Articles by SAP News Desk

Aligning Business and IT to Improve Performance on SAP

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:30:00 EDT

Improving business performance is a goal that cannot be realized without mutual cooperation and alignment between business and IT. In collaboration, IT focuses on architecture, system administration, scalability and performance, security and infrastructure, while business evaluates the practical usability and capabilities of tools being considered and how effectively they can be integrated into organizational and business processes. All parties must ensure that both technical requirements and the business needs are well defined, harmonized and prioritized. Leaving everything to one party or the other can be a sure path to failure.

The Time for Performance Management is Now, Not Later

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:30:00 EDT

Effectiveness in achieving goals and objectives has replaced efficiency as the most impactful business priority. Delay will impact performance; every day in which you aren't able to respond to a market or competitive challenge is a day lost. Your business depends on achieving planned results. To do that, management must be empowered and operational visibility improved.

Performance Management and ERP

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:30:00 EDT

CIO's face a common battle to balance the warring requirements of providing critical business value with maximum efficiency and cost savings. As they look to simplify their IT infrastructure, they must consider where it makes sense to draw a line in the sand and say 'Here's what my vendor ERP can do, and here's what we need performance management to do - the two are not the same, and we must have the right solution for each one.'

Olivetti Chooses 360° B2B for SAP Solutions from Crossgate

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Olivetti has chosen to adopt services from Crossgate for EDI integration of its partners. With revenues in 2007 amounting to 408 million euro, Olivetti operates in the home and office products, in specialized applications for the banking and retail industries, and in IT automation systems for prognostic games, lotteries and electronic voting systems. The company employs 1260 people, has sales offices in 83 countries (with a strong focus in Europe and the Far East), multiple manufacturing plants, and research and development centers.

AmberPoint Joins SAP Co-Innovation Lab

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:15:00 EDT

AmberPoint announced that it has joined the SAP Co-Innovation Lab, where it will work with SAP to provide best practices for integrating its service-oriented architecture (SOA) runtime governance solutions with SAP enterprise services. AmberPoint intends to work with the SAP Co-Innovation Lab team to demonstrate and extend its SOA runtime governance capabilities by highlighting new use cases and scenarios, as well as identifying and sharing best practices showing how AmberPoint's solutions complement SAP solutions.

SAP Launches Co-Innovation Lab in Tokyo

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:15:00 EDT

SAP announced the opening of a second SAP Co-Innovation Lab in Ohtemachi, Tokyo, Japan. Joining the co-innovation lab, located in Palo Alto, California, the addition further broadens efforts by SAP to work with software solution partners, technology partners, service partners and customers to accelerate the innovation and delivery of solutions designed to address industry-specific business issues for companies around the world.

Electronics Industry Giant Selects Esker to Automate SAP Inbound Sales Order Management

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:15:00 EDT

Esker announced that it has signed a USD$1M enterprise agreement to implement Esker DeliveryWare for a Fortune 50 electronics manufacturer, enabling the company to automate the delivery of sales order documents into its SAP system.

Axon Signs MRO Co-Development Agreement with SAP

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:15:00 EDT

Axon announced it has signed a co-development agreement with SAP for the integration of a new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business solution with the SAP ERP application for aviation and aerospace organizations. The new MRO industry solution, called iMRO, is intended to improve productivity and planner visibility and reduce variations encountered between planning and operations, allowing higher asset utilizations to be realized for large and small airlines, manufacturers and third-party MRO providers. iMRO, together with MRO solutions from SAP, will deliver built-in best practices for maintenance engineering, maintenance planning, maintenance operations and business support processes.

EDS Becomes Early Adopter of Run SAP Methodology

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:00:00 EDT

EDS has announced the adoption of the Run SAP methodology for use in its application management services and hosting operations. Through this adoption, EDS also plans to incorporate the methodology into its consulting practice, where it will leverage its expertise with SAP applications management, gained through the implementation of SAP solutions by more than 800,000 client users globally.

