Government Exhibit P3036 [Non-designated testimony redacted]
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Q. Would you, please, state your full |
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name for the record and your business address. |
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A. Yes. Richard Allen, A-L-L-E-N, |
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Knowles. Business address: I'm housed out of Atlanta, |
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Georgia, 555 Glenridge Connector, Suite 900, Atlanta, |
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Georgia 30328. |
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Q. Do you know generally how long SAP |
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has had a presence in the United States in terms of a |
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subsidiary here? |
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A. Out of the 31 or so years that SAP AG |
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has been in existence, to the best of my recollection, |
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SAP America has been doing business in the United States |
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since the late 80s, mid to late '80s. |
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Q. And why is it that SAP AG has decided |
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to develop regional headquarters throughout the world? |
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A. I think it fundamentally goes to |
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strategy. Most customers want to do business with a |
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local entity, and they want to have local people that |
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they deal with. So in order to reach our customers the |
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best, it made sense to have a local presence and to |
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have a local infrastructure versus just being running |
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the operation out of Walldorf. So basically for |
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customer acquisition reasons and to build up a local |
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force to show that we are invested and have a |
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significant presence within the local country, which is |
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the U.S. and Canada. |
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Q. And in terms of SAP America, what's |
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the infrastructure that's been established here? |
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A. Infrastructure that's been established |
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primarily is: We have regional headquarters building, |
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which is this campus that you're in today. We have |
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regional offices out, scattered throughout the United |
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States, which I cannot name them all, but they are in |
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certain cities. The acquisition of an employee base |
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northwards of 4,000 plus employees comprised of sales |
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staff, support, marketing, sales; a good chunk of |
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consulating, our own consultants. That's what I mean |
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by infrastructure. We of course have the back-office |
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function, we have our own finance team here, our own |
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marketing team, etcetera. |
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Q. And the fourth area of revenue that |
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you identified was the consulting organization. Could |
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you explain that. |
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A. Yes. Consulting, our consulting |
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organization is a service offering that we provide to |
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our clients. Typically in the implementation of |
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enterprise application software, it requires more |
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consultants to support the implementation of these |
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changes inside of a company than even we're capable of |
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delivering. We do have a small, relatively small |
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consulting organization in terms of what the customer |
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needs. We maybe support anywhere from 10 to sometimes |
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20 percent of the implementation services needed to |
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install the software. |
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Our consultants are typically viewed |
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as functional experts on our software, and they assist |
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the client in implementing the software inside the |
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company. In addition, there's multiple partners that |
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are typically involved in the implementation. Those |
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companies are some of the bigger names that you may |
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have heard of such as Accenture, Deloitte Consulting, |
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Cap Gemini, etcetera. In general, we support the |
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implementation, not all of it, though. |
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Q. So that the consulting organization |
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is responsible for assisting in implementations; |
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correct? |
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A. Correct. |
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Q. However, in these implementations |
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SAP's role is limited to about 10 to 20 percent of the |
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implementation; is that right? |
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A. Yes; on average. There are occasions |
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where a client will not want to use an outside firm or |
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a partner firm. They'll want us to handle the full |
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implementation. That's a rare case. It does happen. |
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But on average, if you were to say, could we handle a |
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hundred percent of the consulting needed to implement |
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our software? The answer is, absolutely not, we cannot |
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do it alone, we rely on our partners. |
