SAP adds to supply-chain tech with SmartOps acquisition

Move will allow it to develop real-time supply chain applications that take advantage of SAP's HANA in-memory database

By Chris Kanaracus, Boston | Tuesday, 26 February 2013
SAP has acquired SmartOps in a move the company says will allow it to develop real-time supply chain applications that take advantage of SAP's HANA in-memory database.

Terms of the deal, which was announced late Friday, were not disclosed. It is expected to close in the first quarter.

SmartOps' software includes capabilities such as "enterprise demand sensing," which can figure out whether a given item at a particular location is in danger of running out of stock. The company also sells a number of inventory optimization applications. SmartOps' products are available in both cloud-based and on-premises deployments, according to its website.

SAP's HANA database stores information in RAM rather than read it off disks, proving a performance boost that SAP has described as monumental. SmartOps' application performance will be "significantly enhanced" by HANA, according to SAP.

While SAP already has a number of applications that target similar issues as SmartOps' products, such as SAP Demand Signal Management, the addition of SmartOps will "complement and expand" that portfolio, the companies said in a statement.

SmartOps customers will see "the same, or increased" support following the acquisition, SAP said. The companies have been partners for some time, and SmartOps had already developed a number of "solution extensions" for SAP systems, which suggests the integration plans announced as part of the acquisition could proceed quickly.

The SmartOps deal follows SAP's move last year to buy Ariba for US$4.3 billion, which gave it a wide variety of SCM and e-commerce capabilities.