SAP Surpasses Milestone in Product Strategy

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:15:00 EDT

SAP announced a historic landmark in its product release strategy: The latest release of its enterprise resource planning (ERP) application, SAP ERP, has been selected or installed by more than 10,000 customers, including Bank of America, Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem, and Kraft Foods. In addition, independent analyst firm Gartner recently ranked SAP as the 2007 Market Share leader in the ERP category with a market share of 27.5 percent, surpassing the second-ranked vendor who was ranked at 13.9 percent.

SAP Appoints New Presidents in EMEA and Latin America

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:15:00 EDT

SAP announced the appointment of José Duarte as president and CEO of the company's operations in Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), and Rodolpho Cardenuto as president and CEO of SAP Latin America. The new leaders assume their roles as Erwin Gunst, formerly president of SAP EMEA, and Bill McDermott, formerly president and CEO of Americas & Asia Pacific Japan, assume new executive positions within the company and officially join the Executive Board of SAP AG as previously announced on April 2, 2008.

Combined Share of SAP and Business Objects Lead the Expanding Business Intelligence Market

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:30:00 EDT

'Our number-one ranking in IDC's annual BI tools report is great validation of our ability to execute on new products and technologies that optimize business performance,' said Marge Breya, general manager and executive vice president, Business Intelligence Platform, Business Objects, as Business Objects today announced that research analyst firm IDC has ranked it as the number one vendor for business intelligence (BI) tools.

Datalogic Mobile Becomes SAP Certified Partner

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:15:00 EDT

SAP Integration and Certification Centers (ICC) have granted Datalogic Mobile SAP Certified Integration status. Therefore, the company from Bologna is now a SAP certified partner, guaranteeing logistics and warehousing solutions that provide compatibility with SAP. SAP delivers products and services that help accelerate business innovation for our customers and partners by rationalizing operations and reaching high levels of efficiency within the supply chain world.

SAP To Acquire Visiprise

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT

SAP announced its intent to acquire Visiprise. With the addition of Visiprise, SAP will deliver on its 'Perfect Plant' strategy to bring together core SAP solutions with the software, hardware and services offerings of ecosystem partners to drive innovation for discrete manufacturers. The integration of Visiprise's proven plant-level manufacturing execution solutions brings discrete manufacturing customers a robust product offering to increase production responsiveness, improve operational efficiencies and enhance quality and regulatory compliance.

Kabel BW Selects SAP to Strengthen Connection to Customers

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:30:00 EDT

SAP announced that Kabel BW has selected the latest version of the SAP Customer Relationship Management application, SAP CRM 2007, to strengthen its connection to customers and build its foundation for future growth. The company, which serves more than 2.3 million subscribers, also plans to enhance its existing deployment of SAP's flagship enterprise resource planning application, SAP ERP, with the industry-specific SAP solution for telecommunications providers, the SAP Revenue Management and Contract Accounting application. The objectives of its modernization efforts are to streamline the company's customer service and ultimately deliver superior customer value.

SAP Honors Novell with SAP Pinnacle Award

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:45:00 EDT

Novell announced it has received an SAP Pinnacle Award in the category 'Technology: Co-Innovation for Core Business,' recognizing Novell as an SAP partner who has made significant contributions to SAP's customer-focused ecosystem. Novell was honored specifically for work with SAP on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Priority Support for SAP as well as SUSE Linux Enterprise Server high availability and virtualization for SAP.

Wipro Opens Solutions Lab for SAP

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:30:00 EDT

Wipro announced an agreement with SAP, through which it established a closer collaboration and an increased focus on customer adoption of SAP solutions. Under this agreement, Wipro has invested in a state-of-the-art Solutions Lab, through which it is building 'Industry Networks' to help companies leverage industry best practices and templates on SAP's business process platform.

SAP CEO: U.S. Market Environment "Is Tough, But Not Worsening''

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EDT

'There is no spillover from the recession in the U.S. to Asia and Europe,' SAP CEO Henning Kagermann told a press reception in Berlin recently. His co-CEO, Leo Apotheker, told the press at the same event that the integration of Business Objects was moving ahead 'in a very satisfactory manner' and that it would be complete before the end of 2008.

