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Technology Stocks : INTEL TRADER -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (2980)	6/4/1998 12:08:00 PM
From: Jurgen Trautmann	Respond to of 11051

SAP - a short overview out of MS Investor: Zacks Consensus Moderate Buy Qtr EPS Estimate $0.47 FY EPS Estimate $2.32 Overview "Die US ist das Mutterland der Datenverarbeitung" -- the US is the motherland of data processing. That may be true, but it's Walldorf, Germany-based SAP that makes the mother of all enterprise resource planning software. The company, which is the world's fourth-largest independent software firm, controls about a third of the worldwide market for corporate client/server application programs, used to integrate every aspect of corporate data processing including product distribution, finance, human resources, and manufacturing. SAP's two main product lines are R/2 software for mainframes and R/3 software for client/server systems. The increased popularity of client/server systems in the corporate world has fueled strong sales of SAP's products, as has the so-called year 2000 problem -- worries over older computers' handling (or mishandling) dates after the turn of the millennium. Although SAP dominates the enterprise client/server software market, challengers such as Oracle (with about 10% of the market) are trying to win over customers by pointing out potential weaknesses in SAP's flagship R/3 program. The product, they claim, is hard to install, customize, or integrate with existing software systems. Despite the complexity of the program and the multimillion-dollar expense of installation, SAP's R/3 software is used by more than a million people at 7,000 companies, including Microsoft, Chevron, Colgate-Palmolive, and General Motors. To stay ahead, SAP has added Internet and telephone capabilities to its R/3 software, allowing customers, distributors, and sales staff to access key data from afar. It has also drafted a team of in-house consultants to manage installation and implementation problems. What's more, SAP has tightly allied itself with twin tech titans Microsoft and Intel. SAP is far from the typical German company. An entrepreneurial sense pervades its small-town headquarters, giving it an almost Californian feel. While most German employees wear suits to work, SAP's offices are more casual, with employees donning sandals and choosing their own schedules. Three of SAP's founders -- led by multibillionaires Hasso Plattner and Dietmar Hopp -- control about two-thirds of the company. Janko, this Dinner in Karlsruhe seems to me a very good idea. I talk about that with K. when she's back from horseriding. Jury