提到SAP公司，大家或许会立刻想到超级无聊的企业资源规划软件ERP）。但这家总部设于德国沃尔多夫的企业正在努力改变这种形象。
周二上午，SAP公司在旧金山的一场新闻发布会上推出了一系列措施，旨在扩大该公司在数据库和移动应用领域的市场份额。为实现这项目标，SAP公司将启动一个1.55亿美元的风险投资基金，以鼓励研发依托于HANA的应用。HANA是该公司不久前推出的内存数据库技术。它还拨出3.37亿美元（转换为欧元就是一个容易记住的整数）预算，用以帮助客户转向HANA数据库平台。在移动应用方面，SAP公司宣布它正在收购企业移动应用提供商Syclo公司（但没有披露这笔交易的具体价格），同时还公布了公司的一些其他进展。
“我们一定可以成为世界上发展最快的数据库公司，”SAP公司执行董事，技术和创新事务负责人维舍尔•斯卡（Vishal Sikka）对一屋子的记者和分析师说。
HANA的确很有前途。它是SAP公司成立近40年以来增长最快的产品，去年就轻松赚得2亿多美元。但直至2011年年中，该公司甚至还没有开展数据库业务，绝大多数SAP应用产品其实都是在竞争对手甲骨文公司（Oracle）制造的数据库平台上运行。
SAP公司相信，它有望在2015年前成为第二大数据库提供商。即使对于联席CEO孟鼎铭和施杰翰而言，这也是一个雄心勃勃的目标。但如果SAP能够激发起开发人员的兴趣，进而创造出大量基于HANA平台的企业级应用，实现这项目标也并不是不可能完成的任务。当然，HANA现在依然处于发展的早期阶段，甲骨文公司势必将全力发动反击。
此外，SAP公司还一直在移动应用领域努力。针对企业的iTunes即使最后能实现，毕竟也需要一些时日。但SAP公司已经开始谋划其移动应用和HANA平台的远景和战略。目前，该公司在云计算领域的整体规划尚不清楚。云计算是对SAP产品线最大的一个挑战。
最近在接受《财富》杂志（Fortune）采访时，SAP公司云业务新任负责人拉斯•达尔加德（Lars Dalgaard）表示，他希望所有的SAP应用（甚至包括核心ERP软件）有朝一日都能应用于云计算领域。达尔加德预期即将在SAP公司年度大会Sapphire Now上登台阐述他的云战略。这位性格率真的年轻高管也将在公司董事会获得一席之地。假如达尔加德能够在SAP的公司文化中大显身手，那么他（以及HANA和移动应用）或许能帮SAP从一家强势但日益老化的ERP提供商转变为一家更富创新精神的企业，因此，这将是一个非常关键的角色。
When you think SAP (SAP), you probably think uber-boring enterprise resource planning software. But the Walldorf, Germany-based company is trying hard to change that image.
SAP unveiled a series of initiatives to boost its market share in databases and mobile apps at a press conference in San Francisco on Tuesday morning. To that end, the company is launching a $155 million venture fund to spur development for applications built on HANA, its newish in-memory database technology.
It is also putting up $337 million (convert to euros and you'll get an easier-to-remember round number) to help customers switch to HANA. On the mobile front, SAP announced it is acquiring enterprise mobile app provider Syclo for an undisclosed sum, among other developments.
"We have the ability to be the fastest-growing database company in the world," Vishal Sikka, executive board member and head of technology and innovation at SAP, told a roomful of press and analysts.
HANA is promising. It is the fastest-growing product in SAP's 40-year history, and raked in over $200 million in revenue last year. But up until middle of 2011 the company wasn't even in the database business, and the vast majority of SAP applications actually run on databases made by its rival Oracle (ORCL).
SAP believes it can become the number two database player by 2015. That's an ambitious goal, even for co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe. But it's not impossible, especially if the company is able to generate developer interest and create loads of fast, business-ready apps on top of HANA. Of course, it's still early days for HANA, and Oracle is sure to fight back hard.
SAP's got its work cut out on the mobile side too. Becoming iTunes for the enterprise will take time, if it happens at all. But the company is starting to better articulate its vision and strategy on both the mobility side and in regards to HANA. What remains unclear is its master plan for the cloud -- the biggest and most threatening transition in its line of business.
In a recent interview with Fortune, the company's new head of all things cloud, Lars Dalgaard, said he expects all SAP applications -- even core ERP -- will someday soon be in the cloud. Dalgaard is expected to take the stage and lay out his cloud strategy at SAP's upcoming annual conference, Sapphire Now. The young, outspoken executive is also getting a seat on the company's executive board. Assuming he can thrive in SAP's corporate culture, Dalgaard (and HANA and mobile) may end up playing a key role in SAP's transformation from a powerful yet aging ERP provider to a more innovative enterprise player.
