SAP Acquires Syclo – A Second Cup of Coffee and 25 Comments

This is the second article in this series on SAP’s announced intent to acquire Syclo.  You can read Part 1 here.

I am now on my second cup of coffee, a different day, but still pondering SAP’s announced acquisition of Syclo.  On the Linkedin group,  SAP Enterprise Mobility (you should all join!), I
conducted a poll.  The question was, “Do you
think SAP’s announced intention to acquire mobility vendor Syclo is a good
move?”  Here are the poll results and comments as of this afternoon (105 respondents):

1. I think this
   will add more confusion for customers and partners who I am sure are scratching
   their head and trying to figure out which way to go now.
2. I think SAP will benefit from this acquisition, especially in the utilities sector.
3. Syclo already supports SUP, so it makes sense to add it to SAPs mobile portfolio.
4. The only logical
   conclusion I can draw is that they [SAP] probably wanted to keep Oracle away.
5. SAP has been
   selling SUP licenses by millions so it would be interesting to see how those
   customers will react now.
6. Syclo has a suite of well-respected vertical mobile applications, which already run on the SUP platform. 

By blending the two I see a flexible, broad-brush, technical platform with industry focused market messaging and improved ability to execute/deliver. 
I therefore see this as a good thing for SAP and for customers who wish to get into mobility.
7. This will
   upset partner companies like ClickSoftware who are heavily investing in SAP and
   the SUP platform.
8. I think
   [success] will depend on how well SAP is able to integrate Syclo Agentry
   platform and Syclo SMART suite with SUP, as they all have very distinct and
   desirable features.
9. In my eyes
   SAP has not done a good job at offering a simple mobility roadmap.  It is confusing.
10. I definitely
    think that the acquisition of Syclo will be beneficial for both Syclo and SAP.
11. SAP
    customers favor standards and stability!!! 
With SUP the mobility platform
    already became very complex with too many possibilities and no clear direction.
    
Partners are already hesitating to invest, as they don’t know how the whole
    thing is evolving.
12. What’s the
    message to customers who just bought some SUP licenses and just started an EAM
    project?! What do they say to partners which invested in SUP Apps?! What do all
    the account executives at SAP tell their customers after preaching that Sybase
    is the answer to all mobility questions for a year now?
13. SAP
    is just losing its credibility with customers and partners.
14. This move is
    throwing the whole mobility efforts back by at least 12 months.
15. 

It’s unclear
    at the moment how the Agentry platform fits, but I can see SAP merging
    functionality into the SUP MBO/Integration components to further improve the
    integration capability of the platform.
16. SAP has
    already more choices to mobilize their workforce than they can explain to
    clients. Why invest in one more absolutely different solution with a new
    server, a new landscape, new licensing and even worse, no real 4GL?
17. Clients already dealing with
    Sybase, now need to communicate with SAP, but these guys have no idea on how to
    get more licenses. Ask 10 sales people and get 20 different answers….
18. Before
    investing into a new product, SAP should do their homework and solve the main
    
issues they have – the lack of a clear and fair license strategy to their
    clients that is communicated through all channels.
19. I have seen
    Syclo and ClickSoftware’s scheduler integrated and deployed at a
    utilities.  It was an EAM implementation.
    It was not initially a happy marriage but nevertheless provided a good ability
    to extend SAP to Ruggedized devices with good capability to integrate with GIS
    thrown in.
20. My guess is
    that SAP bought Syclo for the following reasons; Syclo customers, Syclo
    employees and their expertise within field services and asset management.
21. What is the road map for Syclo’s Agentry
    framework?
22. This will
    result in confusion on the part of many customers who were looking at the SAP
    EAM Mobile solution.
23. Once the
    dust settles, I think this will turn out to be a long-term winner.
24. SAP
    customers and partners now face a daunting task of updating their own SAP
    mobility strategy – for the 9th time?
25. From the
    point of view of a customer still trying to work out its mobile strategy this
    constant change is simply making me wait. I’m not about to make a major
    investment in skills and technology for a mobile platform that might become
    obsolete with SAP’s next purchase. SAP need to let things stabilize now.
    Please…

Change is always difficult, and rapid change is even more difficult.  I worked with the folks at SAPinsider on an analyst paper a couple of months back and we found that developing a mobile strategy was one of the biggest challenges.  This intended acquisition is likely to make developing a mobile strategy even more of a challenge in the short term.

Click on Image to Enlarge

Next week, on Thursday, April 19th, I will be participating with Syclo on a webinar organized by ASUG. I will be talking about the role of mobile enterprise application platforms now and in the future.   I hope you can join us, register here.

Read Part 1 of this series here.
Read Part 3 of this series here.

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