SAP targets sports industry to extend its reach for consumers

San Francisco/Berlin: SAP AG, the biggest maker of business-management software, said it’s targeting the sports and entertainment industries to increase its access to consumers and help it meet a mid-term sales target.

add_main_imageThe offerings may be used by sports to provide statistics and interact with fans, or manage talent scouting, the Walldorf, Germany-based company said in a statement during its annual Sapphire conference in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday. The offerings may also help promoters of events to control logistics, SAP said.

Co-chief executive officers Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe are trying to shift SAP from a maker of back-office programs to one that’s used by a billion people, to help it boost revenue beyond €20 billion ($25.9 billion) by 2015. McDermott, an ardent basketball fan, last year announced partnerships with the National Basketball Association and National Football League to deepen their statistical analysis.NextMAds

The software maker is also introducing software called SAP Mobile Secure that businesses can use to load employees’ smartphones and tablets with apps and secure their data. The software will be sold as a cloud-computing service and start at a monthly price of €1 per device, said Sanjay Poonen, president of technology and innovation products.

“It’s sort of like Southwest Airlines pricing—very economical,” he said in a phone interview. The service will compete with those from companies including MobileIron Inc. and AirWatch LLC, he said. Bloomberg