SAP Execs Explain Ads Aimed At PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards Customers

In a press conference here at SAP's Sapphire conference, Kagermann responded somewhat obliquely to a question about his company's rivals and the feuding that has arisen among them since Oracle earlier this month revealed plans to make a hostile bid for PeopleSoft.

"It is, more than ever, about trust and the ability to deliver on commitments and to understand the constraints of clients," Kagermann said. "We watch [the situation with the three companies] carefully and hope we can give indicators to the market that there are alternatives."

If Oracle succeeds in buying PeopleSoft, or if PeopleSoft succeeds in buying J.D. Edwards, "this will not change the competitive landscape," he said, "We have a clear No. 2 [competitor] if it happens. But the combined forces are not more than half of our market share, and there is no need to address anything [further]."

Bill McDermott, CEO and president of SAP Americas, said advertisements run last week in the Financial Times and other publications were designed to woo J.D. Edwards and PeopleSoft customers grappling with uncertainty about those companies' directions, given Oracle's move. He said the ads were "an excellent precursor" to a telesales campaign SAP has undertaken to try to get more prospects. About half of those calls have led to meetings with SAP account executives, he added.

"We take the high ground," McDermott said. "We are focused on the customer and on customer success. There are customers who are disillusioned [about the situation with Oracle, PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards]."

The ads promised interested parties "customized offers" but said little more. McDermott said that those who contacted SAP after spotting the ad would be offered a free assessment of their needs.

"We map their current state [of their enterprise applications] to their ideal state," McDermott said. "Should there be a business case worth pursuing, we would enter a normal sales cycle.

"We don't think customers should go on a forced march," he said.

Kagermann and McDermott also spoke to reporters and industry analysts about SAP's eagerness to capture more midmarket business, and to deploy SAP's channel to do so.

"We are putting a tremendous focus on the midmarket," McDermott said, observing that some 17 new resellers have been signed at Sapphire to sell Business One, SAP's applications suite for the midmarket. "We are signing a lot of really good resellers. We are doubling the number of feet on the street."