Software AG CEO: Digital transformation will be ongoing IT budget item
Sanjay Brahmawar, CEO of Software AG, said digital transformation projects will continue at a rapid clip as efforts become a more permanent fixture in IT budgets.
In an interview with ZDNet, Brahmawar said:
I talk to two or three CEOs every week and I haven't heard anyone say they will pull back on digital transformation. It's going to be an ongoing budget line.
Software AG is in the third year of its Helix transformation plan to deliver €1 billion in revenue in 2023 with 25% to 30% of operating margin.
At its Capital Markets Day, Software AG said it will drive product innovation in integration and APIs as well IoT and analytics. The company also said it will continue to shift bookings to subscriptions and SaaS, grow productivity and make acquisitions to add to organic growth.
Software AG has been landing partnerships with the likes of Adobe, Microsoft Azure and AWS to name a few as it expands its customer base in North America.
Brahmawar said Software AG today gets 40% of its revenue from North America, but the German company can grow. "When we're invited to the dance, we win 50% of the time. But we have to get into more conversations," said Brahmawar, who noted that Software AG counts half the Fortune 500 as customers.
In the integration and API management market, Software AG competes with Salesforce's MuleSoft unit as well as Google's Apigee. Tibco, IBM and Oracle are also in the mix. In IoT and analytics, Software AG competes with PTC. Software AG is strong in EMEA, but PTC leads in the US.