We have relaunched: What's new at ZDNet Asia?

ZDNet / News / Software / Story

SAP delays small-business software

By Alorie Gilbert, CNET News.com on March 7, 2003

Summary

The German software maker plans to release a new set of business applications for small companies in the United States this spring, several months behind schedule.

Events

Microsoft MSDN/Developer Event
25 Mar 2010

One Marina Boulevard, Microsoft Singapore

IT Architect Regional Conference Singapore 2010
20 - 21 Apr 2010

Singapore Management University, Singapore

The Internet Show 2010
21-22 Apr 2010

Suntec Singapore

German software maker SAP plans to release a new set of business applications for small companies in the United States this spring, several months behind schedule.

The company's delayed introduction of its SAP Business One applications, originally scheduled for U.S. release by the end of last year, comes just as Microsoft revs up a new initiative to expand sales of competing small-business software through its Microsoft Business Solutions division. The Redmond, Wash., company said Wednesday that it has assigned its head of worldwide sales to lead the effort.

At stake is a big chunk of change. SAP's goal is to grow revenue from small and midsize business deals to more than US$1 billion by 2005, said Gary Fromer, vice president of small and midsize business at SAP America, SAP's U.S. subsidiary. SAP sold US$7.8 billion in software and related services last year.

The company already released Business One in Germany and a handful of other European companies, Fromer said. The U.S. release of the software, which is designed for companies with fewer than 150 employees, is slated for late May, he said. The software, built from applications SAP gained in its acquisition last year of Israeli company Top Manage Financial Solutions, streamlines accounting, human resources, sales and purchasing activities, he said.

The reason for the late start, according to Fromer, is that SAP has taken longer than planned to add certain features to the software that are unique to the needs of American companies. But the real reason, one analyst contended, is that SAP is having a tough go of finding suitable distribution partners to resell the product.

"Qualifying channel partners is hard to do," said Josh Greenbaum, an analyst at Enterprise Applications Consulting. "They were a little ambitious about how fast they thought they could get these partners lined up."

Fromer declined to discuss the progress of SAP's efforts to ink reseller partnerships in the United States, but he agreed that building a reseller channel is his biggest challenge. The company's goal is to eventually have several hundred resale partners in 25 cities across the country.

Managing a reseller channel is a big switch for SAP, which typically sells directly to its traditional base of large, multinational customers through its own formidable sales force. In an effort to target small businesses, however, the Walldorf, Germany, company embarked on building a reseller channel last year, enlisting the help of Hewlett-Packard. Some analysts wonder, however, if SAP will succeed given its track record. The company launched a similar program in 1996 and quietly shut it down a couple of years later after signing up just a few hundred customers.

"The issue has been channel development," Greenbaum said. "That's been a problem all along, and that's why they are back to square one."

A strong distribution channel is the strength of Microsoft, SAP's primary rival in the small-business segment. But even if it takes longer than expected, SAP plans on getting it right this time around.

"We are a smart and patient company," Fromer said.

Talkback

Add your opinion

In order to post a comment, you need to be registered. (Sign In or register below)

Post your comment
Transform your business interactions with real-time voice, video and telepresence solutions.
Tech Vendor: Cisco

ZDNet Asia Live

Found this great little deal calculator http://www.zdnetasia.com/downloa...

2 hours 1 minute ago by winstoncranford on topsy

RT @mistertechblog: I wrote about Nexus One and Touchdown, desktop dock, Bluetooth/USB tethering, ebooks here: http://bit.ly/bRdzx0

8 hours 12 minutes ago by yklee13 on topsy

Read my blog post on getting the most from your Nexus One: http://www.zdnetasia.com/blogs/m...

Data Centre Operator (Fresh Graduates Welcome to Apply) in ... http://bit.ly/bagYuu

8 hours 42 minutes ago by intmasterfeed on topsy

#Cisco #Cloud Cloud on ZDNet Asia: Aussie university joins Cisco cloud ยท Early-adopter criminals embrace cloud... http://bit.ly/d93C8S #TCN

9 hours 45 minutes ago by thetechgang on topsy

www.3w.com.au has seen it's outsourced IT Contracting Business in Manila grow at 4 times the rate of its traditional Australian Based...

