SAP’s Co-CEOs Post Strong Q2
By Sam Sliman, President, Optimal Solutions Integration

 

When taking the helm in February 2010, SAP co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe committed to speeding up product development and delivery, increasing the number of SAP end users (1 billion by 2014), and returning SAP to double-digit growth. McDermott and Snabe have stayed true to their word. Last week’s announcement that SAP BusinessObjects and SAP Business All-in-One partners will now be selling and implementing Sybase mobile solutions adds to an already impressive array of new SAP products and solution releases brought to market under the guidance of McDermott and Snabe, and SAP’s financial reporting for the second quarter paints an impressive picture of strong, sustainable growth for the global leader in business application software.

Shrinking the hype-to-here cycle

In the world of enterprise technology, the typical 'hype-to-here' cycle is shrinking, particularly over the past few years, and most notably with the slew of new SAP products and solution releases that have come to market during the nascent reign of SAP co-CEOs McDermott and Snabe.

Whether we're looking at cloud computing, in-memory technology, appliances, advances in analytics and BI, or industry-specific SAP Business All-in-One partner solutions, it cannot be denied that SAP, working in tandem with its partners, has markedly sped up the pace with which the company gets new products and new releases to market.

For more on SAP’s new solutions and solution releases read: SAPPHIRE to SAPPHIRE Under the Dynamic Duo (Part One)

SAP's accelerated delivery of new products over the past year has been impressive, but with its announcement last week that SAP BusinessObjects and SAP Business All-in-One partners will now be selling and implementing Sybase mobile solutions, SAP may very well have set a new ‘hype-to-here’ speed record.

It's important to register that SAP acquired Sybase less than a year ago. Equally important is the fact that these Sybase mobile solutions are available from partners today. SAP worked hard over the past year integrating Sybase solutions with the SAP Business Suite and SAP BusinessObjects stacks. SAP also worked hard getting partners up to speed on how best to help SAP customers leverage Sybase mobile solutions to advance their business.

For a partner’s perspective on developing and marketing Sybase mobile solutions, SAP tapped Optimal SVP, SME market, Elliott Garofalo: “There is a high demand for mobile solutions in today’s market as customers look for the best mobile platform that will put their business operations on the go […] With four Sybase mobility solutions now in our back pocket, we can offer an extremely attractive mobility stack that integrates business processes, mobile platforms and development tools. The fact that SAP and Sybase are standing behind this offer allows us to move into the market for mobility solutions at full speed.”

For more on Sybase mobile solutions now available through SAP partners, read SAP press release: Mobile Business Boost: Sybase Solutions Available via SAP Partners

For more SAP partner perspective on Sybase mobile solutions, read Optimal SAP Blog post: Partners to Kick SAP Mobility into High Gear

Stellar financial performance

According to its financial report for the second quarter, SAP notched an impressive 20 percent jump in profit for the quarter. Equally impressive is SAP’s 35 percent growth rate across all markets -- North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. With demand for its business software strong and growing, SAP forecasts it will achieve the top end of its revenue and profit guidance in 2011.

SAP aims to increase sales to $28.5 billion by 2015. That compares with $17.8 billion in revenue last year. SAP’s stock has climbed 13 percent this year, giving SAP a market value in the neighborhood of $83 billion.

Underscoring the wisdom of SAP’s three-pronged ‘on-premise, on-demand, on-device’ product strategy (and taking a shot at Oracle in the process), Snabe cited ‘a fundamental shift in market dynamics’ for SAP’s present and long-term success. Businesses, Snabe maintains, are investing ‘more in innovative software and less commoditized hardware.’

McDermott and Snabe's recent 5-year contract extension is a well-deserved vote of confidence from the SAP supervisory board. As far as we can tell at Optimal, customers and partners alike share the sentiment and look forward to advancing business as the dynamic duo continues to rack up success.