SAP Unveils SOA Offering

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EDT

SAP announced that it has delivered a complete accompaniment of service-oriented architecture (SOA) technologies, ready-to-run services and comprehensive support offerings to help companies achieve additional business value and increased IT efficiencies. With SOA as the de facto market standard and mass adoption underway, customers can turn to SAP for a simplified, comprehensive option for executing a sound SOA strategy that delivers rapid value. The breadth of offerings from SAP addresses the full lifecycle of SOA projects -- from development to deployment and ongoing management -- making the transition to SOA easy and affordable. By taking advantage of hands-on guidance through SAP's methodology, customers can accelerate business network transformation.

Status on Newly Released SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment 7.1

Sat, 31 May 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Cúram Software announced its market-leading Cúram Business Application Suite 5.0 has achieved 'Powered by SAP NetWeaver' certification status. Endorsed by SAP in 2007, the Cúram Business Application Suite, which is Cúram Software's Social Enterprise Management (SEM) solution, provides client-centric business processes and outcomes-driven, integrated service delivery on the newly released SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment (SAP NetWeaver CE) offering Release 7.1. Cúram Software is pleased its Cúram Business Application Suite has achieved Powered by SAP NetWeaver status, which leverages the open-standard Java platform, Enterprise Edition 5 (Java EE 5), for enterprise service-oriented architecture (enterprise SOA)-based composition and deployment. SAP NetWeaver 7.1 CE provides a complete standards-based platform and runtime environment for developing, deploying and efficiently managing composite applications using enterprise SOA.

Pacer International Completes First Phase of SAP Implementation

Wed, 28 May 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Pacer International announced completion of the Blueprinting phase of its SAP information technology system. The Blueprint, under development since October 2007, provides a path for the complete integration of Pacer International's business units under a single IT system, the implementation is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2008.

SOA World - Swiss University Partners with SAP

Wed, 21 May 2008 13:30:00 EDT

SAP announced findings of a research effort conducted with the University of St. Gallen that show IT projects based on a service-oriented architecture (SOA) improve software reusability, reduce operations cost and offer substantial process efficiencies. As SOA is currently undergoing mass adoption and establishing itself as a de facto technology standard for implementing software architectures for increased flexibility and simplified integration, organizations are looking for more economic justification for their initial SOA projects. The study focuses on the SOA business-value proof points that organizations are using to convey the benefits of an SOA strategy to decision makers.

SAP Ushers In New Era for Business Process Management

Wed, 21 May 2008 11:15:00 EDT

SAP announced plans for the release of SAP NetWeaver Business Process Management and SAP NetWeaver Business Rules Management. The addition of these planned capabilities will further establish SAP NetWeaver as the strategic platform of choice for customers that execute a service-oriented architecture (SOA) strategy. The new tools from SAP are aimed to provide the business process flexibility needed to enable customers to turn strategic business insight into real-world execution. A vital part of SAP's robust platform offering, SAP NetWeaver allows IT organizations to drive more value by providing the agility to respond to requests from the business for new or adapted business processes. The addition of the planned capabilities will enable business process experts to design, model and execute new or adapted business processes without having to develop code. The SAP NetWeaver technology platform and its full set of capabilities allows companies to accelerate the consolidation of their IT landscapes, enabling them to enjoy new levels of the business process flexibility used to drive innovation and competitive advantage.

SAP Accelerates the Path to SOA for Customers

Mon, 19 May 2008 15:30:00 EDT

SAP announced a design and development governance offering for enterprise service-oriented architecture (enterprise SOA.) The new offering will enable SAP customers to experience tangible business benefits as a result of an enterprise SOA strategy. Growing adoption of the SAP enterprise SOA strategy -- the design and reuse of rich enterprise services to enable efficiencies in business performance -- has led to customer requests for training and education involving SAP's proven design and development governance methodologies to help them speed their path toward enterprise SOA.

Ballance Selects SAP as Comprehensive Solution

Thu, 15 May 2008 15:45:00 EDT

Ballance Agri-Nutrients has selected SAP to provide enterprise applications to replace its legacy system. The deal includes SAP ERP, Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Ballance's existing legacy system had been customized over the years in order to meet increasing business requirements. When it came time to upgrade, the company decided that SAP's packaged approach would be better able to achieve the desired business benefits when compared with competitors' offerings.

