SAP delivers bullish outlook for 2004

[Renew Deal]

Execs point to general recovery in global IT spending

By John Blau, IDG News Service January 22, 2004

For the first time in nearly two years, SAP AG executives offered a bullish outlook for business software sales in 2004, pointing to a general recovery in global IT spending.

SAP Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Henning Kagermann, speaking Thursday at a webcast news conference in Frankfurt, Germany, said he expects 2004 will continue the upward trend in IT spending that began in the middle of last year. "In the second half of 2003, we started to see signs of change (in business software spending), especially in Germany but in other key markets such as Asia and the U.S.," he said. "We expect the market to return to double-digit growth markets this year."

Kagermann delivered the upbeat forecast as SAP, Europe's largest software company, reported a 3 percent drop in fourth-quarter software license revenue to €931 million ($1.2 billion as of Dec. 31 the last day of the period reported) from €958 million in the same period a year ago. The company attributed the decline in sales largely to a weak U.S. dollar. Based on a constant currency, fourth-quarter software license sales increased 3.5 percent, it said.

Sales at SAP were hit hard by the rise in the euro against the dollar and other currencies last year. The company's 2004 forecast is based on a euro exchange rate of $1.25, Kagermann said.

By comparison, German communications equipment vendor Siemens AG, which also released financial results Thursday, said it will base its internal calculations this year on an exchange rate of $1.30.
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http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/01/22/HNsapbullish_1.html

[DODI]

1. I would have thought their sales would be hit hard because

it sucks! I have been working with it for over three years now and no one really knows how it works or what it is suppose to do. Our company is more of a service organization than a manufacturing -- I would hope it works better in manufacturing -- it is not a good tool for services or long range project planning. If you have any tips on how to make it work for long and short range project management, I would love to hear them!