16 hours 23 minutes ago by brucemills on Companies' outsourcing spend to increase

RT @3wconsulting: Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oY9f

Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oYbA

Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oYbz

Zdnetasia.com Estimated Worth $178,365 USD. Daily Ad Revenue:$244 USD, Daily Views:81,445 Pages... - http://www.haplog.com/www.zdneta...

When I create an event, I click on an approximate time during the day when I want the event to occur, then I click "edit event detail...

1 day 52 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Google Calendar gets 'smart' rescheduling

ipads break alott i had one it broke three times in the month i had it so i got rid of the damn thing id just go for the laptop Top Grade...

1 day 54 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Report: 'Hundreds of thousands' of iPad preorders

There are a number of websites that still require Internet Explorer to view and IE for Mac Stinks (it is really ies4osx which is the Wind...

1 day 55 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Microsoft: Only minor tweaks in Windows 7 SP1

The receivers don't transmit back to the satellite. Unless there is a phone line attached to the receiver, they don't have any wa...

1 day 58 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Apple to join the geolocation craze?

"Lead Cognos BI Developer Insurance - Jobs - ZDNet Asia" http://bit.ly/bRcxOG

1 day 53 minutes ago by rhrcognos on topsy

whatever little understanding I have we 'll only progress toward end of the world if we use HPCs to lenthen life of human being. Huma...

2 days 5 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing promises elixir of life

Thanks for the knowledgeable article on SDDs. Allas...when all this reasearch will happen in Indian Universities. Hope the new bill on Fo...

2 days 17 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on APAC HPC users eye solid-state drives

It was a good article. This brings a good opportunity for Indian IT firms to come up with new solutions in this field. HPC can become a b...

2 days 36 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing most-wanted job in Asia

COL KR DHARMADHIKARY(RETD) its very late to reply the link, but if it is still alive and looking for opportunity, i would like to know th...

2 days 33 minutes ago by deb021280 on Education takes off in rural India, helped by PCs

It was just a matter of time until google was marginalised anyway. I'm afraid this will be forgotten in China very quickly. Still, it...

2 days 38 minutes ago by robinsmith on Report: Google to leave China on April 10

High performance computing (HPC) most-wanted job in Asia http://bit.ly/9vFC3i (via @zdnetasia) #singapore

He doesn't care if her shoes are of glass, All he wants to see is a huge rack and nice a*s. Sleeping beauty's not awoken by true ...

2 days 7 minutes ago by warlowdavies on One pair of 3D glasses to rule them all

RT @zdnetasia: EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. (cont) http://tl.gd/i5jjd

EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. http://bit.ly/9etOZW

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08 via @zdnetasia

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08

[TECH] URL Shorteners slow Web redirection. - http://bit.ly/bySnWK @zdnetasia

URL shorteners are great but they can slow web redirection & you pray it would never go down http://bit.ly/bySnWK via @zdnetasia

URL shorteners slow Web redirection. http://bit.ly/bySnWK

Chinese agencies cry foul over Google. http://bit.ly/by6rwV

all of sg's isps have been practising compulsory invisible proxy for all home subscribers at their backend since many years back alre...

3 days 17 minutes ago by melvinchia on Web filters mean bad news for business

it is not to good for china.
Proactol

3 days 2 minutes ago by nathonastle on Chinese ad partners beg Google for information

Very good explanation of JMX

4 days 7 minutes ago by Babith B on Managing applications with JMX

The reaction to a report issued Tuesday by Flurry Analytics managed to completely overlook some interesting news--the Android-based Motorola Droid outsold the original iPhone over the same period of time following their respective launches--to focus instead on the sales numbers for the Nexus One.

4 days 11 minutes ago by lonemavericks on diggs

Another ZTE story....

4 days 12 minutes ago by Moderate Your Greed on Philippines opens bid for final 3G license

Keep up with ZDNet Asia

Linkedin Join our network

RSS Feeds Subscribe now

Newsletters Subscribe today

Twitter Follow us

Inside ZDNet Asia

Special Report: Tech Focus in 2010

Latest Videos on Tech Industry

Insight: Interviews with Newsmakers

Search for over 15,000 Tech Jobs in Asia

Find your Tech answers in TechGuides

IT Library: Over 60,000 IT papers at your fingertips

Download IT Priorities 2010 Report