Monday, April 02, 2007
SAP Gets Soggier [Fool.com] March 29, 2007
SAP Gets Soggier [Fool.com] March 29, 2007: "SAP also announced in January that it will need to invest $400 million to $500 million over the next two years to improve its product line, making it more appealing to smaller customers. As a result, 2007 operating margins should fall from 27.3% to between 26% and 27%.
The massive investments are an admission that SAP came late to the on-demand party. Business software delivered via the Internet has been a growth business for companies like Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), RightNow (Nasdaq: RNOW), Taleo (Nasdaq: TLEO), and NetSuite. Agassi was SAP's on-demand evangelist, and it seems he didn't want to wait until 2009, at the earliest, to become SAP's CEO. There's also the possibility that he left because he felt SAP's on-demand initiatives weren't moving fast enough.
Driving real change in a global company takes a charismatic leader with a clear strategy. Without Agassi, things will only get murkier for SAP shareholders. In the meantime, rivals like Salesforce.com and NetSuite will continue to bolster their businesses. "
The massive investments are an admission that SAP came late to the on-demand party. Business software delivered via the Internet has been a growth business for companies like Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), RightNow (Nasdaq: RNOW), Taleo (Nasdaq: TLEO), and NetSuite. Agassi was SAP's on-demand evangelist, and it seems he didn't want to wait until 2009, at the earliest, to become SAP's CEO. There's also the possibility that he left because he felt SAP's on-demand initiatives weren't moving fast enough.
Driving real change in a global company takes a charismatic leader with a clear strategy. Without Agassi, things will only get murkier for SAP shareholders. In the meantime, rivals like Salesforce.com and NetSuite will continue to bolster their businesses. "
