German business software maker SAP, which on Wednesday announced the acquisition of web-based software maker Ariba for $ 4.5 bn, is eyeing smartphone-based software and cloud computing in Indian and Asian markets to drive growth.
“Our mobile software shares SAP infrastructure on smart phones across different platforms like iOS, Android and RIM, giving customers absolute freedom on which platform to use,” Stephen Watts, president, SAP, Asia-Pacific Japan, told HT. “The share of mobility has gone from nil to around 8-10% in our revenues in Asia in just five quarters, and there is a massive opportunity here on.”
The company is also expecting returns from cloud computing, which involves renting of software hosted on remote servers, to touch €1 billion by 2015. A significant chunk of that would come from Asia, in particular China and India. “We expect that 20% of our revenue would come from cloud infrastructure by 2015,” said Watts. At present, 60-70% of the company’s global annual revenues of around € 14.2 bn (2011) comes from software.
SAP has locked horns with database maker Oracle, globally and even in India. Both SAP and Oracle have been buying out smaller companies in cloud computing. In April this year Oracle bought Taleo Corp, another cloud-based software company for $1.9 billion.
{{/usCountry}}SAP has locked horns with database maker Oracle, globally and even in India. Both SAP and Oracle have been buying out smaller companies in cloud computing. In April this year Oracle bought Taleo Corp, another cloud-based software company for $1.9 billion.
{{/usCountry}}The company has 5,555 people on its payroll in India involved in software development.