When SAP and Siemens announced that they would partner to provide integrated, end-to-end applications across product lifecycle management (PLM), supply chain, and asset management, I had a lot of questions. I'm sure SAP customers do as well.

With this partnership, SAP will offer Siemens' Teamcenter PLM software and Siemens will offer some of SAP's supply chain and asset management applications, following the theory that bringing multiple legacy systems together will magically provide a modern approach for customers.

SAP and Siemens were correct in determining what the market needs and wants. Companies are looking for a way to accelerate product innovation and link it more effectively into all aspects of business operations, including supply chain and manufacturing. They also want to use the latest technologies to enable rapid prototyping, faster time-to-market, and new business models such as subscription services.

However, with SAP's spotty track record on integrating applications, I would say that SAP and Siemens customers have cause for concern. Even SAP's Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Hasso Plattner, acknowledged the company's failure to integrate its own applications in an interview earlier this year with Handelsblatt, a leading German-language business newspaper