February 22, 2007 -- Updated with analyst reaction.
SAP today announced the acquisition of Mountain View, Calif.-based Pilot Software. Founded in 2002, the privately-held company's PilotWorks analytics application is designed to manage employee productivity goals, initiatives and metrics.
PilotWorks will be "tucked-in" to SAP's existing product suite, filling a hole in the company's offering, according to SAP. PilotWorks will be built on NetWeaver in the future.
"SAP has had a significant interest in the analytics space for the last few years, though its internal focus has predominantly been on data management/data warehouse underpinnings and infrastructures than on analytical applications," said David Yokelson, vice president of research operations at New York's The 451 Group.
The Pilot Software acquisition adds the analytics facet for SAP in a manner that is easily digestible while targeting key existing verticals such as the public sector, manufacturing, food and beverage, and target markets like financial services, according to Yokelson.
The acquisition also speaks to the growing importance of analytics with users.
"This acquisition addresses the fact that the subject of analytics and, by extension, business intelligence, has moved to the forefront for the SAP installed base where massive functionality leads to massive amounts of data," said Michael Doane, Michael Doane, chief intelligence officer of Peachtree, Ga.-based
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The acquisition was completed on February 14th and terms of the deal were not disclosed. Pilot Software will continue to operate out of its California office and its employees will eventually become part of SAP Labs.