??? 上周末，SAP宣布以34億美元收購人力資源管理軟件供應商SuccessFactors——無論如何,，這絕對是條大新聞,。

????第一個問題是，SAP耗費如此巨資,，通過收購拓展云計算市場,，有意義嗎？（當然,，SAP為何選擇周六早晨宣布這筆交易也是一個問題）

????SAP的SuccessFactors收購價比該公司上周五收盤價高出52%,。但總部位于加州圣馬特奧市的SuccessFactors物有所值：這是一家在蓬勃發(fā)展的云計算軟件市場上迅速崛起的企業(yè)。這家公司聲稱有超過3,500家客戶,，遍布168個國家,，2011年第三季度營收同比增長77%。與此同時,，SAP是企業(yè)軟件市場的巨無霸,，但在云計算市場卻并非如此。雖然SAP也在嘗試內(nèi)生性地拓展云計算業(yè)務,，但同時并不想錯過通過收購拓展這一市場的機會,。

????為什么,？因為SAP（和其競爭對手）已清楚地認識到，通過網(wǎng)絡交付的軟件已經(jīng)不再只是一股風潮,，面向的只是捉襟見肘的的小企業(yè),。10月份，SAP的競爭對手甲骨文（Oracle）以15億美元收購了另一家云計算軟件公司RightNow Technologies,。大型軟件企業(yè)通過收購進入這個軟件服務市場的趨勢方興未艾,。還有一些公司也是不錯的收購對象，比如總部位于加州普萊森頓的Workday,，與此同時,，市場上有意收購的公司也不在少數(shù)。

????過去,，SAP在收購方面沒有這么大的動作,。但SAP已經(jīng)進入新時代，兩位新上任的首席執(zhí)行官孟鼎銘和施杰翰正在踏步地將這家公司帶入社交,、移動和云計算軟件領域,。“云計算是SAP未來增長的核心,。SuccessFactors的領導團隊及技術與SAP實現(xiàn)融合將誕生一家云計算巨頭,，”SAP聯(lián)席首席執(zhí)行官孟鼎銘在上周六的新聞稿中稱?！斑@項收購將有助于我們幫助全球的首席執(zhí)行官們解決他們的第一要務——管理人員和人才,。”

????孟鼎銘周一接受《財富》雜志（FORTUNE）采訪時補充道,，雖然近期內(nèi)SAP不太可能再次進行如此大規(guī)模的云計算業(yè)務收購,，但SuccessFactors的收購價是合理的,。

????“我們要摘的是‘皇冠上的明珠’,，這些業(yè)務本身或與SAP聯(lián)手后能讓我們在特定領域居于領先地位，” 孟鼎銘稱,?！癝uccessFactors就是這樣的資產(chǎn)?！碑斎?，有些分析師并不看好這項策略——也不認同SAP的收購價?！叭绻鸖AP此項交易的戰(zhàn)略意圖是將SaaS融入企業(yè),，我們認為現(xiàn)實情況將有很大不同，”調(diào)查公司Cowen and Company的高級研究分析師彼得·戈德馬徹在周一早間的報告中寫道,?！昂茈y想象SAP的企業(yè)銷售團隊怎樣才能成功地向客戶傳遞這樣一條信息：什么時候該使用企業(yè)預置型軟件,，什么時候應該使用SaaS。更難想象的是,，SAP的銷售代表銷售SFSF 【SuccessFactors]】,，因為它的價格只有SAP人力資源模塊的一個零頭?！?/p>

????Over the weekend, SAP announced the $3.4 billion acquisition of human resources management software provider SuccessFactors -- big news by any measure.

????The first question (besides why SAP (SAP) chose Saturday morning for the announcement) is whether or not shelling out so much money to buy its way into the cloud makes sense?

????SAP's purchase of SuccessFactors was a 52% premium to Friday's closing stock price. But San Mateo, Calif.-based SuccessFactors is valuable -- it's a growing player in a growing market for cloud-based software. The company says it has more than 3,500 customers across 168 countries, and recorded 77% revenue growth year-over-year in the third quarter of 2011. SAP, meanwhile, is the 800-pound gorilla in business software, but not in cloud computing. And while it's making attempts to grow its cloud-based offerings organically as well, it can't afford to miss the opportunity to buy its way into the market simultaneously.

????Why? It's now become evident to SAP (and its competitors) that software delivered over the web is not just a passing fad for cash-strapped small businesses. In October, rival Oracle (ORCL) bought another cloud-based software company, RightNow Technologies, for $1.5 billion. And the trend of larger software companies buying their way into the software-as-a-service market won't end anytime soon. There are still quite a few promising acquisition targets out there such as Pleasanton, Calif.-based Workday and plenty of appetite to eat them up.

????In the past, SAP wasn't so big on acquisitions. But this is a new era at SAP, where its two newish CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, are taking bolder steps to get the company into social, mobile and the cloud. "The cloud is a core of SAP's future growth, and the combination of SuccessFactors' leadership team and technology with SAP will create a cloud powerhouse," co-CEO McDermott said in a press release issued on Saturday. "The acquisition will help us address the top priority for CEOs globally – managing people and talent."

????In an interview with FORTUNE on Monday, McDermott added that while SAP is unlikely to make any additional, large-scale cloud acquisitions in the near future, the price was just right for SuccessFactors.

????"What we try to do is buy 'crown jewel assets' that have attributes that either on their own right or in combination with SAP allow us to lead in a category," McDermott said. "In the case of SuccessFactors it was a one of a kind asset."

????Of course, some analysts aren't convinced the strategy -- and the price SAP is paying -- will work. "If SAP's strategic intention with this deal is to sell SaaS into the enterprise, we think the reality in the field will be very different," Peter Goldmacher, a senior research analyst with Cowen and Company, wrote in a note on Monday morning. "It's hard to imagine the company's enterprise sales force successfully delivering a message to its customers when to use on prem [on premise] and when to use SaaS, much less an SAP sales rep selling SFSF [SuccessFactors] for a fraction of what SAP's HR modules sell for."