NEWS: SAP Puts Bullseye On Salesforce.com, Launches Plan To Become #1 In CRM

CLOUD WARS -- Betting it can expand and elevate the CRM market as digital business is reshaping the global economy, SAP is taking direct aim at SaaS powerhouse Salesforce.com and its market leadership in CRM with SAP CEO Bill McDermott promising to deliver "next-generation business modeling for the perfect customer experience."

While SAP's primary message for financial analysts at its recent Capital Markets Day was its impressive combination of 30% growth in the cloud plus ongoing strength in its core on-premises businesses, McDermott also made it unmistakably clear that SAP intends to completely redefine the CRM market into something more wide-ranging and more powerful than conventional tools can address.

McDermott said, "This end-to-end is what we do. I have believed for a long time that commodity CRM is just SFA—commodity CRM is like a marketing campaign associated with the sales promo.

Read the full article on Forbes.com...

NEWS: SAP Announces New Pricing Model - Let the fun begin...

Software giant’s new pricing model attempts to address customer concerns about liability exposure due to “indirect access.”

Implications of the new model for companies will depend on whether they are potential net new customers of SAP, existing customers without indirect access concerns, or existing customers with potential liability for indirect access.

Baker McKenzie: Enhanced Customer Service with SAP Business Suite on SAP...

SAP will do small 'tuck-in' acquisitions, not mega deals, CEO Bill McDermott says

• Investors should not expect the German software company to engage in big deals in the near future, McDermott told CNBC.
• In January, SAP announced a deal to buy CallidusCloud for $2.4 billion. It was the first large acquisition for German firm since it bought Concur in 2014 for $7.3 billion.
• McDermott explained that margins would rise in 2018 because heavy investment, such as opening data centers, is behind the company.

Listen to Bill here...

SAP Introduces Business Integrity Screening Solution

SAP Introduces Business Integrity Screening Solution to Reduce Risks in Financial Transactions

• Analyzes data in real time to identify exceptions, increase security within business transactions
• Combines predefined detection rules and predictive analytics to address risks involving third parties and transactions
• Flexible platform that integrates with other governance, risk, and compliance solutions to strengthen business integrity

WALLDORF, Germany, Feb. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) has introduced SAP® Business Integrity Screening, an application that helps reduce financial risk within business transactions. It analyzes data for suspicious transactions and patterns in real time to spot exceptions, potential fraud and compliance failures. This automation results in major efficiency gains and cost savings.

The flexible platform, powered by SAP HANA®, allows organizations to address compliance assurance across a broad range of scenarios by detecting anomalous transactions early, before financial losses occur, and predicting or preventing future occurrences. The application also screens business entities and individuals against blacklisted or high-risk parties to reduce the risk of conducting business with such parties. All these features reduce the cost associated with investigations and compliance breaches.

With the rise of the digital economy, businesses are susceptible to new points of entry for potential fraud and other risks each day. Current detection measures leave investigators with too many false positives and more work than existing processes can support. Risk and compliance teams need to screen external partners to identify exposure to commercial and reputation risks as well as compliance issues. To efficiently protect the integrity of business processes, organizations must also improve the accuracy of exception detection in all transactions.

"The price for failing to properly screen the integrity of business activities can be steep," said Thack Brown, SAP general manager and global head of LoB Finance. "At SAP, we are dedicated to helping businesses run better, and mitigating risk is a critical part of that. Our new business integrity capabilities not only allow us to help spot, reduce and prevent fraud and other irregularities but also help our customers better identify the integrity of the third parties they conduct business with."

Read the full article here...

SUSE collaborates with Amazon Web Services to accelerate SAP migrations

The expanded collaboration allows SUSE and AWS to meet growing customer demand for the agility and cost benefits of cloud-based business-critical applications.

Feb 14 - SUSE today announced the expansion of its relationship with Amazon Web Services (AWS), which allows AWS to resell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications directly on AWS Marketplace. AWS customers running SAP workloads on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications, a leading platform for SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA - will get an integrated and streamlined support experience from AWS and SUSE.

AWS customers can purchase the SUSE Linux Enterprise solution on demand, paying only for what they use. This expanded collaboration allows SUSE and AWS to meet growing customer demand for the agility and cost benefits of cloud-based business-critical applications.

