After having spent 7+ years with the industry and 5+ years of consulting, I admire the pace at which technology changed from my early days 4.7 E to the present day SaaS revolution thorugh cloud computing. I always question myself whether SAP is well positioned to compete with Oracle / the other SaaS based Enterprise software systems. I analysed the trends and the upcoming tech startups like Workday which have edged out the technology majors and embraced latest technologies. I read various reviews and remarkes on the top ERP vendors
- Is SAP doing a right job at the right time ?
- How can SAP better compete with other vendors with changing times ?
My recommendations of the strategies rest on the following Principles :
- If you can’t beat the leader, Join / imitate him
- Hit on the weakness of the competitor.
- Be more customer centric
- Back to basics.
After my interaction with many SAP clients, co- SAP consultants, analysts and analysts’s reviews , I conclude , SAP is on right track from 2010 and unless it takes drastic measures and SWOT analysis, it may be difficult to turnaround.
Wait for my next series of 5 blogs wherein i discuss each of these strategies in details.
1) DELIVER INNOVATION
2) MINI BI/BO INTEGTRATED WITH ERP
3) STANDARDISATION
4) ACCELERATE TECHNOLOGY/ BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
5) DIVERSE INDUSTRY FOCUS
ByD is full blown SaaS with a comprehensive extension concept.
If SAP play its card right, it will be a threat for everyone out there.
All the best,
Guido
P. S.: HANA is hype; ByD is solid rock.
P. P. S.: Not sure about SAP Sales, if they understand they cards right. Ohter story …