Dell aims 48% servers running SAP

NEW YORK: Dell Inc., the No. 1 personal computer maker, has informed that it aims to triple its share of the market for hardware used with business software from Germany's SAP AG to near $1 billion.

"We believe and expect that over the next few years we can more than triple our share of the market for SAP installations," Michael Dell, Chairman and Chief Executive of Dell, said during a press conference to unveil a tighter alliance between the two companies.

The SAP installation market is about $1.9 billion for servers based on microprocessors made by Intel Corp., the company said. Of that, Dell said it currently has 16 percent of the market.

Dell and SAP, which have a long-standing relationship, said they would be cooperating more closely on what they call "migration" services.

These services help companies who have been using SAP on larger computer servers that run the Unix operating system to smaller Intel-based servers that run either Microsoft Corp.'s operating system or the Linux operating system.

Dell also reiterated comments that he made a few weeks ago during the company's analyst meeting, saying that technology spending is improving. "There are early signs of improvement," Dell said.

SAP, Chief Executive, Henning Kagermann made similar remarks, echoing comments from last week when he announced the company's quarterly results. Regarding the United States, he said, "Business is picking up. The environment is better." Turning to Europe, he said, "We believe business will pick up in one or two quarters from now."

©Reuters