He also stressed the growth in composite applications for specific vertical needs, such as having a solution for cell phone makers in Italy and one for wineries in Germany.

"We'll see industry verticals go to the next degree. Not 400 but 4,000 [composite applications]," Agassi said.

SAP will not provide all of these but will get assistance from other ISVs, he said. "The notion that SAP will supply every one of these 4,000 micro-verticals is impossible," Agassi said.

"We believe that you need a single unified platform on top of which you can make as many flexible solutions as you want," Agassi said. For SAP, that platform is NetWeaver.

SAP is not just publishing an SOA; it is promoting the concept of ESA, which features standardized business semantics, Agassi said. For example, there would be semantic agreement on a global procurement system connecting Nike to suppliers in China, he said.