Software contributed nearly 90% of SAP’s revenue growth for the first quarter of 2012. The German application vendor’s revenue was up 11% from the respective period in 2011.

“We reported our ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in non-IFRS software and software-related service revenue, with a strong contribution from SuccessFactors to our cloud business,” said Werner Brandt, CFO of SAP. “Free cash flow was very strong in the first quarter, increasing by 35% to €2 billion. This enabled us to return to positive net liquidity faster than expected.”

“We see strong momentum for our flagship in-memory platform SAP HANA, our cloud and mobile solutions, and our core applications and analytics products,” said Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, Co-CEOs, SAP. “Customers are embracing our high speed of innovation and the ability to orchestrate solutions across our entire portfolio. SAP continues to help companies run like never before – helping to solve fundamental business challenges with unmatched industry expertise. We’re confident that we’ll deliver on our business outlook for Q2 and the full year.”