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ShareBangalore: Even as firms are eyeing a piece of the cloud, German software maker SAP believes hybrid model will be the future of the game.Simply put, it's going to be a fusion of traditional data centre services that can seamlessly interoperate with cloud capabilities.
The reasons are most obvious. Companies are still holding onto business-critical functions within the four walls. On the flipside, they are migrating to the cloud for simpler functions such as automation of talent management, HR etc. Business-critical applications are still out of the cloud's ambit.
"The lifecycle deployment of software requires on-demand/on-premise and cloud-based solutions. There is a shift in the kind of services needed to manage the entire lifecycle," S Singh Mecker, senior vice-president, global eco-system and partner group, SAP, said.
Industry tracker Gartner estimates internet-based "cloud computing" will race past $14 billion in revenues annually by the end of 2013.
With the economic crisis accelerating the demand for hosted services, there is a paradigm shift in licensing models as well. "Gone are the days of one-time licence models. We are extending SAP as a packaged paradigm that selling service by service," Mecker said.
As businesses have heavily invested in data centres, companies like VMware, Microsoft, Citrix, HP and IBM are offering services to bridge the gap between private and public clouds. And SAP is developing similar solutions by adding virtual capabilities to data centres, Vishal Sikka, chief technology officer, SAP, said.
The much-awaited product from SAP stable, Business ByDesign is being piloted in Asia-Pacific and the US before a full-fledged rollout. Though Sikka refused to give out any timeline for the launch, the company has come under criticism for its delayed launch.
Business ByDesign, targeted at the small and medium businesses (SMBs), is a piece of software to run the entire business spectrum including manufacturing, purchasing, financials, procurement, customer relation management (CRM) etc.
The German software major has deployed the limited edition software in 100 companies in India. "We are still leveraging the service. We want customers to use it in multi-tenant mode. We are also adding security capabilities. That's why the delay," Mecker said.
Meanwhile, SAP India said its $1 billion investment in the country is on track. The company had committed $1 billion in the country between 2006 and 2010.
"We have invested almost 75% of it," Clas Neumann, senior VP, global head, SAP Labs, said. He said the company has no plans to ramp up investments into the India facility at least for the next three months. On the hiring front, Neumann, said "Globally, we have reduced our workforce by 7%. But we will maintain the same numbers in India."
