SAP set to launch CRM on-demand

Apparently, SAP has been watching with alarm as Salesforce.com has been gaining ground in large organizations that SAP considers its turf. In response, SAP is said to be ready to launch its own CRM on-demand offering. The announcement looks to be coming in the next few weeks.

According to CRN,

Many industry observers say SAP is becoming increasingly concerned as Salesforce.com gains traction among large enterprises. Last week, for example, the San Francisco-based CRM vendor revealed that Merrill Lynch has signed on for 5,000 seats of its hosted software. Other big customers include ADP, Kaiser Permanente and Nextel.

SAP's strength as an on-demand provider will be its ability to offer integration with its own back-office applications, a challenge for standalone providers such as Salesforce.com. On the other hand, SAP is a big company that's used to selling software as a license. Can SAP do what it takes to sell software as a service? As I indicated yesterday regarding Siebel, it's not easy to do both.

On the other hand, some early customers of Salesforce.com are said to be looking at other alternatives. For those that are already SAP customers, maybe SAP can capture them.

CRN has the scoop.

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