Microsoft launches new assault on software market

SEATTLE, April 12 (Reuters): Microsoft Corp is making its strongest push yet into the steadily growing business software market in the hope that it can create another multibillion-dollar business. The world's biggest software company, which still gets the majority of its sales from its Windows and Office franchises, is hoping it can wrestle market share from heavyweights SAP AG and Oracle Corp, and upstart online vendor Salesforce.com Inc. "The opportunities to make a good business economically are wonderful," said Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer in a telephone interview on Monday. "We're pretty pumped up." Research firm IDC predicts that companies will spend $118 billion a year worldwide on "enterprise applications" by 2014, referring to the software they use to automate accounting, human resources, sales, supply chains and other operations. Ballmer declined to target a percentage figure his company hopes to win, but thinks it can outpace the leaders. "If we don't dramatically outgrow Oracle and SAP I'd be disappointed," Ballmer said. Earlier in the day, Ballmer unveiled the company's latest plans at Microsoft's business software conference in Atlanta, attended by about 9,000 users. He gave a preview of the company's new enterprise resource planning (ERP) software -- the flagship of its business applications efforts -- which will soon be accessible online or "in the cloud" for the first time.