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Another Stupid Idea

I am not a fan of Microsoft buying Yahoo. Yahoo has nothing that Microsoft hasn't already built or bought, and is, in fact, a legacy Internet company.

Now, a New York Times wonk has what he calls a better idea: Redmond should buy SAP.

I'm not entirely sure this guy's neural connections are working properly. Look up "legacy" in the IT dictionary and SAP is the first definition. SAP does have great technology and, after a long process of installation, has helped many companies operate more efficiently, rationalize supply chains and tie in partners. But is it the future? No.

That said, I'm not sure if NYT author Randall Stross realizes that Microsoft currently owns four separate ERP platforms: Great Plains, Axapta, Navision and Solomon. Not only that, but Microsoft is currently re-architecting these ERP tools so they'll be more modern than anything SAP has.

I'm actually pretty darn comfortable with Redmond's ERP plans, and believe buying SAP would be a move backward.

Posted by Doug Barney on February 25, 2008


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