Since AWS first certified its platform for SAP applications in 2012, customers have been using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server to run their SAP workloads on AWS. In 2014, when AWS certified its instances for SAP HANA, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications was also made available on AWS. To date, customers have largely relied on SUSE's bring-your-own-subscription program to deploy SAP workloads on AWS. The expanded collaboration lets customers benefit from on-demand pricing and Reserved Instances as they grow their SAP footprint on AWS.

Read further here...

How SAP Business Beyond Bias productizes inclusive processes within SuccessFactors – an illustrated review by Jon Reed

One of SAP’s best stories is its commitment to diversity via its Business Beyond Bias initiative. Powerful videos on diversity set the right tone at SAP, but that wouldn’t hold up in the long haul – not without a deeper effort.

At Sapphire Now 2017, I blogged about my video shoot with Dr. Patti Fletcher, Leadership Futurist with SAP SuccessFactors.

My prior article shows how SAP is tackling the issues, but there’s a big missing piece. Since Sapphire Now, I’ve been tracking how SAP is embedding inclusive processes within SuccessFactors. Tackling “inclusion” in software means confronting algorithmic bias. It means acknowledging that no software is neutral. But it also means helping customers understand their choices. Customers don’t want to be forced down a narrow path of mandatory actions.

Read Jon's full article on Diginomica...

SAP to acquire Callidus Software in $2.4bn cloud mega deal - Silicon Republic

"The acquisition of Callidus will boost SAP’s position in the CRM market. SAP has agreed to acquire sales performance software vendor Callidus Software in a $2.4bn cash deal. The acquisition of Callidus Software, which trades as CallidusCloud, will help SAP to complete and differentiate its portfolio of products. 

‘These two strong companies will be better together, help the world run better and improve people’s lives’ – BILL MCDERMOTT 

The German IT giant intends to integrate CallidusCloud’s Lead to Money suite into its customer engagement CRM suite. SAP will purchase Callidus for $36 per share, a 21pc premium on the company’s average price per share over a 90-day period. SAP has elected to fund the transaction with existing cash balances and an acquisition term loan."

Click here to view the full news story

SAP Unveils New Digital Badges for SAP Global Certification

WALLDORF — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced new digital badges for the SAP Global Certification program to help SAP software learners and users promote their proficiency in various subject areas specific to SAP software.

The new badges will help learners promote their achievement online and offline. They also provide a competitive advantage and trusted validation at no additional cost.

Established in 1995, the SAP Global Certification program offers multitiered certification paths for specific subjects. The badges will serve as digital proof of successful completion of these programs for use on websites, social media and SAP Learning Rooms, the social environment of SAP Learning Hub.

“We are thrilled to offer certification holders a digital way to showcase their achievements via social media, and to demonstrate to their employers a commitment to continuous learning,” said Bernd Welz, executive vice president and chief knowledge officer, Products and Innovation, SAP. “The badges will also help individuals to showcase the certifications they hold, and employers to recruit and hire the right talent faster and at a lower cost as education and skill claims can be verified more quickly and more securely.”

Read the full article here...

BrandZ Ranking: SAP Named Germany’s Most Valuable Brand

WALLDORF — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) ranked No. 1 in brand value among German companies, ahead of well-established companies such as Deutsche Telekom, BMW and DHL, according to the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable German Brands report.

At $48.9 billion, SAP’s brand value was nearly $10 billion above the brand value of second-place Deutsche Telekom, according to the report by communications services group WPP and global research agency Kantar Millward Brown.

While many German companies succeed primarily through reliability, there is still much room for improvement with regard to innovation, the report said. As the only dedicated technology company in Germany’s Top 10 ranking, SAP is well equipped in this regard as its employees actively embrace a culture of innovation.

Brand value rests on commercial success, market capitalization and consumer trust. This trust must be earned each day through SAP’s commitment and dedication to its customers.

“We are thrilled to be recognized as the number one brand on BrandZ’s German ranking,” SAP Chief Marketing Officer Alicia Tillman said. “Achieving this top spot is an incredible reflection of our commitment to our customers in Germany and overarching purpose to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. The report confirms and motivates our work — not only in Germany but worldwide.”

Read full article here...

