ERP Software

Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint SaaS release

Microsoft has rolled out SaaS functionality for SharePoint and Exchange, as part of their Software plus service strategy for SMB companies with under 5,000 Microsoft seats.

General availability of both the Exchange and SharePoint hosted services is planned for the second half of 2008. The new online services will let end users access services like e-mail, calendaring, and Web conferencing at subscription prices. This will only be offered to companies who are already deploying the Microsoft products with an on premise licensing model.

Microsoft CRM 4 is now offering a multi tenancy model and through partners you can have Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions hosted.

Microsoft normally announces a new service at their annual Microsoft Convergence conference in the US which will be in Orlando from the 11^th to 14^th of march, maybe they will have a announcement that you can have their ERP software packages (Microsoft Dynamics AX,GP,Nav and SL) as SaaS delivery model direct from Microsoft.

Microsoft’s competition from online documents (Google docs, ZOHO), hosted CRM (Sales force) and hosted ERP (Netsuite, SAP business by design) will force them eventually to offer all their software packages as an on demand business model if the consumer/customer wants it.

What do you think Microsoft will announce at MS Convergence Orlando?

Microsoft to buy SAP again?

Here we go again financial traders are talking up SAP stock saying that Microsoft is keen to acquire SAP ,this is not the first time this rumour has come out back in 2004 there was talks but was decided that the two companies would struggle to integrate.

SAP has a market capitalization of $65 billion and the largest purchase Microsoft has done so far is $1.5 billion so quite a jump on purchase size ,add in that they would struggle to get the combined company past the competition authorities and the huge cultural differences between the two companies might make this rumour just talk.

What is interesting is that SAP keeps coming up as the tier one erp company that wants to be purchased will it be Microsoft or IBM?

Update : Henning Kagermann from  SAP  said he has had no discussions with Microsoft   about selling SAP.