SAP's Apotheker Found Out the Hard Way about SaaS' Influence
Posted 02-08-2010 at 10:54 AM by Albert Fong
By now, the tech world has heard about the meanderings of SAP culminated this past weekend with the departure of CEO Leo Apotheker. Depending on what news outlet you follow, Apotheker was either the scapegoat for a company struggling to keep up or the root cause of an organization that has lost its vision. Regardless of what the opinion of SAP, it’s universal that the company is in panic mode, and whether two new co-CEOs will change that remains to be seen.
A huge part of the problem for SAP is related to its technology and the lack of any viable cloud computing/SaaS strategy for the SMB market. It’s Business ByDesign offerings have been uninspiring and even if they weren’t, are still 18-24 months behind those of its competitors in terms of development. My friend Dennis Howlett at ZDNet wrote a rather blunt article today critical of SAP’s indecisiveness while ReadWrite specifically cited the SaaS strategy. From its muddled messaging to a confusing online business strategy, these things have contributed to poor employee morale and demonstrating a lack of vision. The company has a war chest, and it needs to spend it wisely and decisively to build out its SaaS offerings with acquisitions looking to be the most viable route.
All in all, SAP needs to narrow its focus in all aspects of its business quickly if it’s to remain a competitive and credible player. And, it’s a lesson that companies would do well to heed in this quickly changing landscape.
A huge part of the problem for SAP is related to its technology and the lack of any viable cloud computing/SaaS strategy for the SMB market. It’s Business ByDesign offerings have been uninspiring and even if they weren’t, are still 18-24 months behind those of its competitors in terms of development. My friend Dennis Howlett at ZDNet wrote a rather blunt article today critical of SAP’s indecisiveness while ReadWrite specifically cited the SaaS strategy. From its muddled messaging to a confusing online business strategy, these things have contributed to poor employee morale and demonstrating a lack of vision. The company has a war chest, and it needs to spend it wisely and decisively to build out its SaaS offerings with acquisitions looking to be the most viable route.
All in all, SAP needs to narrow its focus in all aspects of its business quickly if it’s to remain a competitive and credible player. And, it’s a lesson that companies would do well to heed in this quickly changing landscape.
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