NEWS: UPS and SAP deliver on-demand additive manufacturing technology

UPS and SAP deliver on-demand additive manufacturing technology: "For years, UPS has created a logistics empire by delivering goods to businesses and homes around the world, but lately, the company has evolved from delivering the goods to actually making them. UPS is collaborating with SAP to develop a system of additive manufacturing technology, also known as 3D printing, that integrates UPS' logistics expertise with SAP's business process expertise and the SAP Leonardo next-generation technology platform."

Camelot ITLab joins SAP initiative to boost Blockchain and IoT | Technology | Supply Chain Digital

Read full press release here: "Camelot ITLab has announced it will be joining SAP’s brand-new initiative to boost Blockchain and IoT. With the SAP Blockchain and IoT Co-Innovation Program SAP customers get the opportunity to identify, discover and implement applications to capture various events in blockchain, from the design and development of products to production and logistics up to product tracking."

Key Takeaways From SAP's Q3

Read full article here "In continuation with a strong first half of the year, software giant SAP continued its impressive performance in Q3. Third quarter revenues grew 4% over the prior year period to $6.6 billion and were in line with the market expectations. Aided by a phenomenal increase in new cloud bookings, revenues from cloud business continued to be the primary growth driver. The cloud and software gross margins saw a marginal decline, but a substantial improvement in the services gross margin led to a slight improvement in overall margins. We expect cloud margins to continue declining in the near term, as the company faces tough competition from software behemoths like Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce. Operating profit and EPS grew by 19% and 35% year-over-year respectively, due to lower share-based compensation, acquisition-related charges and restructuring costs. While the revenue growth was seen across all business segments, SAP’s Cloud business, aided by a phenomenal increase in new bookings, was the standout performer. The company continued its dominance in the Enterprise Resource Planning software market, with more than 600 customers adopting its S/4HANA platform in the quarter, taking the overall count to over 6,900 customers. This should assuage some investor concerns about the long term value of this platform, the sheer power of which is reflected in its cost. Moreover, with 80% of its customers still using the earlier platform and expected to shift to the newer one in the near future, there is tremendous potential which the company expects to tap."

Square Partners With SAP to embed Square payments in to SAP Business One

Square Partners With SAP (Read full article) "In Square Inc.'s (NYSE: SQ) second-quarter conference call, CEO Jack Dorsey promised that the company was constantly looking for ways it could "accelerate and deepen" its offerings to its customers. One of the ways the company has recently focused on in order to accomplish this goal is to embed its payment processing into existing business software platforms through partnerships. Earlier this quarter, Square partnered with Eventbrite, the popular live event-planning platform. 

More recently, Square announced another partnership, this time with SAP SE (NYSE: SAP), the German-based enterprise application software provider. Under the terms of the deal, announced on Square's corporate blog, Square's payment processing and financial services will now be integrated with SAP's Business One platform. SAP Business One is a software platform that provides small and medium-sized retailers with a variety of back-office business services, including accounting, project management, and human resources. With the integration of the two companies' services, businesses will now be able to view their sales and payment data with "one holistic view."

News: SAP Q3 growth slows on cloud, licenses dip

• Q3 revenue 5.59 billion euros, misses consensus for 5.71 billion
• Q3 core profit 1.64 billion euros, just below forecasts
• Raises midpoint of 2017 revenue, profit guidance

SAP, Europe's most valuable technology company, reported that third-quarter revenue growth slowed after a strong first half and profits came up just short of analysts' expectations.
Core profit excluding special items rose by 4 percent to 1.64 billion euros ($1.94 billion) at constant currency rates, SAP said, below the 1.69 billion euros expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.
Nonetheless, SAP said it was confident it could meet or beat its financial targets for the full year, as it modestly raised the midpoint of its outlook for 2017 revenue and core profits.
Revenue for the German business planning software provider grew 8 percent to 5.59 billion euros from a year earlier, falling short of the mean forecast of 5.71 billion euros from 16 analysts surveyed by Reuters. 

Read more on MSNBC...

