SAP's Business Objects Buy Understood

Investors' initial reaction to SAP's bid for BI vendor Business Objects was a tad trepidatious. After all, the deal was by far the largest in SAP's 35-year history and, ostensibly, was in contrast to SAP's stated commitment to organic growth. For the most part, industry pundits were a bit skeptical, underscoring the challenges inherent in acquisitions of this magnitude and playing it safe by adopting a 'wait-and-see' stance.

Now that SAP has had some time to educate the market on its short- and long-term strategy for Business Objects, lights are beginning to dawn as understanding of the payoff for both SAP and its customers becomes better understood. 

According to Sam Sliman, president for Optimal Solutions Integration, Inc., a leading SAP consulting and staffing firm, recent popular commentary that SAP’s acquisition of Business Objects is predominantly a defensive reaction to Oracle’s purchase of Hyperion and IBM’s Cognos takeover, or little more than a move by SAP to secure additional revenue by buying a piece of the BI market, is as shortsighted as it is ill informed.

Read Sliman's article: SAP's True Business Object

Upon completion of their merger, SAP and Business Objects wasted no time in announcing joint products--nine software packages that will go on sale this month and combine products from Business Objects and SAP. They include Financial Performance Management, Governance, Risk and Compliance, and Visualization and Reporting.

Read Computerworld article: SAP and Business Objects Announce Joint Products

SAP's global partners such as Accenture , Capgemini , Deloitte and IBM , among others, have stepped up and publically endorsed the SAP BOBJ deal.

Read CNMoney article: Global Ecosystem Embraces SAP Acquisition of Business Objects

Dan Farber & Larry Dignan report on recent commentary by SAP CEO Kagermann and Deputy CEO Leo Apotheker. The top-line takeaway is that market share numbers look good and the product development strategy appears sound. SAP and Business Objects have a combined ecosystem of 6,000 partners that will be developing products and services and developing the market. The two companies have about 40,000 customers each, but only about 15 percent overlap. 

For deeper analysis of the SAP, BOBJ roadmap, read Between the Lines Post: SAP-Business Objects Combo Ready to Roll

More info and insight on the SAP, Business Objects deal is covered in earlier Optimal SAP Blog posts.

Read Optimal SAP Blog Post: SAP's Business Objects Buy - Beyond BI

Read Optimal SAP Blog post: The Buzz on SAP's Bid for Business Objects  

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