Most of the on-premises software vendors have made a move to on-demand/cloud-based offerings, however reluctantly, but SAP has been a real laggard in this area. Given the problems faced by the troubled German software vendor, a lack of cloud services is likely the least of its worries, but it is addressing them. The company has rolled out its first major cloud-based product offering. Datamation has the details.
Desperate to demonstrate it can deliver a worthwhile cloud-based application platform to keep pace with Google, Oracle, Cisco and Microsoft, SAP is rolling out StreamWork, an on-demand collaborative decision-making suite that lets users create and share documents, wikis and applications online within the same software platform.
StreamWork is SAP’s (NYSE: SAP) first significant cloud computing release since it announced wholesale changes to its executive management team that culminated with the appointment of a pair of new co-CEOs, Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe. It’s also evidence of a newfound appreciation for the fact that the world’s largest business applications developer had lost its way in terms of developing the applications, platforms and pricing models needed to compete with Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) in the cloud.
“It’s the end of the beginning stage of a long journey,” SAP senior vice president David Meyer said during Tuesday’s media teleconference. “Innovation is core to our future success. We believe fervently in it and we’re restructuring the company to make it a reality.”