SAP Further Expands SAP® Vehicles Network with New Connected Fueling and Payment Options

SAP SE today announced new agreements with Deutsche Tamoil and Q1 that will add hundreds of new fueling locations across Germany to the SAP® Vehicles Network solution. Other agreements with PACE and Tantalum will add new automated payment options for fueling and parking. SAP also showcased new integration scenarios with TripIt® from Concur, the world's highest-rated travel-organizing app, and automated payment options with Parken+ and Apple Pay to create seamless, connected travel experiences. The announcements were made at IAA New Mobility World,  taking place Sept. 14–17 in Frankfurt, Germany, and Mobile World Congress Americas, taking place Sept. 12–14 in San Francisco, California. - Read full release at NewsWire

Top 5 Vendors in the Compensation Software Market From 2017 to 2021: Technavio

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technavio has announced the top five leading vendors in their recent global compensation software market report. This research report also lists 22 other prominent vendors that are expected to impact the market during the forecast period.

This report provides an exhaustive list of all the global vendors that provide the compensation software. Vendors are identified based on the revenue and market dominance in terms of their geographical presence, product portfolio, and R&D. The vendor matrix included in the report gives a detailed comparison of the features, deployment model, training and support, customer size, and geographical presence of each major vendor.

Read full article here.

NEWS: Oracle's Booming Cloud Business Could Rip And Replace SAP As #1 In Apps

CLOUD WARS – Cloud computing, which has already triggered massive disruptions across industries in business models and traditional pecking-orders, is giving Oracle Corp. a once-in-a-generation chance to displace arch-enemy SAP as the world leader in enterprise applications.

For decades, SAP has been the world leader in enterprise applications and Oracle has been the front-runner in enterprise databases, with both companies retaining their leadership positions in spite of the seismic shifts in the industry caused by the moves from mainframes to minicomputers to client-server to the Internet.

Oracle's recent surge in cloud-applications revenue - it sold $1 billion in SaaS apps during the quarter ended May 31 and $3.4 billion for the year give it a legitimate chance to overtake SAP as the world's #1 provider of enterprise applications, particularly in the massive cloud ERP market.

In the combined category of on-premise apps plus cloud apps, it's still not very close as SAP's revenue for that category doubles that of Oracle for the corresponding set of products and services:

• Oracle: For the 3 months ending May 31, it reported combined applications revenue of $2.86 billion: $964 million for SaaS apps and $1.9 billion for on-premise (see full details on page 10 of the Oracle press release).
• SAP: For the 3 months ending June 30, it reported combined applications revenue for cloud plus on-premise of $5.61 billion (see full details on page 7 of the SAP press release).

Read full article here.

SAP is expanding its business for SMB and channel customers

The Germany-based software company moved into a new office in Tempe, Arizona, on July 25. The company brought physical operations to the Phoenix area due to the strong presence of startups. The vast majority (four in five) of SAP’s 355,000 customers are SMBs.

“We’ve been working in the SMB space for a very long time, with 80 percent of our customers being in the space, but it’s evolving,” said Christine Gavin-Johnson, vice president of commercial and channel sales for SAP North America. “Because new companies are showing up every day.”

There are approximately 200 employees in the facility Johnson tells Channel Partners that her company plans to add 150 seats to the Tempe office over the next three to five years. They will specialize mainly in sales, and some will be involved with the channel. SAP has approximately 16,000 worldwide partners.

 

Check out some pictures and read the full article here.

NEWS: SAP Says Restrictions on New Recruitment not a General Hiring Freeze

German business software company SAP denied a media report on Friday that said it has imposed a complete freeze on recruitment in order to meet financial targets this year, while reiterating that it had restricted new hirings in some areas.

Business magazine WirtschaftsWoche said on Friday that SAP had instituted a cost-savings program to control infrastructure spending, corporate purchasing and business travel that was not tied directly to generating sales.

SAP continued to hire new employees in development and sales while reining in on other types of recruitment as well as non-essential travel, the company said. "This is in no way a general hiring freeze," an SAP spokesman said.

WirtschaftsWoche said it obtained a leaked document, marked "strictly confidential" spelling out SAP 's plan, which it said had been decided on July 15 by the company's executive board.

During its quarterly investor call in July CFO Luka Mucic said SAP would hold back on incremental hiring after increasing its overall workforce by 3,000 in the first half of 2017 and 7,000 in the past year to 87,114 in June.

Read the full article here.