New Web software by Claudia Sonea

The long awaited product that SAP AG promised us has finally been launched. The new line of Web-delivered software is expected to change the company's business model and also to shake up the Internet software market. Business ByDesign is the name of the new software and it is mainly for mid-sized companies, created as a one-size-fits-all, subscription-based package. Sap's goal is to double their customers due to the new product, so until 2010 they should have around 100.000, because, according to Chief Executive Henning Kagermann, thanks top it a new era will begin for the company. SAP, the market leader in complex suites of software for large enterprises, has opened new roads by being the first major software maker to go on sale on the market for so-called software as a service delivered over the Internet. Rumor has it that the company invested around 400 million euros (279 million pounds) with the purpose of marketing and ramping up Business ByDesign by the end of next year. 12,300 developers are working on the project and that means like one fifth. The product includes some expensive features like integrating management of areas including financials, human resources, supply chain and customer relationship management will cost $149 per month per user and $54 per month per five users for a pared-down version. A more bold and expensive product than the one offered by Salesforce.com Inc that has 35.000 customers and a 60 dollar/ user price. Salesforce and privately held NetSuite are at this moment the best; they grow faster than their biggest adversaries Oracle Corp and Microsoft Corp and that it is why Salesforce's European president, Lindsey Armstrong, stated that there is no real threat. Also Dan Sholler, a software analyst with Gartner says he is quite skeptic regarding SAP's goals. Business ByDesign will first be distributed to selected customers in the United States and Germany, followed by Britain, France and China and according to Kagermann until late 2008 will continue to be distributed. Moreover, he says there will be no compromises, Business ByDesign being a completely different product belonging to a separately development branch. The only thing that we can do is wait and see what will happen next. Stay connected!

related story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070919/tot-uk-sap-launch-b86c26b_2.html

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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