SAP NetWeaver Cloud platform as a service may be close to general release

27.09.2012
SAP could be close to announcing the general availability of its foray into the PaaS (platform-as-a-service) market, NetWeaver Cloud, which will go up against from the likes of Oracle and Salesforce.com.

NetWeaver Cloud has been in beta for some time now and its release notes page on SAP's website , adding to a list of new features that in total suggest the platform is reaching a mature enough phase for a general release, perhaps at SAP's upcoming Tech Ed conference. A company spokeswoman on Thursday declined to reveal whether this is the case.

The PaaS features an Eclipse-based SDK (software development kit) and currently supports Java. Other frameworks that can compile to Java can also be tapped by developers, and support for other runtimes is planned, according to .

NetWeaver Cloud, which runs in SAP data centers in Europe, also features SAP's much-hyped HANA in-memory database platform.

The company's goal is to build a marketplace and partner ecosystem over time around NetWeaver Cloud, much like Salesforce.com has done with its Force.com platform.

While there may not be massive evidence now of SAP customer demand for a PaaS such as this, one has a valuable role to play in their IT organizations, said Jon Reed, an independent analyst and consultant who .