SAP dons the budgie smugglers

Beverley Head
Tuesday, 20 July 2010 15:23

Business IT - Technology

Software giant SAP had its Tony Abbott moment today, flip flopping yet again on the anticipated release data of its Business by Design ERP system in Australia; first it was next month, then next year, then sometime in the future.

But in case the coalition thought it was getting all the attention, Julia Gillard's favourite slogan 'moving forward' got a fair workout at the SAP World Tour 2010 event in Sydney today. The company slated the event as an opportunity to outline its strategy and roadmap for key clients.

Some of its messages however were confused. Just like an election really.

The confusion kicked off with chief operating officer Ian Black saying Business by Design would be released next month in Australia. He quickly corrected that to next year.

However John Goldrick, director industry and solutions group said that although Business by Design 2.5 would be released in six key markets next month, no date had yet been set for the local release of the product. It's now three years since the product was first announced, and two years after Australians were promised access to the system.

Despite the protracted delays and continued confusion over a release date for Business by Design the company was at pains to explain its strategy for linking users accessing SAP data whether that was held on premises, in the cloud, or on mobile devices.  But again confusion reigned.