SAP funds Socialtext

Now there is a story (source). SAP has invested $850k into Socialtext and this might be an interesting match to say the least. Somebody from SAP who has given feedback on where Socialtext should go is seriously in the know. He sold TopTier to SAP (it became SAP Portals I think) in 2001. Right around that time, I think about a year earlier, I did a consulting gig for a big pharmaceutical company to have a look at EIP (Enterprise Information Portals) and in this quest I found TopTier and had to say that it has won hands down. Sadly the company opted to wait and only went for an EIP later but based on Microsoft software and further developed by their own internet staff as I have learned some time ago. Ah well, it’s been a long time and maybe Microsoft does have a product there now that is worth it. But anyway …

The nice thing here is that TopTier had a very good system to allow applications to be put together based on data in different databases. You could for example have the tracking number of a package in the list of ordered items by your client. Simply take that number, and drag-and-drop it over to a FedEx button and you see where it currently is. Pull it over to the billing app and you see what the status is there. Lots of interesting little bits and a very slick interface.

Now we know that JotSpot is going the applications route (and they have just released Jotlive which is a nice collaboration tool spun out of their hackathon.) and this quasi investment by somebody really being accumstomed to enabling data to be shared inside the intranet is an interesting twist. Maybe Socialtext will work more closely with ex-TopTier, or it will gain some insight into what they have learnt. All in all, this is a very interesting partner though. Congratulations Ross.