SAP to acquire Frictionless Commerce

Seemingly making a high profile move daily, SAP AG representatives announced this week their company’s imminent acquisition of Cambridge, Mass.-based supplier relationship management software provider Frictionless Commerce.

The purchase will be an all-cash deal, though exact terms were not disclosed. Frictionless Commerce currently specialized in serving large- and mid-sized enterprises in markets such as banking, consumer products, discrete manufacturing, insurance, life sciences, professional services, telecommunications and utilities.

Through the addition of Frictionless Commerce, SAP clearly hopes to become to the SRM industry what it has been to the CRM industry: a business to watch for. No serious business acumen is required to see what Frictionless PR tells us, namely that the acquisition can only add value to SAP’s range of extant applications; SAP press material states that Frictionless product while become a “key component of the company’s strategy to offer the preferred global purchasing platform for organizations of all sizes and across all industries.”

With the acquisition, SAP promises to combine the web-based e-sourcing capabilities with which Frictionless made a name for itself together with SAP applications. Frictionless products already run on SAP NetWeaver solutions, making them fully compatible with SAP applications and minimizing the necessary product integration.

SAP AG product and technology group president / executive board member (and a man in industry news often lately) Shai Agassi proclaimed the deal “a quick win for our customers. We extend a warm welcome to Frictionless Commerce employees and partners.” Indeed, the former may have some considering to do for the time being. The acquisition will not be completed until July. Frictionless currently supports seventy employees in the Massachusetts office and a handful more in their London, England, outlet.

Though SAP has promised to continue operations in the offices, no word was given on exactly how many (or even if any) layoffs can be expected. SAP representatives said that additional details regarding personnel integration would be provided upon closing of the deal.