SAP today announced the acquisition of business objects. This will undoubtedly be a very big step for SAP. SAP and Business Objects now embark on a road map to transform their wide lead in the market for business users.

“SAP and Business Objects share a common vision for the future of business intelligence,” said John Schwarz, CEO of Business Objects. “We see a world where people, processes and information are connected in a seamless, fluid, interactive, collaborative and insightful way. By joining forces with SAP, we gain considerable momentum to transform this vision into a near-term reality. As we lead the way in the evolving market for business performance optimization, our overall commitment will be to protect our customers’ investments and enable their growth and evolution in the face of ever changing market and business dynamics.”

Software makers SAP (SAPG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) (SAP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Business Objects (BOBJ.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) (BOBJ.O: Quote, Profile, Research) will start selling their first joint products this month following SAP’s 4.8 billion euro ($7.1 billion) acquisition of Business Objects.