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Q. Why is it you cannot do it alone? |
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A. Primarily it's a business model |
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question. And the reason why is we are not a services |
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company. We make our revenues and our profit margins |
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are derived primarily from the sale of enterprise |
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application software, not delivery of services. So it |
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is a service but it is not our primary business model, |
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and that's why. |
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Q. In speaking of implementations, given |
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that SAP has a limited role in these implementations |
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typically, is it left to the customer to negotiate with |
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a company to implement SAP software or does SAP partner |
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with an implementer? |
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A. Typically the customer negotiates |
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their implementation fees and services with the partner |
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firm. That is something that we are excluded from. |
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They may want to get some of our consultants on the |
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project, and that is a specific negotiation with SAP. |
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But if they want to deal with IBM or Accenture, they |
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are dealing with IBM and Accenture separately from us. |
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Q. Does SAP play any role in negotiating |
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those implementation contracts with a client? |
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A. No. |
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Q. So you mentioned that all of the |
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clients have kind of a different way of approaching |
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things, and that requires consultants to come in and |
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kind of help explain how SAP software will work; is |
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that correct? |
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A. In their environment to support their |
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business processes. |
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Q. Now, in this process, are they |
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converting to, I mean, are they maintaining their |
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differences, in other words, is the software they are |
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implementing the same whether it is a national company |
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or multinational company, subsidiaries, all the |
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different examples you used? |
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A. Without explaining the way our |
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systems are coded, because that's not my area of |
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expertise, at the core, yes; the software is similar |
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and the same. However, the way you configure our |
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systems to operate in a single site customer versus a |
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national versus a multinational conglomerate is |
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different. So it is similar but it can be different |
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based on configuration and what the needs of the client |
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are. |
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Q. So between those three types of |
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organizations, you have differences in how it is |
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configured. How about looking at multinational |
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corporations just as a group, do they have different |
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configurations depending on how they run their |
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business? |
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A. Yes, they do. One of the caveats to |
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make it different is which vertical industry are they |
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operating in? For instance, a multinational or a |
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conglomerate. A multinational conglomerate that's in |
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the retail space typically runs their systems quite a |
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bit different than a discrete manufacturing in high |
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tech. So, yes, the systems have -- at the core the |
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code may be similar or close to the same, but the way |
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they actually use the system is quite a bit different; |
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and that means their configurations are going to be |
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substantially different. |
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Q. So you think of these as separate |
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categories of product, you have the my SAP Business |
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Suite as one category, my SAP All-In-One is another |
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category, and then mySAP One is a separate category; is |
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that correct? |
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A. Yes, sure. |
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Q. What is mySAP All-In-One? |
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A. Okay. All-In-One and Business One |
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are products that we've positioned in the market or the |
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way that we're going to market are really designed for |
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what we would consider our channels segment. And what |
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I mean by channels is companies that have revenues of |
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approximately 200 million and below in annual revenues, |
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we sell our solutions through a re-seller channel. And |
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the products that really fall into that space that they |
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can sell, they can try to sell mySAP ERP or Business |
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Suite, but that's a very substantiate sell to a hundred |
