SAP 2009 Spend Trend Trifecta
Part Three

By Sam Sliman
President, Optimal Solutions Integration, Inc.

 

In this three-part article, we share our best bets on what the top three SAP spending trends might be in 2009. Our first pick was SAP upgrades. We spread our second wager among SAP projects in the areas of consolidation, GRC and BI. Closing out our trifecta for SAP spending in 2009 is accelerated adoption of SAP among small businesses and midsize enterprises (SMEs).

 

IDC forecasts that the US SME enterprise applications market will grow to $80.3B by the end of 2012, representing a 10.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2008-2012 period. Gartner pegs the US SME infrastructure software market to grow to $13.3B in 2009, up from $9.1B in 2005.

 

In a similar vein, AMR reported that in 2008 64% of SMEs increased their IT spending by an average of 5.3 percent. Despite 2009's challenging economic climate, it is expected that AMR will report similar strong growth in its soon-to-be-released annual SME IT spending study.

 

With nearly 40,000 small business and midsize customers worldwide, representing 75% of its total customer base, SAP is a firmly established SME market leader. SAP's stated global growth goal is to double its addressable market and increase its customer count to 100,000 by 2010 - with the lion's share of this growth occurring in the SME space. In the US alone, SAP expects to increase SME revenue 450% from $1B to $4.5B by 2010.

 

SAP's portfolio of solutions for small businesses and midsize companies includes more than 1,000 industry-specific solutions based on proven best practices. SAP's SME solutions are SAP Business One, a single integrated application for successfully managing small businesses; SAP Business ByDesign, the software industry's most complete, integrated and adaptable on-demand solution for midsize companies; and SAP Business All-in-One, a customizable and extensible solution for midsize companies with deep industry best practices built in.

 

The SAP solutions specifically designed for SMEs help enable small businesses and midsize companies to lower operating costs, improve operational excellence, gain better business insight and control, and increase their business flexibility. Competitively priced, easy and quick to implement and scalable to customers' growing business needs, SAP SME solutions are sold, implemented and maintained through SAP and its expanding network of qualified partners.

 

To stay on track with its aggressive growth goals in the SME market, SAP is committed to further strengthening its partner ecosystem targeted at SMEs, which currently comprise more than 2,100 partners of various categories.

 

On this front, SAP has implemented numerous successful partner initiatives that will continue to gain momentum in 2009. From the SAP fast-start program for SAP Business All-in-One solutions, to the evolving SAP PartnerEdge program, to the innovative SAP Extended Business program, SAP is exponentially increasing its presence and reach in the SME market.

 

SAP's sustained focus on bringing to market a comprehensive, cost-effective offering of turnkey solutions that deliver immediate ROI and address the specific needs of SMEs, coupled with SAP's ongoing effort to make it easy for SMEs to quickly scope, purchase and implement SAP though its growing number of qualified partners, makes spending on SAP among SMEs a shoe-in for our third and final pick to round out the SAP 2009 Spend Trend Trifecta.