Independent Sybase User Community Keen To Extend Scope & Breath of Family Reach in the Name of Better Technology For All
In the wake of recent uplifting news which saw Sybase's board accept a $5.8 billion cash offer from SAP, the future parent company readies to go to market with a wider technology proposition than ever before. Although an acquisition for SAP on paper, the two companies' technologies clearly form a mutually beneficial fit that will provide a total data-centric offering that is greater than the sum of the parts.
With its unequalled reach in Europe and its enviable track record in ERP excellence, Sybase employees will no doubt be pleased to come under the SAP umbrella. Equally, SAP will surely be pleased to gain a stronger foothold in the financial technology market as a result of Sybase's strong international customer base in that sector.
As both partners and customers recognize the positive benefits yet to be leveraged from this deal, users and community groups are echoing their enthusiasm for this new coalition of forces, which will sit under a newly bolstered SAP brand.
Carrying forward the voice of the community in no uncertain terms is the International Sybase User Group (ISUG), which has already pledged to work closely with SAP at every possible level of professional engagement. Keen to welcome SAP staff and SAP user group members into its vibrant portals, ISUG is extending a special welcome to everyone at SAP with an ‘open house' invitation to come on over and get better acquainted.
"We hope to make new friends online initially before we start to stretch out and interact with SAP's very active independent customer user groups that exist across six continents," said Mike Harrold, Executive Director of ISUG. "There are obviously a lot of synergies in terms of the way our user communities work and ISUG would be delighted to help facilitate close and meaningful connections from this point onward."
ISUG President, Bryan Enochs, will be meeting with members of the America's SAP User Group (ASUG) at its annual conference next week in Orlando, FL to discuss avenues of cooperation and collaboration between the two groups. "We believe the purchase will be good for all of our users," said Mr. Enochs. "I am excited by the opportunities which SAP's pending purchase of Sybase presents to the user community, and I look forward to building a strong relationship between the two user groups."
ISUG has a strong track record of serving its members that stretches back over a quarter of a century. As the Sybase user community now extends an olive branch of technical friendship to SAP's some 120,000 user group community members, the message from ISUG is that no task is too big and all of its members will be keen to embrace SAP users as soon as they are ready.