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fifty million dollar company. |
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So over
the last two years we have |
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developed a smaller solution that's targeted for that |
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segment of companies. And those products are referred |
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to as All-In-One or Business One. So those are |
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products that are designed and targeted for that, the |
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companies of that size. |
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Q. Now, you mentioned these two products, |
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mySAP All-In-One and Business One, these were developed |
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in the last two years; is that right? |
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A. We -- SAP acquired a company, and I |
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don't remember the date, several years back, and they |
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have expanded on the functionality, added some English |
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language and other languages to it in order to tailor |
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this solution to meet the needs of a smaller enterprise, |
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a smaller company, of the 200 million revenue smaller |
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type companies. |
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From a functional
standpoint, it can |
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satisfy some of the same things that a large enterprise |
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company might buy; for instance, financials, human |
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capital, management or human resources, etcetera, but |
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it is targeted for a smaller company. |
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Q. Now, these two products, mySAP |
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All-In-One and Business One, are they two separate |
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products or are they the same code? |
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A. Cannot technically answer that |
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question at the code level. |
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Q. Is it your understanding it is the |
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same product but just with two different names? |
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A. They are designed to meet different |
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needs of the client. So I would, logic says they are |
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different because we're using them in and targeting |
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them differently. Do they share code? I'm sure they |
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share code. What is the level? I do not know. |
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Q. And then I believe you just said that |
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they are designed to perform different functions? |
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Could you explain to me, what is mySAP All-In-One |
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designed to do? |
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A. Without having the list in front of |
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me, I can't even -- at a high level I can tell you it's |
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going to be similar to my other answers, but without |
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having the specifics in front of me, I'm not going to |
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be able to answer the question to your satisfaction, |
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probably. |
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Q. Maybe it's easier to look at it this |
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way. What do you understand the difference to be |
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between the two products? |
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A. One is really to be, from a positioning |
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standpoint, the way at least we're positioning it in |
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our go-to-market plans, where one is for a single |
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entity or a small entity that's under 200 million |
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dollars in revenues, to be able to use the product |
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within their enterprises is one thing. Whereas, we |
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take Business One, it has the ability to actually scale |
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up. And one of the thoughts from a positioning |
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standpoint is for these larger companies that we do |
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business with today, often times we do not have |
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software located in a lot of their subsidiaries. |
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And one
of the thoughts is to be able |
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to use the scaled-up version of Business One, actually |
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use it in some of the subsidiaries. So if we had to |
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segment where the products could fall, we could |
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actually say, we could take that product a little bit |
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up market, maybe even up to a 500 million dollar size |
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company, whereas the other product is really more for a |
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very small entity, and what we categorically call small |
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entity being under 200 million dollars. |
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Q. Just so I'm clear, mySAP All-In-One |
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is really limited to this 200 million dollar and below |
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company; correct? |
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A. Correct. |
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Q. And the Business One product currently |
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is, the go-to-the-market plan for this is limited for |
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this 200 million dollar company; correct? |
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A. Right. We've not made a determination, |
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but we have looked at trying to position out how we use |
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that with our direct sales force to actually target a |
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lot of subsidiaries of the larger company subsidiaries. |
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Q. The option in the future is to take |