SAP and TechniData Release Solution for Achieving EU Chemical Regulation Compliance

Thu, 15 May 2008 14:45:00 EDT

SAP and TechniData announced the availability of SAP REACH Compliance, a comprehensive software application for addressing complex tasks required by the European Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) legislation. The first REACH compliance deadline is pre- registration, which runs from June 1, 2008 to November 30, 2008. The remaining three REACH deadlines will occur in 2010, 2013 and 2018, respectively.

ICW Group Turns to SAP for Improved Claims and Billing Processing

Thu, 15 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Demonstrating ongoing success in providing innovative solutions to insurers worldwide, SAP America, a subsidiary of SAP, announced that ICW Group has selected SAP to support its growth and transformation goals. Rather than work with point solution insurance providers, ICW Group has selected SAP solutions to upgrade its multiple lines of business onto one platform. As more insurers are experiencing the value of consolidation on a single-platform, ICW Group's decision to move away from a siloed information technology (IT) landscape will help to lower its total cost of ownership. ICW Group will implement industry-specific solutions from SAP for claims, payments, billing, financials and corporate performance management.

AMC Technology Announces It Has Achieved Certification from SAP

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:30:00 EDT

AMC Technology announced that seven additional Connectors for its MCIS 5.2 product recently achieved 'Certified for SAP NetWeaver' status from SAP for the interaction center capabilities integrated with the SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) application. The certified connectors include six connectors that integrate with SAP CRM via the SAP integrated communications interface: AMC Telephony Connector for Cisco ICM 5.2, AMC Telephony Connector for Envox CT Connect 5.2, AMC Telephony Connector for AES 5.2, AMC Telephony Connector for AIC 5.2, AMC Telephony Connector for Nortel CCT 5.2 and AMC MCIS WebChat 5.2. Also certified is the AMC MCIS Telephony Channel 5.2 connector that integrates with SAP CRM via the SAPphone interface.

SoftBrands Extends Partnership With SAP

Fri, 09 May 2008 13:45:00 EDT

SoftBrands announced an extension of its partnership with SAP. The companies will jointly pursue opportunities for affiliates and smaller sites of large enterprises. The goal and commitment is to pursue an SAP-centric solution at the plant level for large enterprises. SoftBrands is one of the first partners to work with SAP on a joint market approach and strategy for this market segment.

Oxford Industries Selects SAP to Streamline Global Financial Reporting

Fri, 09 May 2008 13:30:00 EDT

SAP announced that Oxford Industries will replace its financial information systems with the SAP ERP Financials solution. Oxford selected SAP as its software vendor of choice based on the company's reputation for providing value in the retail industry, its proven platform that supports customers with global operations and the superior functionality of the product.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Move to SAP

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:15:00 EDT

SAP Public Services announced that Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has selected SAP's flagship enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP ERP. M-DCPS joins an increasing number of school systems investing in modern information technology to better manage their operations and improve public education.

EnteGreat Acquires Technology Solutions Company's SAP Consulting Practice

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:45:00 EDT

EnteGreat announced its acquisition of the SAP Consulting Practice of Technology Solutions Company (TSC). The move substantially augments EnteGreat's existing SAP business and positions the company for growth in emerging markets. EnteGreat brings a blend of manufacturing expertise and technology systems integration to the new unit, while TSC's SAP Consulting Practice brings comprehensive consulting services, products, and project management expertise. By adding best-of-breed SAP consulting and project management capabilities to EnteGreat's existing SAP services, the newly expanded company will enable customers to align their enterprise business processes to their manufacturing operations more efficiently and cost effectively.

SAP Announces Next-Generation Support Offering

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:15:00 EDT

SAP announced growing market adoption for the company's new support services offering, SAP Enterprise Support. SAP Enterprise Support meets the evolving needs of customers by supporting a company's mission-critical business processes and heterogeneous software environment. The ongoing growth of SAP's robust product offerings and mass adoption of service-oriented architecture (SOA) have challenged traditional support models. No longer are bug fixes and maintenance sufficient. SAP Enterprise Support provides companies with a holistic offering that helps to reduce the risk and maximize the value that customers receive from their IT investments.

