SAP to Acquire Sybase
In a deal that is testament to the accelerating demand for mobile business applications in the enterprise, Philadelphia, PA-based SAP America has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire business database and mobile enterprise application platform vendor Sybase. The deal was announced May 12, 2010.
The Dublin, CA-based Sybase will operate as a standalone unit under the name "Sybase, an SAP Company." Sybase's management team will continue to run the business.
The news comes as SAP is about to kick off its annual Sapphire user conference in Orlando on May 17, 2010, which has an agenda laden with emphasis on mobility solutions and mobile strategies.
"The growth of mobile devices, such as the iPhone and BlackBerry Bold, has perpetuated end-user demand for access to crucial enterprise applications and information on the go," says Sheryl Kingston, Director of Yankee Group's Enterprise Research Group in Boston. "SAP has the capacity and innovation to create those desired mobile applications, complete with intelligently embedded functionality like unified communications, presence and location-based services and multimedia, but until now they had no way to support them.