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this Business One product and market it to subsidiaries |
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of companies that are already using the mySAP Business |
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Suite? |
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A. Right. That might be using a component |
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in their headquarters operation, but yet maybe their |
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local subsidiary has a unique targeted need, and we've |
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not been able to satisfy, that maybe use this because |
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it's a lower price point and a lot less functionality; |
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and maybe a subsidiary might be primed to use that. |
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Q. Now, you mentioned you use your |
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channel partners to resell these products, mySAP |
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All-In-One and the Business One. And if they can, they |
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are free to also market the mySAP Business Suite to |
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these companies as well; is that right? |
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A. Correct. |
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Q. You mentioned that's a pretty |
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substantial sell. Could you explain, what's the |
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challenge in selling this Business Suite to these |
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smaller companies? |
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A. The needs of a 100 million dollar |
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company for maybe their supply chain for a small |
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manufacturer makes about a hundred million dollars in |
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revenue versus the needs of like a multinational |
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conglomerate manufacturing operation. Their needs are |
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going to be substantially different. To say we would |
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like to take mySAP Business Suite and sell it to a |
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hundred million dollar company, the price tag and the |
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processes -- it would be overkill to sell to it them. |
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They would have more functionality. They would be able |
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to maybe grow into a billion dollar company and not buy |
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another piece of software in their life. |
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The problem
is, they wouldn't be able |
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to afford it. Too much functionality for a hundred |
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million dollar company. That's the problem. One of |
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our attempts is to, in order to meet the needs of the |
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lower end of the market, 200 million dollar companies |
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and below, we needed a product that was not as rich in |
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features, as rich in functionality, as big a scale that |
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we have developed with our Business Suite and be able |
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to target it more to specific applications in a much |
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smaller way. So that's why we came up with this |
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product line. That's why we procured the company and |
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have gone to market with these guys. |
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Q. So these companies, these 200 million |
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dollar and below companies, their needs are simpler |
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than, say, customers that are using this Suite. My |
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understanding is there's just too much functionality |
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within the Business Suite for them to be able to use |
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it? |
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A. To benefit from, correct. |
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Q. Is the mySAP All-In-One product and |
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the Business One product priced differently than the |
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mySAP Business Suite? |
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A. It's priced similar in the way that |
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we price it but the price point is different because |
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there's less functionality, so you don't have to |
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charge, we do not need to charge as much; but the |
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pricing licensing model is the same. |
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Q. And so that the prices between these |
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three products really depends on the functionality of |
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the product? |
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A. That's being delivered, correct. |
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Q. Now, you had mentioned, you've got |
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this line at 200 million dollars and below for a |
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Business One and mySAP All-In-One. Why not sell these |
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two products to companies above 200 million dollars? |
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A. As I said before, we were considering |
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taking one of the products up market to, say, 500 |
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million, 750 million, and allowing our direct sales |
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force to do that. That's still under consideration, |
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still is a possibility. |
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I think
your question is a good |
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question except that the premise of your question is a |
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little bit wrong. And the way we look at it is, we |
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have not historically played very well, meaning, we've |
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not gotten enough penetration. We're not satisfied |
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with the business results in the 200 million dollar and |
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below market, and we want to grow that business. |
