SAP ByDesign Australian Launch Delayed

After a few less than successful attempts, SAP, known for its traditional on-premise software products, has continued its trek into the new era of cloud computing apps.

The initial attempt for its first software-as-a-service (SaaS), ByDesign, was launched in 2007 for Germany and the US and meant to launch in Australia in 2008. That plan was curtailed and ByDesign wasn't rolled out until earlier this year. Tom Kindermans, SAP SME VP for Asia Pacific and Japan, predicts Australia would likely see the 3.0 version of ByDesign in 2011. Plans are to have ByDesign hosted offshore and assess the local customer reaction to foreign hosting and if warranted, SAP could either build a local data center or employ a a local hosting partner.

Meanwhile, SAP officially launched its Business Objects BI OnDemand product in Australia beginning of May. It has been available the last two months for testing purposes. For interested companies, pricing starts from a free, limited, try-it-out version to an Essentials edition with more storage and security for $45 a month, per user to an Advanced edition for $123 a month, per user. SAP will host the customer data for the online business intelligence service in servers in the US or Germany.

Despite being mocked for its painful trek into the cloud computing market, SAP will attend an upcoming Salesforce Asia-Pacific event in sign of the times.

• Array
•