SOLUTIONS FOR THE BUSINESS USER

ACHIEVING LEADERSHIP IN A GROWING CATEGORY

Leadership in the market for “business user” solutions is a key component of SAP’s growth strategy. In 2007, we made important strides in the business user market, including the initation of our largest acquisition ever.

» Providing the Tools for Better Decisions

» SAP Acquires Business Objects

» Immediate Leadership  

Providing the Tools for Better Decisions

The business user is a segment of the global workforce that has generally remained outside of the enterprise software mainstream. In their roles as decision makers, business users are generally not directly involved in more structured business processes such as customer relationship management or supply chain management – although their roles often involve the supervision and analysis of these processes. In most cases, they operate in a less structured environment, drawing on information resources as diverse as spreadsheets and Internet sites. However, their efforts can be enhanced by tools and applications designed to help organize and manage information to optimize everyday business activities and improve the way employees work.

In recent years, SAP has built a strong portfolio of solutions targeting the business user market, including advanced solutions for corporate performance management and governance, risk, and compliance. Revenues from our business user solutions grew by more than 120% in 2007, reflecting strong market demand across a wide range of industries.

Our solutions for this important market segment include:

• Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC)
  Effective governance, risk, and compliance processes have become a top priority for businesses of all sizes that want to increase stakeholders’ trust and confidence. SAP solutions for GRC help ensure that customers have the proper controls in place to mitigate risk, achieve regulatory compliance, and execute their strategic goals.
   
• Enterprise Performance Management
  In today’s increasingly global and competitive business environment, businesses need to plan faster and do more, with potentially less budget and resources. SAP solutions for enterprise performance management empower organizations to manage all financial and operational strategy, planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and analytic requirements – in addition to profitability and cost optimization.
   
• Duet Software for Microsoft Office and SAP
  Originally announced in April 2005, Duet software enables seamless access to SAP business processes and data via Microsoft Office – revolutionizing how information workers interact with enterprise applications. Duet is the result of a groundbreaking collaboration between SAP and Microsoft, and is the first joint product created and supported by these two industry leaders. In April 2007, SAP and Microsoft announced that they have deepened their relationship and will jointly enhance Duet with additional business scenarios, platform capabilities and development tools.
   
• Project „Atlantic“
  In early 2008, SAP and IBM announced plans to deliver their first joint software product, code-named “Atlantic,” that will integrate IBM Lotus Notes software with SAP Business Suite. The combined efforts will result in a new style of applications that present information and data in the context of users familiar with the Lotus Notes desktop. This will make it easier for users to move between Lotus Notes and SAP Business Suite applications, and will greatly enhance the return on investment that companies have made in their SAP solutions.

SAP Acquires Business Objects

In October, 2007, SAP announced its intention to acquire Business Objects S.A. (Business Objects), a pioneer in business intelligence (BI) and the world’s leading BI software company. The acquisition, SAP’s largest ever, was completed in February 2008.

The successful acquisition of Business Objects unites two of the technology industry’s biggest brands with a shared vision to transform the way the world works by connecting people, information and businesses. From the start, SAP and Business Objects shared thousands of joint customers, highlighting the synergies that companies are already leveraging by combining the existing products from SAP and Business Objects. At the same time, each company serves thousands of customers who could benefit from the other company’s solutions. For example, 30,000 SAP customers are not yet using Business Objects solutions, and approximately 60% of Business Objects customers do not currently use SAP software.

SAP and Business Objects quickly embarked on a road map to transform their wide lead in the market of software for business users into leadership in the emerging market for business performance optimization – which helps organizations see and respond to business events in real time. As a first indication of the successful pace of the companies’ integration, SAP and Business Objects also announced an initial slate of nine joint product offerings, enabling deep, operational intelligence to improve business performance for customers in multiple industries worldwide.

Immediate Leadership

The acquisition of Business Objects complements SAP’s existing growth strategy, granting immediate leadership in the market for business user solutions. And, it allows SAP to reach new customers and expand its footprint in existing accounts. Growth in the business user segment is driven by three major trends: First, companies need to make decisions more effectively based on a broader array of data sources from both inside and outside the enterprise, and from structured and unstructured sources. Second, today’s business users need better tools and applications that go beyond individual views to support collaborative decision-making. Third, companies are seeking competitive advantage by extending beyond their businesses to create and manage business networks with partners, suppliers and customers. And these trends are precisely what we are focusing on: Building new applications to help business users, teams, and companies better collaborate through networks.

SAP Business Objects 

Our vision is to help teams optimize business performance by connecting people, information, and businesses across the business network, regardless of the underlying business applications or data stores.