SAP and its newly-acquired subsidiary Sybase laid out plans to expand their enterprise mobility offerings at a press event yesterday, where the combined companies described their joint business strategy.
The two companies have embarked on a major initiative in the wireless space and plan to launch an open-standards platform within nine months that will support business applications across all major mobile operating systems and device types.
Nick Brown, senior vice president of mobility for SAP, said the companies would build up a mobile-specific team to focus on areas including retail, customer relationship management and consumer packaged goods. SAP and Sybase have previously collaborated on a customer relationship management application and mobile workflow technologies.
Sybase will function as an independent company under the leadership of its current CEO John Chen and will remain focused on its core business. Brown said SAP did not have layoffs planned for the software company.
“This isn’t an acquire-and-slash operation,” Brown said, a statement that was echoed by SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott at the press conference.
“This is not your typical Silicon Valley M&A move,” McDermott said. “This is about growth and value for our customers.”
In addition to an increased focus on mobility, the two companies also plan to collaborate on business analytics and enterprise information management.