05 December 2011

SAP to accelerate cloud strategy with acquisition of SuccessFactors

SAP America is to acquire cloud-based HR software specialist SuccessFactors for $around $3.4 billion – leading SAP AG to claim a dominant position globally in cloud-based world-class business applications.

The software giant also says it gains immediate scale and momentum in the fast-growing cloud-based human capital management software sector, drawing on SuccessFactors achievements, which include 15 million subscription seats among more than 3,500 cusotmers across 168 countries, as well as 77% growth year-on-year.

There can be no doubt that the acquisition will accelerate SAP's momentum, in terms of cloud applications, platforms and infrastructure, with the combination of resources and technologies leading to end-to-end offerings.

SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott sees the acquisition as marking another stride in the company's strategy of delivering enterprise softwaresolutions on premise, in the cloud and on mobile devices.

SuccessFactors' solutions are highly complementary to SAP's core HCM offerings as well as SAP's cloud assets, he says, citing SAP Business ByDesign and SAP Sales on Demand.

"The cloud is a core of SAP's future growth, and the combination of SuccessFactors' leadership team and technology with SAP will create a cloud powerhouse," states McDermott.

"The acquisition will help us address the top priority for CEOs globally – managing people and talent. Together, SAP and SuccessFactors will create tremendous business value for customers, with potent synergies to accelerate our growth in the cloud."

"This is a revolutionary combination of proven capabilities that will allow SuccessFactors to accelerate our roadmap by 10 years, and bring the world's leading application knowledge and IP to our customers, through the cloud, and the largest applications customer base, instantly," adds Lars Dalgaard, founder and CEO, SuccessFactors.

"The business world is ready for enterprise-class cloud applications and, together, we can deliver incredible new innovation for global businesses."

Author
Brian Tinham

Supporting Information

Companies
SAP (UK) Ltd

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