It plans to integrate Pilot’s flagship product, Pilotworks, with SAP’s NetWeaver-based business applications so it can be used by managers in support of performance-management goals.
The PilotWorks platform aims to bring discipline to operational performance review processes popular in industries like manufacturing that are typically facilitated via weekly, monthly, or quarterly team-based meetings that provide status-updates on various business operations. In contrast to top-down strategy initiatives, operational reviews cascade upwards from different departments and the challenge is to get the key stakeholders on the same page.
By making the functionality available from the SAP applications, SAP is acting on its promise to embed analytics, something it kicked off with its composite application analytic dashboards. This project is more substantial and aims to ensure that strategies codified in SAP’s analytic applications can be executed on via tight integration with ERP, CRM, and SCM applications.
Although Mountain View, California-based Pilot has about 150 customers using its strategy management software, the acquisition was driven by SAP’s desire to get hold of the technology. Pilot will become part of the SAP Labs operation.
Financial terms of the transaction, which was completed on February 14, were not disclosed.
