SAP takes on more cloud customers as it seeks smaller deals

SAP SE raised its targets for 2020 as customers bought its latest suite of applications at a faster pace, and Chief Executive Officer Bill McDermott, a fan of Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal, said he wouldn't "lay off the accelerator" on acquisitions, engineering investment or a potential share buyback.

The updated outlook, on top of fourth-quarter sales that were in line with estimates, show how SAP, which supplies software for running factories, supply chains and financial accounts, is managing a transition from software installed on customers' computers to online cloud-computing tools.

SAP's on-site software license business is barely growing, but its overall growth is still outpacing that of competitors Oracle Corp and a key software division at IBM Corp. Now the company is looking to deploy more of its 3.7 billion euros ($4 billion) in cash to fuel more growth.