This is the second article in this series on SAP's announced intent to acquire Syclo. You can read
Part 1 here.
I am now on my second cup of coffee, a different day, but still pondering SAP's announced acquisition of Syclo. On the Linkedin group,
SAP Enterprise Mobility (you should all join!), I
conducted a poll. The question was,
“Do you
think SAP's announced intention to acquire mobility vendor Syclo is a good
move?" Here are the poll results and comments as of this afternoon (105 respondents):
72% - YES
17% - NO
10% - I don’t know
It seems the overwhelming opinion is that it will be a good thing, however, many of the comments seemed to reflect more frustration from the SAP ecosystem than the poll numbers reflected. IT departments and systems integrators are obviously having a challenge keeping up with this rapidly evolving field and SAP's moves.
Comments:
- I think this
will add more confusion for customers and partners who I am sure are scratching
their head and trying to figure out which way to go now.
- I think SAP will benefit from this acquisition, especially in the utilities sector.
- Syclo already supports SUP, so it makes sense to add it to SAPs mobile portfolio.
- The only logical
conclusion I can draw is that they [SAP] probably wanted to keep Oracle away.
- SAP has been
selling SUP licenses by millions so it would be interesting to see how those
customers will react now.
- Syclo has a suite of well-respected vertical mobile applications, which already run on the SUP platform.
By blending the two I see a flexible, broad-brush, technical platform with industry focused market messaging and improved ability to execute/deliver.
I therefore see this as a good thing for SAP and for customers who wish to get into mobility.
- This will
upset partner companies like ClickSoftware who are heavily investing in SAP and
the SUP platform.
- I think
[success] will depend on how well SAP is able to integrate Syclo Agentry
platform and Syclo SMART suite with SUP, as they all have very distinct and
desirable features.
- In my eyes
SAP has not done a good job at offering a simple mobility roadmap. It is confusing.
- I definitely
think that the acquisition of Syclo will be beneficial for both Syclo and SAP.
- SAP
customers favor standards and stability!!!
With SUP the mobility platform
already became very complex with too many possibilities and no clear direction.
Partners are already hesitating to invest, as they don’t know how the whole
thing is evolving.
- What’s the
message to customers who just bought some SUP licenses and just started an EAM
project?! What do they say to partners which invested in SUP Apps?! What do all
the account executives at SAP tell their customers after preaching that Sybase
is the answer to all mobility questions for a year now?
- SAP
is just losing its credibility with customers and partners.
- This move is
throwing the whole mobility efforts back by at least 12 months.
-
It’s unclear
at the moment how the Agentry platform fits, but I can see SAP merging
functionality into the SUP MBO/Integration components to further improve the
integration capability of the platform.
- SAP has
already more choices to mobilize their workforce than they can explain to
clients. Why invest in one more absolutely different solution with a new
server, a new landscape, new licensing and even worse, no real 4GL?
- Clients already dealing with
Sybase, now need to communicate with SAP, but these guys have no idea on how to
get more licenses. Ask 10 sales people and get 20 different answers....
- Before
investing into a new product, SAP should do their homework and solve the main
issues they have - the lack of a clear and fair license strategy to their
clients that is communicated through all channels.
- I have seen
Syclo and ClickSoftware’s scheduler integrated and deployed at a
utilities. It was an EAM implementation.
It was not initially a happy marriage but nevertheless provided a good ability
to extend SAP to Ruggedized devices with good capability to integrate with GIS
thrown in.
- My guess is
that SAP bought Syclo for the following reasons; Syclo customers, Syclo
employees and their expertise within field services and asset management.
- What is the road map for Syclo's Agentry
framework?
- This will
result in confusion on the part of many customers who were looking at the SAP
EAM Mobile solution.
- Once the
dust settles, I think this will turn out to be a long-term winner.
- SAP
customers and partners now face a daunting task of updating their own SAP
mobility strategy - for the 9th time?
- From the
point of view of a customer still trying to work out its mobile strategy this
constant change is simply making me wait. I'm not about to make a major
investment in skills and technology for a mobile platform that might become
obsolete with SAP's next purchase. SAP need to let things stabilize now.
Please...
Change is always difficult, and rapid change is even more difficult. I worked with the folks at SAPinsider on an analyst paper a couple of months back and we found that developing a mobile strategy was one of the biggest challenges. This intended acquisition is likely to make developing a mobile strategy even more of a challenge in the short term.
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Next week, on Thursday, April 19th, I will be participating with Syclo on a webinar organized by ASUG. I will be talking about the role of mobile enterprise application platforms now and in the future. I hope you can join us,
register here.
Read Part 1 of this series here.
Read Part 3 of this series here.
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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
