SAP Aims To Ride SaaS Wave

While technology companies like to say that they can revolutionize any business, many blue-chip manufacturers are concentrated in sales, only certain business: greatest.

However, as the overall growth of the income of high-tech less than dazzling, several vendors is to intensify its efforts to attract trade from small and medium-sized enterprises, technology spending, is now unable to keep up with large corporations.

One of the important role of German software giant SAP AG, hope to catch up with a powerful suction sales to smaller businesses - the rise Software delivered over the Internet as a service.

After three years of development, SAP on Wednesday launched Web hosting business management software The objective is to customers 1-500 employees. These tools, called "enterprise resource management" software, fence data from multiple parts of a business, such as human resources and accounting departments and supply chain.

Need for complex software installation on the server, and costs as well as into six and seven figures.

The new service, known as the commercial design, will run on SAPs own server access to the Internet and fewer 54 yuan a month.

Online subscription model - pioneered by China, S AP competitors s alesforce.com and increasingly pursuit of such a diversified providers as Google and IBM - Allow fewer big companies customization requirements. But its simple design is to accommodate smaller financial and logistical resources of small and medium-sized companies.

The model can be less risky, because it gives them a flexible method to test software before buying. While smaller customers often do not profits than large enterprises, SAP CEO Henning kagermann that SAP companies can reverse this driving force within the next few years, because the benefits of the new approach, from the economic system scale attendant more widely adopted.

In fact, kagermann view, the commercial design will be crucial, he 13 yuan billion company to expand its customer base from the current 42,000 to 10 million people, to 2010.

He also argued that the plains replaced by elements in the new products should be ultimately improve the road design SAP software, its biggest customer. This will be notable because of its innovative approach, the general in other directions: smaller customers with a lighter weight Version (commonly known as the "Express" Edition) product, gilded buyers.

"More different types of customers, we support better overall solution for every customer," kagermann, said in an interview: " We learning all. " SAP will also face considerable competition: Microsoft and several smaller vendors to provide low-cost tools and properly handle the various aspects of the business By design volumes together, and some of them have mentioned, as well as online. SAP will to convince those buyers, the packaging is really good, and not so complicated than they may worry about.

Andy miedler, analyst at Edward Jones Co and the so-called commercial design "first move", but warned that SAP will find new prospects for enticing Customer: "do not come quickly, and not cheap." In fact, SAP is estimated to cost 500 million US dollars and increased marketing products to 2008. "We are trying to launch a new business model," said Liaoapo Shanghai, SAPs vice president.

SAP also is the emergence of new risks: large companies need a huge network of partners and resellers to reach small-business customers sales. If end-users can download and deployment software, such as business, design, and some dealers may not hesitate to promote it.

However, SAP may have no choice but to get more aggressive here. Large technology vendors, such as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Dell have proven that have a lot of green in this market, and other high-tech players seen a greater share of those dollars.

IBM, for example, is slow the golf course to medium-sized enterprises for all from the disaster recovery services to the security of e-mail two US dollars per user, per month .

IBM company said in the global market, selling its technology to such customers is staggering 487 billion US dollars a year rose 6.5 percent, higher than the in the single-digit rates posted in the overall IT industry.

"This is a huge market, because of its market, where technology has been reduced , affordable, there is a lot of untapped opportunities," said : Michael Speyer, an analyst with Forrester Research. "Small and medium-sized by the nature of the commercial market is a very difficult market to reach." SAPs purchase of the first batch of the new programme is 200 employees compass pharmaceutical services companies Clifton, New Jersey, parcels and the distribution of medicines.

CEO Root said Kevin Flanagan, no automated way to share information inter-departmental charge of the compass can not peer into the financial system, For example, to see how to do business.

"I hope to be able to provide information, would eliminate constantly meeting, the downtime, constantly waiting to hear back from people about things, "he said:" Its early, but all signs good. "