Waldorf, Germany-based SAP SE announced it has made a deal to acquire survey software firm Qualtrics for $8 billion.
Qualtrics is co-headquartered in Provo, Utah and Seattle, Wash. and identifies itself as a leader in the experience management (XM) software category. The deal came in the 11th hour before Qualtrics was to launch an initial public offering.
SAP says it will be able to combine its operational data from its enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite, widely used around the world, with Qualtric’s experience data. This should allow its customers to deliver better customer, employee, product, and brand experiences, according to a press release from SAP.
It also offered this statement from CEO Bill McDermott:
“We continually seek out transformational opportunities – today’s announcement is exactly that. Together, SAP and Qualtrics represent a new paradigm, similar to market-making shifts in personal operating systems, smart devices and social networks. SAP already touches 77 percent of the world’s transactions. When you combine our operational data with Qualtrics’ experience data, we will accelerate the XM category with an end-to-end solution with immediate global scale. For Qualtrics, this introduces a dynamic new partner with the belief, passion and scale to bring experience management to millions of customers around the world.”
Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith will stay on to lead his team through the acquisition. The acquisition will lead to cross-selling opportunities for SAP to introduce Qualtrics to its 413,000 customers.
Qualtrics is categorized by software reviews website G2 Crowd as an enterprise feedback management tool. It’s rated 4.5 stars out of five there, and recognized as #1 in satisfaction in winter 2016. Competitors include Google Forms, SurveyMoney, AskNicely, Zoho Survey, and Polldaddy.
SAP says that it expects the acquisition to close in the first half of 2019.
