I have been following SAP for 25 years – since the German software vendor first came to Asia Pacific. A lot has changed in that time.German software giant SAP is the ERP vendor all the other ERP vendors love to hate.

It is the runaway market leader at the top end of town, but its products have the reputation of being expensive and needing an army of consultants to make them work properly.

But it is still number one, and is adapting quickly to changing business and technology imperatives. I have sat in sessions, quite recently, in which SAP’s competitors have been dismissive of its ability to change and to remain competitive.

They would do well not to dismiss SAP too lightly. It takes a lot to get an ocean liner to change direction, but once it does so its momentum can be irresistible.

Back in the 1990s I used to follow the ERP (enterprise resource planning) market very closely, visiting SAP’s head office in Germany a few times and attending user conferences in Australia and internationally. SAP’s rise in the 1990s, during the massive global ERP boom, was astonishing. It towered above its competitors.

SOURCE: itwire.com