Infosys and SAP Enter Into Global Services Partner Agreement

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:45:00 EDT

Infosys and SAP announced that Infosys has signed up to the SAP Global Service Partner Program in order to strengthen its capabilities to deliver enhanced value to customers. This announcement marks an important milestone in the relationship between the two organizations, which have been working together for more than five years to help companies realize information technology (IT) and business results from their investments in SAP applications. Through this newly expanded relationship, customers will benefit from bolstered implementation services, enhanced solution delivery and increased global reach. Progressive companies such as ABB Group have already realized the benefits of the existing partnership.

Optimal Solutions Becomes SAP Channel Partner

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Optimal Solutions announced that it is a SAP channel partner authorized to resell the SAP Business All-in-One solution to midsize companies in North America. As an SAP Business All-in-One channel partner, Optimal further expands its middle-market offerings to include reselling SAP Business All-in-One solutions to midsize companies in select industries throughout North America. SAP Business All-in-One is a comprehensive, proven solution with preconfigured, industry-specific business processes to enable predictable and affordable implementations. Optimized for midsize companies, SAP Business All-in-One has the flexibility to adapt and extend as a business evolves and grows.

SAP and IBM Collaborate to Offer Integrated Business Systems Dedicated to Midsize Companies

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:30:00 EDT

SAP revealed plans to further extend its fast-start program for SAP Business All-in-One solutions by expanding the strategic partnership with IBM that looks back on a long history of close collaboration in the areas of technology, channel and services. The two companies now take their established, reliable and scalable solutions that are for small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) to achieve optimal implementation times and total cost of ownership (TCO) for customers. The components will include IBM Power Systems, System x and BladeCenter servers, SAP Business All-in-One and an optimized database and operating system. Midsize companies in the services, trade and manufacturing industries are expected to gain benefits from these comprehensive offerings, as they allow for quick time to deployment of end-to-end business processes at a low TCO.

HCL Launches Solution to Avoid SAP Business Information Warehouse Slowdowns

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:30:00 EDT

HCL Technologies introduced HCL's new BW Cockpit Solution. The new offering is a centralized repository of real-time and historical load data combined with a simple user interface that enables customers to predict and avoid SAP Business Information Warehouse slowdowns and failures. Leveraging this solution, customers can reduce monitoring costs by 30 percent, secure better analysis of patterns and trends, and eliminate manual errors.

Worksoft Certify 8.2 Integrates Automated Testing Technology with SAP

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:15:00 EDT

Worksoft announced the availability of Worksoft Certify version 8.2, providing enhanced support for SAP business process functionality. Worksoft's flagship product, Worksoft Certify, offers a patented 'scriptless' approach to functional and business process validation testing, which allows business analysts and functional users to define, execute, and maintain tests through a menu-driven interface with business language narratives.

Novell Delivers Portfolio of Security Solutions in Support of SAP Enterprise Software Applications

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Novell announced a platform of identity and security management solutions optimized for use with the SAP NetWeaver platform and SAP business software applications. Targeted to address enterprise needs for end-to-end management solutions, Novell's identity and security management products augment SAP solutions for governance, risk and compliance (SAP solutions for GRC), as well as human resources and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. With Novell identity and security management solutions, SAP customers have access to policy management and enforcement capabilities, allowing them to reduce redundant administrative costs, automate tedious and error-prone manual processes, simplify password management, and adapt to a changing employee structure.

Siemens Achieves Gold Partner Status in SAP Consulting Partner Program

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Siemens IT Solutions and Services announced that it has achieved gold-level status in the SAP Consulting Partner Program in North America. Siemens is also a global SAP-certified provider of application management services, a SAP global services partner, and a certified SAP global hosting partner. To achieve gold partner status, Siemens met strict SAP conditions for sound internal processes and procedures, internal organization and service quality. Gold partners in the SAP Consulting Partner Program, including Siemens IT Solutions and Services, have SAP consulting capabilities spanning several industries.