SAP held a West Coast partner summit this week, and a Spectator reader in attendance gave me some feedback on the session.
According to my source, SAP is recognizing the challenge of selling under current economic conditions. Without revealing the actual numbers shared in the summit, let's just say that SAP is appropriately lowering its expectations for the coming year. It recognizes that the days of the mega-deal are over and will focus this year on selling a higher volume of smaller deals as well as sales of Business Objects and other complementary products into its installed base. It will look to target competitors' (e.g. Oracle's) customers with these products also.
My take: SAP’s tactics are consistent with what many other observers have noted: large deals have for the most part dried up. Yet smaller companies are still buying new ERP systems, and larger companies still appear willing to make investments in specific areas, such as business intelligence (BI), where they can show value. Everyone—buyers, vendors, implementers, advisers—need to adjust their expectations accordingly.
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