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In order
to grow that business, we |
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had to develop a much, you know, I'll use the simpler |
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term, a lighter solution offering for that space for us |
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to get some traction in that space. That's why we did |
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it. We're not looking at it the other way, the way |
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your question was phrased. And let me tell you why. |
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The reason
why is because we know |
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that in the near future we're going to have a pretty |
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incredible competitive threat that's going to start |
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encroaching on that space and growing up market. And |
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we're doing this as a move to hopefully try to prepare |
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for an ensuing battle in that space. And that space |
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is - and who I'm speaking of is Microsoft. We view |
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Microsoft as a massive competitive threat. |
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And we totally
anticipate, and they |
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have already entered this space through their |
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acquisition of Navision and Great Plains. And their |
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penetration rate right now based on our business |
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analysis is greater and better than ours. They have a |
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better distribution channel than ours. They have wider |
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reach, and they have really two very good products and |
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channels that already existed that they acquired. They |
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are in a much better position than we are. They are |
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growing up market. We know from a business standpoint |
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we have to go down market in order to prepare for the |
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battle. |
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Q. And this battle -- the battle that |
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you've identified is in this 200 million dollars and |
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below market? |
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A. That's just the beginning. The |
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battle we would term is the mid-market. So we would |
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say anything below 1.5 billion in revenues is really |
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going to be the battle ground of the future. And we, |
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from a business standpoint, everything we do from an |
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analysis standpoint going forward is in preparing for |
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Microsoft to come up market. |
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Q. So Microsoft's threat, just so I |
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understand, Microsoft's threat to SAP is in companies |
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currently in this 200 million dollars and below market; |
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is that correct? |
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A. Predominantly. But they are growing |
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rapidly and we anticipate their arrival up market very |
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quickly. When I say quickly, I mean, in terms of a |
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life cycle within a year or two. |
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Q. When you say up market, that's |
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companies 1.5 billion dollars and below; correct? |
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A. Yes, that is correct. |
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Q. Turning back to these mySAP |
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All-In-One and the Business One products. You had |
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mentioned they could potentially, your term is, scale |
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up to 500 million dollars and even 750 million dollar |
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companies; correct? |
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A. Depends on their needs, yes. |
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Q. What's the problem with using those |
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products for customers even beyond that; why not use |
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one of these products to, why not sell one of these |
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products to companies with even greater revenues |
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perhaps? |
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A. Again, it's going to depend on the |
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customer and their needs and their architectural |
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limitations to the way the product is designed. What |
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those technical limitations are from a code standpoint, |
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I can't speak to, but there are limitations, and the |
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number of things it will do or the number of transactions |
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it will process; so it's a functionality limitation. |
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Q. So you have an SAP client -- where |
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are they running SAP? If they are not running it at |
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the subsidiary -- I guess I don't understand why the |
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subsidiary is not running the same thing as, say, the |
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parent company. What is the difference? Why is there |
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that distinction? |
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A. That's a very good question, by the |
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way. If we take a multinational conglomerate who may |
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be organized, they may have multiple companies. The |
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parent company may be running SAP but maybe two of |
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their subsidiaries or three of their subsidiaries they |
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may be running, because they are smaller subsidiaries |
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and they are rolling up to a parent conglomerate, they |
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may be running an older application, the Legacy |
