Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal covered SAP's looming cost-cutting measures - a prudent response to the slowing global economy and expected revenue shortfalls (ValleyWag has the original email text). One question that should be mind of many in Vancouver: what does this mean for the local Business Objects/SAP branch?
The local Business Objects office has been through several incarnations. It started out as Seagate Software Information Management Group (formed by hard drive manufacturer Seagate Technology), rebranded as Crystal Decisions, and subsequently sold to French software company Business Objects in December 2003. Its acquisition by German uber-software vendor SAP, announced in October 2007, only closed in February 2008.
Yet, less than a year since the sale to SAP became final, could the Vancouver Business Objects/SAP office be at risk? The loss, or even significant reduction, in the 1200 employees (at least as of 1200 employees according to the City of Vancouver survey of head offices), could have a significant impact on the local tech community.
So, who's got the dirt on what's going on inside the local office? Cough it up people!
BUSINESS OBJECTS is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company enabling organizations to track, understand, and manage... [more]
