By Kathy Gibson in Potsdam, Germany – SAP intends to be the leading CRM software vendor soon, as it offers companies an integrated experience, based on the HANA in-memory technology, that extends into the e-commerce space.
Bill McDermott, co-CEO of SAP, yesterday revealed that SAP is confident that it will redefine the CRM software category via the omni-channel.
“Mark my words: sales force automation is important because it optimises the internal sales organisation,” he says. “But the future is not about what you do inside the company: it’s about omni-channel e-commerce; it’s about serving the customer and knowing who the customer is, regardless of the channel.
“SAP intends to take the CRM market by storm – and I am extremely confident that we will redefine it.”
Asked whether the company is agile enough to make such an innovative leap, McDermott comments: “Do I think SAP is successful enough to talk and chew gum? Yes, I think we can do the business software and still rewrite business models and launch new companies.”
As well as CRM, SAP is focusing on mobile computing and cloud – both areas where it has bolstered its own offerings through acquisitions.
McDermott adds that he is confident that HANA will soon be the de facto platform for cloud computing.
“This is because it offers one common platform. Today company executives are concerned that 90 cents out of every dollar they spend goes to hardware, maintenance, services and consultants. But software is the innovation layer.
“As HANA collapses the software stack, companies will require less hardware, less code and therefore less cost.”
He says customers have made it clear to SAP that they want choice: to be able to choose whether they run their software systems on-premise, in the cloud or in their own data centres.
McDermott was speaking at the opening of SAP’s new Innovation Centre in Potsdam, Germany.
He took the opportunity to pay tribute to the company’s co-founder and current chairman of the supervisory board, Professor Hasso Plattner.
“The US technology companies have done a good job of building their CEOs up as major celebrities,” he says. “But when you talk about a Jobs or a Gates, how can you not talk about a Plattner.”
He points out that much of the world’s business runs on SAP, and that it is possibly the most widely-used enterprise software in the world.
“In addition, SAP is possibly the most global company in the IT industry,” McDermott adds. “TO be strong companies have to do well in the strong economies like the US and the UK. But how many of them feature in Brazil, Africa, Latin America and Asia? SAP has been adopted as a standard in all of these markets.”
He says this presence gives the company a good understanding of what the rest of the world needs in terms of solution. “And we are able to think globally, being sensitive to different cultures and understand the differences that arise from language and culture.
“We think this aspect of SAP is under-appreciated.”
