SAP AG (ADR) (SAP), Salesforce.com, Inc. (CRM), Oracle Corporation (ORCL): Software Stocks: Read This Before you Buy

CRM is one of the most advanced applications which is adopted in the cloud, and Salesforce.com has already established its presence in this market. SAP’s latest offering, SAP 360, will directly compete with Salesforce.com. This time, SAP is trying to couple its cloud offering with in-memory analytics platform HANA. This will help companies run CRM on HANA’s in-memory platform, which will lead to improved productivity. With this initiative SAP should boost its market share in the cloud-based CRM market.

I feel both Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) and SAP AG (ADR) (NYSE:SAP) have an added advantage over Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) with their strong client base to support short-term growth. Cross-selling is one of the major factors behind their growth, as it is easier for the customers to move within. On the contrary, Salesforce.com has the best opportunity among small and mid-size companies, which are looking for solutions at reasonable costs. Overall, both SAP and Oracle hold the top spots in the market, but the gap is closing swiftly with new and small players moving in.

The stock’s opportunity

Over the last few months, SAP AG (ADR) (NYSE:SAP) has been quite volatile. Its product strategy is strong, and the success of its various products is the end result of its long-term strategic decisions. Moreover, the newly launched products and solutions open a much wider opportunity for the company to cash in. I believe, with these announcements, the stock will gain some stability based on the future revenue generation prospects. This stock is a safe bet for me from a long-term perspective.

The article Software Stocks: Read This Before you Buy originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Madhu Dube.

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