SAP has another tuck-in acquisition underway in the form of supply chain management planning provider and existing partner SmartOps. Terms were not disclosed.
SmartOps specialises in inventory and service-level optimisation, using predictive analytics to help manage global distribution networks and large multi-stage supply chains. The volume and dynamic nature of the data and analytics capability makes it a candidate for SAP HANA and the plan is to run it on the in-memory platform where it will expand SAP’s existing Sales and Operations Planning analytic application, Demand Signal Management application and Advanced Planning & Optimization component which are all powered by HANA. It aligns with Business Suite moving to the HANA platform too (see here).
The end game is to enable a real-time supply chain, which would be a game changer in the market. The supply chain focus will also demonstrate the business case for HANA outside the financial management area. While HANA software is growing at a three-digit rate – revenue grew 100% yoy to $267m in the last quarter of 2012 – it is still no more than a few percent of the overall business. Expect more SCM acquisition activity from SAP.