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system. And the price point to solve that need, maybe |
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it's a 300 million dollar company that's rolling up to |
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this conglomerate. |
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For us to
go and sell Business Suite |
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down to that 300 million dollar company, maybe we were |
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just not very good at it, maybe price point or their |
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needs were not met with trying to tie them into the |
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Business Suite offering that we did of the conglomerate. |
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So one of our marketing thoughts is that we've really |
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not, we've done really good penetrating some of the |
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bigger names and the bigger companies, but we really |
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haven't focused and been able to go down market fast |
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enough to serve all of the needs of these companies. |
| 00056 |
| 1 |
So why not
go to that 300 million |
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dollar company and say, we also have a solution for |
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you. You don't have to think you're operating this |
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bigger system, we actually have a smaller system that |
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you can use and, you know what, we could probably |
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position out how to tie it into the bigger SAP system, |
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too. That's why. |
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Q. Just so I understand, you've got the |
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corporate entity, say, the headquarters, and they are |
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running mySAP ERP; correct? |
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A. Yes, correct. |
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Q. But then underneath that corporate |
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headquarters you have a number of divisions at certain |
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companies; correct? |
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A. Sure. |
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Q. At each of those divisions they may |
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be running different software than, say, what the |
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headquarters is running? |
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A. Correct. |
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Q. So is it a different group of |
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companies that you may have one company at division |
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one, a different company at division two, and then at |
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the headquarters a completely different company, |
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software vendor? |
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A. Absolutely. We term that as a |
| 00057 |
| 1 |
heterogenous environment. Most companies have a |
| 2 |
heterogenous landscape in place. They do not use one |
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software package often times for everything in all of |
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their entities. We would love for them to do that, by |
| 5 |
the way, but that is not often the case. So let me |
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give you another example. |
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It is not
uncommon for a company, for |
| 8 |
instance, to say, use SAP for their human resources |
| 9 |
system in the United States, but yet use PeopleSoft in |
| 10 |
their European operation, and maybe use Oracle in their |
| 11 |
Asia-Pacific operation all for human resources. For |
| 12 |
whatever reason, that is a typical heterogenous |
| 13 |
decision that that company has made. Now, would we |
| 14 |
like to have human resources globally for that entity? |
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Absolutely, but that's not normally the case. |
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Q. Sure. I guess the question really |
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is, in marketing to companies above this 200 million |
| 17 |
dollar threshold, why does SAP have a direct sales |
| 18 |
force? |
| 19 |
A. Why do we have a direct sales force? |
| 20 |
That's an interesting question. The solutions that we |
| 21 |
sell, if I go back to my supply chain example earlier, |
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it would be somewhat unrealistic to expect a channel |
| 23 |
partner who is not an employee of our company to be |
| 24 |
able to walk in and understand the supply chain |
| 25 |
implications and how our software can help a client |
| 00060 |
| 1 |
without them being a direct employee trained by SAP, |
| 2 |
representing SAP. |
| 3 |
Often times
channel partners |
| 4 |
represent multiple lines of business. They sell other |
| 5 |
products and services. So to anticipate that they |
| 6 |
could be an expert or even a functional, be able to |
| 7 |
speak functionally about our solution and what it can |
| 8 |
do would be unrealistic. So we have no choice to be an |
| 9 |
direct sales force because what we sell is complicated. |
| 10 |
This is not shrink-wrap software that you buy at a |
| 11 |
store, you know, in a retail establishment. So that |
| 12 |
the only way to correctly understand the business |
| 13 |
implications is to have a direct sales force. |
| 14 |
Q. So this expertise about the product |
| 15 |
is necessary to effectively market the mySAP ERP or |
| 16 |
mySAP Financials to a potential client? |
| 17 |
A. Absolutely. |
| 18 |
Q. And that expertise can't be really |
| 19 |
duplicated with your channel partners? |
| 20 |
A. Not at the level of depth that is |
| 21 |
required to properly understand the business |
| 22 |
implications and the processes. |
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| 00063 |
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What is
the difference, say, between |
| 9 |
mySAP Human Resources and then the human resources |
| 10 |
function in these other products Business One or |
| 11 |
All-In-One? |
| 12 |
A. Okay. That's a great question. I |
| 13 |
would need to get you a map, a solution map and |
| 14 |
actually be able to show that to you. To say I have it |
| 15 |
memorized, I did not, and I do not have it with me. We |
| 16 |
would need to look at by solution the differences in |
| 17 |
functionality. And that is something that internally |
| 18 |
we use for our own training purposes. For me to |
| 19 |
articulate it, I would probably be speaking a little |
| 20 |
bit amiss, and I don't want to be wrong. |
| 21 |
Q. Let me ask you this, is mySAP Human |
| 22 |
Resources, can it do more than what the human resources |
| 23 |
function in the Business One or All-In-One product can |
| 24 |
do? |
| 25 |
A. Yes; in general, yes. |
| 00064 |
| 1 |
Q. Do you have any idea of how big a |
| 2 |
difference there is between the two? |
| 3 |
A. No. And it would come down to the |
| 4 |
