SAP迎來收購SuccessFactors一周年大考
????德國企業(yè)軟件巨頭SAP掏出34億美元收購硅谷人力資源軟件公司SuccessFactors已經(jīng)一年有余。收購至今,歐美兩地的工程師一直在努力實現(xiàn)SuccessFactors云應(yīng)用與SAP本地軟件的融合,以便客戶能更容易地啟用這款較新的軟件。 ????除此以外,還有哪些改變?一年前收購時,SAP稱,SuccessFactors將繼續(xù)作為一家獨(dú)立公司進(jìn)行運(yùn)作,如今這項策略已經(jīng)發(fā)生了改變。SuccessFactors已被納入SAP新近組建的“云業(yè)務(wù)部門”,這個部門還包含其他幾項云應(yīng)用業(yè)務(wù)。SuccessFactors的CEO拉斯?達(dá)爾加德領(lǐng)導(dǎo)著SAP的所有云業(yè)務(wù)(除了新近收購的、目前仍保持獨(dú)立的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)企業(yè)商務(wù)網(wǎng)站Ariba)。為了協(xié)助自己掌管新的云業(yè)務(wù)部門,最近達(dá)爾加德聘請了兩位新總裁:杰夫?勞滕巴赫爾和肖恩?普瑞斯,分別負(fù)責(zé)云客戶關(guān)系管理軟件和SuccessFactors的旗艦人力資源軟件。(自收購以來,SuccessFactors也有一些高管離開——前總裁道格?鄧納萊恩于去年離職,另外離職的還有前首席財務(wù)官和首席市場官。) ????新的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)團(tuán)隊需要說服SAP客戶群購買SuccessFactors應(yīng)用(和其他云產(chǎn)品),讓他們相信引入SuccessFactors是為了讓其他SAP服務(wù)融為一體。為了推動銷售人員能合作銷售(包括云產(chǎn)品和本地軟件),SAP為所有的云產(chǎn)品交易支付“雙份傭金”,即給傳統(tǒng)軟件銷售代表和云銷售人員同時支付傭金。 ????但所有這些調(diào)整和融合是否能夠讓SAP云業(yè)務(wù)于2015年實現(xiàn)收入20億美元的既定目標(biāo)?據(jù)SAP稱,其年度云業(yè)務(wù)收入已接近8.5億歐元,但最近的季度收益數(shù)據(jù)顯示,云業(yè)務(wù)占全部收入的比重仍然很小。(SAP下次業(yè)績報告將于4月19日發(fā)布)。而且,即便達(dá)爾加德和SAP新的云業(yè)務(wù)總裁們能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)收入目標(biāo),他們的高毛利本地軟件銷量能否達(dá)標(biāo)仍然不得而知,而SAP素以高毛利的本地軟件著稱。 ????不過,有些客戶看起來對這樣的新安排感到滿意。 ????可口可樂裝瓶商Coca Cola Enterprises使用很多的SAP本地軟件和云應(yīng)用,公司副總裁大衛(wèi)?克拉姆雷稱:“過去(SAP和SuccessFactors)這兩家在很多領(lǐng)域相互競爭,現(xiàn)在它們變成了一家,我們看到它們的產(chǎn)品融合得更好了?!?/p> ????除了最新組建的云業(yè)務(wù)部門,SAP還在力推一種名為“HANA”的新型內(nèi)存數(shù)據(jù)庫技術(shù),同時向企業(yè)客戶銷售移動產(chǎn)品。這家公司目前正在超越傳統(tǒng)業(yè)務(wù)、向更新的科技轉(zhuǎn)移,而上述所有行動都是這個計劃的一部分。向SuccessFactors和其CEO達(dá)爾加德支付34億美元(有很高溢價)是這個計劃的重要組成部分。隨著如今SuccessFactors正式納入SAP云業(yè)務(wù)部門,向達(dá)爾加德匯報的管理人員增加,同時更多的銷售人員正在積極銷售傳統(tǒng)軟件和云軟件,或許我們很快就會看到這項策略到底能不能奏效。(財富中文網(wǎng)) |
????It's been over a year since German enterprise software giant SAP shelled out $3.4 billion forSuccessFactors, a Silicon Valley-based maker of human resources software. Since then, engineers on both sides of the Atlantic have been hard at work getting SuccessFactors's cloud-based apps to work alongside SAP's on-premise offerings, so that customers can more easily adopt the newer software. ????What else has changed? At the time of the acquisition, SAP (SAP) said SuccessFactors would continue to run as an independent company, but that strategy has shifted. SuccessFactors has been folded into SAP's newly formed "Cloud Business Unit," which also includes a handful of other cloud-based applications. SuccessFactors CEO Lars Dalgaard now leads the company's entire cloud business (with the exception of another recent cloud acquisition, business commerce network Ariba, which remains independent). To help him oversee the new business unit, Dalgaard recently hired two new presidents: Jeff Lautenbach, who is responsible for the company's cloud-based customer relationship management software, and Shawn Price, who heads up SuccessFactors's flagship HR software. (Meanwhile, some executives have departed post-acquisition -- Doug Dennerline, former president at SuccessFactors, left last year, as did the company's former CFO and CMO). ????The new leadership needs to convince SAP's customer base to buy SuccessFactors (and other cloud-based) products, and to convince customers that SuccessFactors was brought in to buy into other SAP offerings. To get sales reps to work together and sell both cloud and on-premise purchases, SAP has been "double comp-ing" all cloud deals, meaning it is paying a commission to both the traditional software reps and cloud salespeople. ????But can all of this rejiggering and integrating get SAP to reach its stated goal of 2 billion euros in cloud revenue by 2015? The company says its annual cloud revenue run rate is already approaching 850 million euros, though cloud revenue from its most recently reported quarter was still a small fraction of the company's overall sales (SAP next reports earnings on April 19). And even if Dalgaard and the company's new cloud business presidents are able to meet their revenue target, it's not clear what that will do to the number of highly lucrative, on-premise deals SAP is known for. ????Some customers, though, seem happy with the new arrangement. ????"It used to be that the two [SAP and SuccessFactors] were competing on many fronts," says David Crumley, a VP at Coca Cola Enterprises, which uses a number of SAP's on-premise and cloud-based applications. "Now they're coming together and we're seeing better product integration between the two suites." ????In addition to its newly formed cloud business, SAP is also pushing a new in-memory database technology called HANA and selling mobile products to enterprise customers, all part of the company's plan to move beyond its legacy business and invest in newer technologies. Shelling out $3.4 billion -- a significant premium -- for SuccessFactors and its CEO Dalgaard was a big part of that plan. With SuccessFactors now officially folded into the larger company's cloud business unit, a growing leadership team that reports to Dalgaard, and sales people who are actively selling both traditional and cloud-based software, we may soon find out whether that bet will pay off. |