SAP partnership with Open Text continues to flourish

Analysts believe SAP may purchase Open Text

SAP has partnered with Open Text to resell its Employee File Management System, which the company claims makes it easier for HR departments to access, manage and store employee data.

The system allows companies to create "complete digital records of all personnel-related documents", according to SAP.

"Instead of spending time on labour-intensive administrative tasks, HR staff are freed up to focus on recruitment, skills development and serving as a productive resource for the operational areas they support," said Tom Roberts, global vice president at SAP.

"By joining forces with Open Text, we are bringing new capabilities to our customers that can help deliver significant and sustained return on investment. "

Open Text is one of a select group of companies with which SAP has a reseller agreement. As the relationship has continued to strengthen, observers have talked of a possible takeover.

Vuk Trifkovic, a senior analyst at Ovum, explained that an acquisition would be logical for SAP, but that it is unlikely in the foreseeable future as the " typically non-acquisitive company" has only just finalised its purchase of Sybase.

However, Trifkovic argued that, while SAP could strengthen other areas such as its middleware division, a takeover of Open Text is not out of the question.

The analyst pointed out that SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner continues to influence the direction of the company, and appears interested in memory, data storage and analytics. It would not therefore be surprising if SAP has a company specialising in these areas in its sights.

Dale Vile, research director at Freeform Dynamics, suggested that, when two companies deploy products together, it is welcome when the larger partner takes responsibility. However, he would have mixed feelings about any possible merger.

"Great integration usually accompanies acquisitions, but support and interoperability can suffer for end users," he said.