function, you know. And for me to say, I do not know |
| 5 |
this, but to say that, you know, the enablement of your |
| 6 |
eRecruitment capability is existent in my SAP ERP but it |
| 7 |
is not in Business One, I cannot off the top of my head |
| 8 |
tell you that difference right now. |
| 9 |
Q. Does the customer's choice really |
| 10 |
come down to its requirements, what it wants? |
| 11 |
A. Yes. |
| 12 |
Q. The solutions it needs to do? |
| 13 |
A. Yes. Typically when we work with a |
| 14 |
client, it's not about what we're trying to sell them. |
| 15 |
We don't go in and say, here, we have Business One or, |
| 16 |
here, we have mySAP ERP. Look at everything we do. We |
| 17 |
do financials, controlling, operations, HR. We don't |
| 18 |
go in and do that. |
| 19 |
The approach
we take is, we go into |
| 20 |
the customer and try to work with them on what business |
| 21 |
process situation are they dealing with or what is it |
| 22 |
that they are having the most struggles with? And |
| 23 |
often times it is, well, I have three things that I'm |
| 24 |
struggling with and we need to fix. We say, great, |
| 25 |
that's wonderful. What are those three things? What |
| 00065 |
| 1 |
are implications of solving those three things? And |
| 2 |
then go back and say, do we have a solution? Maybe |
| 3 |
it's just one piece of mySAP ERP. Might be it is |
| 4 |
three, it requires three components of my SAP ERP in |
| 5 |
order to fix their issues. It's more of that |
| 6 |
collaborative type self versus here's a list of all my |
| 7 |
features and software modules and here's our price; |
| 8 |
unfortunately it's not that simple of a sell. |
| 9 |
Q. Why not, why not simply go in there |
| 10 |
with your product and say, this is what we have, this |
| 11 |
is what it does for you? |
| 12 |
A. Why? Because in each vertical |
| 13 |
industry each customer in those vertical industries |
| 14 |
tend to try to differentiate the way they run their |
| 15 |
business. You know, an example is, why is it that no |
| 16 |
one else in the world has been able to replicate what |
| 17 |
Michael Dell has done? Right? He's just got a unique |
| 18 |
business process, a unique supply chain operation in |
| 19 |
order to operate PCs, and he gets his cash up front. |
| 20 |
Why hasn't someone else copied him? Why? Because in |
| 21 |
his vertical industry he's running his business in a |
| 22 |
very unique way. |
| 23 |
Well, to
say that I can now say that, |
| 24 |
you know, Compaq or HP now owns Compaq, they should run |
| 25 |
their PC business the same way, they both have supply |
| 00066 |
| 1 |
chains, they operate their supply chains differently, |
| 2 |
they run their businesses around their processes |
| 3 |
differently. So for us to go in and say, we have |
| 4 |
supply chain solutions, here's all the features and |
| 5 |
benefits, would you like to buy it today? That would |
| 6 |
be a misnomer, because that would mean we would be |
| 7 |
discounting and trivializing the way they run their |
| 8 |
business. |
| 9 |
So it's
a competitive advantage for |
| 10 |
Dell to run his business the way he's done his way, |
| 11 |
versus Compaq running their business their way using |
| 12 |
their business processes. So we have to take a very |
| 13 |
individualistic sales approach in understanding their |
| 14 |
business issues, their business needs and business |
| 15 |
process in order to properly propose a solution for |
| 16 |
them, because we have to support their business their |
| 17 |
way in their industry; that's why. |
| 18 |
Q. So it sounds like one of the first |
| 19 |
things you need to do once you contact a client is to |
| 20 |
really understand or potential client rather than to |
| 21 |
really understand how they run their business; is that |
| 22 |
right? |
| 23 |
A. Yes. |
| 24 |
Q. And each business is run slightly |
| 25 |
different? |
| 00067 |
| 1 |
A. Yes. |
| 2 |
Q. Now, does that include -- are there |
| 3 |
differences between, say, how one company does |
| 4 |
financials and another company does financials? |
| 5 |
A. At the rudimentary level? No. |
| 6 |
Everybody has to agree and abide by GAAP. But there's |
| 7 |
nuances in the way they might account or recognize |
| 8 |
revenue, the way they might want to run their expenses, |
| 9 |
run their, configure their cost of goods sold. There |
| 10 |
are nuances. And it depends on by industry. You know, |
| 11 |
the way the chemical industry accounts for certain |
| 12 |
components in their line of business is going to be a |
| 13 |
little bit different than the way a retail manufacturer |
| 14 |
runs their business. |
| 15 |
Q. Now, within those -- you mentioned |
| 16 |
broad industry differences. Going back to the example |
| 17 |
you mentioned earlier, Dell and Compaq, might their be |
| 18 |
differences between how each of those companies report |
| 19 |
their financials that is important to SAP? |
| 20 |
A. Sure, could be. For instance, |
| 21 |
Dell -- I'm not speaking as an expert on Dell, just |
| 22 |
know that up front, people -- but for Dell, they may |
| 23 |
procure all of their parts from out-source vendors, |
| 24 |
whereas Compaq who now that HP owns them may actually |
| 25 |
still manufacture a lot of their components. So the |
| 00068 |
| 1 |
way they are going to account for their in-process |
| 2 |
manufacturing of raw components to go into their |
| 3 |
product is going to be quite a bit different than the |
| 4 |
way Michael Dell is going to have to account for using |
| 5 |
a sourcing model. They have to roll-up numbers. The |
| 6 |
way they do it is going to be different and the |
| 7 |
process, the way they do it, is going to be different, |
| 8 |
and these differences between not just industries but |
| 9 |
between companies. |
| 10 |
Q. Those differences have implications |
| 11 |
on the software you provide them? |
| 12 |
A. Oh, absolutely. Again, that comes |
| 13 |
down to maybe the same solution financials, |
| 14 |
hypothetically, but the way we configure it to work and |
| 15 |
configure the processes and the transactions to flow |
| 16 |
are going to be different. |
| 17 |
Q. In terms of mySAP Human Resources, we |
| 18 |
started this discussion on them. |
| 19 |
A. That's fine. |
| 20 |
Q. You've had these discussions with a |
| 21 |
potential client to try to understand how their |
| 22 |
business works and what are their problem areas; |
| 23 |
correct? |
| 24 |
A. Okay. |
| 25 |
Q. From there you mentioned you have to |
| 00069 |
| 1 |
configure it differently. What does that configuration, |
| 2 |
just using Human Resources as an example, what does |
| 3 |
that entail, what do you need to do? |
| 4 |
A. That's a technical question. So at |
| 5 |
the code level and how you actually implement it, that |
| 6 |
is not my level of expertise. I would probably be |
| 7 |
misspeaking if I tried to answer it correctly. I would |
| 8 |
say that's a technical question for a technical |
| 9 |
expert. |
| 10 |
Q. But those are important questions to |
| 11 |
understand if you're going to sell software solution to |
| 12 |
a company? |
| 13 |
A. To meet the needs of that client, |
| 14 |
that specific client, yes. At a high level I can give |
| 15 |
you an example though for human resources. Part of our |
| 16 |
human resources is employee self-service. And this is |
| 17 |
with all the privacy laws that are beginning to take |
| 18 |
place, employees need to have the ability to update |
| 19 |
their information, their address, their personal |
| 20 |
information, things like that. |
| 21 |
Human resources
and a lot of the |
| 22 |
privacy laws are saying that employees should be able |
| 23 |
to modify his or her information themselves without |
| 24 |
having to go to someone in the company or HR, because |
| 25 |
that's private, that's confidential information, the |
|