Big Tech
SAP has a new star
May 16, 2012: 9:11 AM ETThe company has been notoriously lagging in software-as-a-service. Enter one energetic and eccentric executive, Lars Dalgaard.
FORTUNE -- SAP's Lars Dalgaard has been called irrepressible, energetic and eccentric (and, according to at least one analyst, a "lunatic"). But he may be just what the stodgy company needs to give it a shot in the cloud.
As nimbler players like Salesforce (CRM) and soon-to-be-public Workday have expanded their cloud offerings and customer base, SAP (SAP) has been notoriously behind in software-as-a-service. Enter Dalgaard. Earlier this week the 44-year-old head of SAP's cloud division took the stage at the company's annual user conference in Orlando, Florida to unveil a new strategy. The plan is to release a "loosely coupled suite" of cloud-based business applications like payroll software and a financial product called Financials OnDemand. There's also a new, unified platform-as-a-service offering, which runs on top of SAP's HANA in-memory database. To jumpstart these new products, SAP says it now has over 5,000 people dedicated to "designing, building and delivering beautiful cloud solutions."
But all eyes are on one person in particular -- Dalgaard. There was a lot of skepticism when SAP paid a hefty $3.4 billion for SuccessFactors, the cloud-based human capital management provider Dalgaard still oversees, in addition to his new duties across all of SAP's cloud efforts. But, shortly after the acquisition was announced, co-CEO Bill McDermott told Fortune that the purchase was as much about getting Dalgaard as it was about getting SuccessFactors' customer base or cloud "DNA." And Sanjay Poonen, president of SAP's global solutions, had said that Dalgaard's personality -- a.k.a. an exec with enough chutzpah to challenge the likes of Salesforce.com's Marc Benioff -- was needed in this space.
MORE: SAP throws down the gauntlet in database wars
Indeed, no one -- except maybe Benioff -- quite matches the enthusiasm and passion Dalgaard brings to any conversation about the cloud. He's an emotional leader, for one. While addressing his employees last December to talk about the upcoming acquisition by SAP, Dalgaard wept. (I was there, and seriously, the guy shed a few tears).
It's too early to tell whether SAP's new cloud products will fare better than the company's earlier attempts, but at big part of the company's success in this space hinges on Dalgaard's ability to sell his vision both internally and externally. He's made it clear he believes all software -- including core enterprise resourcing planning tools -- will someday soon reside in the cloud. And, at least on the surface, it appears management now agrees with him. Dalgaard was recently made a member of SAP's executive board, and co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe said he also believes "everything will be in the cloud" within five years.
Dalgaard may have a bright future at SAP. He is emblematic of the type of change and innovative ethos SAP needs. But first, he needs to successfully pull off an ambitious cloud strategy for a company that's still very much focused on milking cash out of on-premise customers. And he needs to stick around in a huge, bureaucratic firm long enough to reap the benefits of what he's trying to start.
MORE: Splunk makes a splash
Just last year, SAP and SuccessFactors were up against each other, competing for an account with the Royal Bank of Canada. SuccessFactors won because SAP's solution wasn't as good. Today, the two are trying to take on other cloud competitors together. On stage at SAP's annual conference, Dalgaard didn't disappoint. Much like a TV preacher, he paced around the room and emphasized just the right words -- including, not surprisingly, "cloud."
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SAP throws down the gauntlet in database wars
SAP's latest earnings report shows some progress in the software giant's quest to remake itself. Now it wants to become the fastest-growing database company in the world.
FORTUNE -- SAP's efforts to become more nimble and innovative appear to be working—to some extent. Revenue from new products like an in-memory database technology called HANA and cloud-based software from recently-acquired SuccessFactors is growing, but it still makes up a small fraction of MORE
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Oracle earnings: Some growth, plenty of SAP-bashing
Between talk about increased software sales and the company's new cloud service, Larry Ellison and his posse took plenty of time to bash their rivals.
FORTUNE -- There are some in the tech media who think covering enterprise technology is a major snoozefest. But it can actually be incredibly entertaining -- especially when Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison goes off on a tirade against his competitors.
Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle announced its MORE
Michal Lev-Ram, writer - Mar 21, 2012 10:02 AM ET -
Blue Jeans Network brings Skype, Cisco users together
The Mountain View, Calif. startup is offering a cloud-based product that unites groups of users of several different videoconferencing services.
FORTUNE -- Videoconferencing has become (almost) mainstream, but there are still plenty of challenges getting different technologies like Cisco's (CSCO) TelePresence and Skype to work together. In industry-speak, that's called interoperability -- or lack thereof.
Enter Blue Jeans Network, a Mountain View, Calif.-based startup that says it's found a solution to the MORE
Michal Lev-Ram, writer - Mar 21, 2012 9:00 AM ET -
What Google needs now? To wow again
Larry Page has successfully refocused the company on its core products. What he needs to do now is recapture some of the firm's early magic with bold new products.
By Kevin Kelleher, contributor
FORTUNE – When was the last time Google did something dazzling?
For a company that turns 14 this summer, Google (GOOG) has a history thick with moments when it surprised the web -- many outlined on the company's site, starting in MORE
Mar 13, 2012 11:06 AM ET -
Where social networking is headed next
Companies are generally slow to adopt new online tools consumers love. That has been true of social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn. Until now.
By Kevin Kelleher, contributor
FORTUNE -- What do you get when you cross a buzzword like "social networking" with an eye-glazing term like "enterprise software"? A buzzkill -- in this case, one called "enterprise social networking."
As long as the web has been around, the consumer side of things MORE
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Intel finally ups the ante in mobile
Intel's mobile processor is finally getting some love from mobile phone manufacturers.
FORTUNE -- After years of trial and error, Intel's (INTC) Atom processor is finally getting some love from mobile phone manufactures. But that doesn't mean they'll be a hit with consumers. To win over the smartphone-wielding masses, the company will need to get everyday buyers to believe that phones with Intel inside are somehow superior to phones that run MORE
Michal Lev-Ram, writer - Feb 28, 2012 9:23 AM ET -
Look who's reinventing the firewall
Goaded on by a smaller rival, Cisco is changing its approach to firewall technology.
FORTUNE -- For the past few years Cisco's firewall business has been losing market share to a much smaller rival called Palo Alto Networks. Now the network equipment giant is set to unveil its answer to Palo Alto's disruptive technology -- its own next-generation, so-called "context aware" firewall.
The announcement was made Monday afternoon, a day before the MORE
Michal Lev-Ram, writer - Feb 27, 2012 2:25 PM ET -
Meet the next-generation in intelligence
Data has broken outside the typical confines of most companies. Now, guarding against security breaches means looking to world around you.
By Marc van Zadelhoff, contributor
FORTUNE -- Already in the first two months of 2012, high profile hacks are threatening to make 2011, characterized by experts as "The Year of the Security Breach", seem tame. It's becoming a common occurrence to hear about companies and governments falling victim to security attacks.
Therefore MORE
Feb 27, 2012 1:01 PM ET -
Huawei is here to stay
The Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications company has gotten into plenty of scrapes with American firms. Now, it wants competitors to know it isn't going anywhere.
FORTUNE -- Last week, China-based Huawei unveiled its latest effort to make nice with corporate America, announcing it will spend more than $6 billion on processors and other components from Broadcom (BRCM), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Avago Technologies (AVGO). The company has spent the last few MORE
Michal Lev-Ram, writer - Feb 23, 2012 12:25 PM ET
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