [BBD] product will become available within two years."
Rummors of BBD death, however, have been greatly exaggerated. According to Jeff Stiles, Senior Vice President of SME Marketing, "SAP is 100 percent, unequivocally committed to bringing Business byDesign to market for the long haul." Moreover, during his 2009 SAPPHIRE keynote address, SAP co-CEO Leo Apotheker said he was there to "kill a rumor" about the death of BBD, and invited attendees to check out the BBD demo at SAP's booth.
Read Michael Krigsman's ZDNet blog post: Understanding SAP's Business ByDesign SaaS Strategy
Read InformationWeek article: Inside SAP's Idled Business ByDesign Suite
Read InformationWeek article: SAP Braces for Change
Read Rob Preston's Global CIO blog oost: SAP's Apotheker Holds Forth
Stay tuned for our next post: Opening eyes wide shut -- BBD is just one piece of SAP's broader on-demand play...
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