SAP Underpins On-Demand Strategy With the Proven Power of Partners.

[Zumba]

SAP Equips Partners With Tools and Engagement Support for SAP® Business ByDesign™ On-Demand Partner Ecosystem to Help Customers Gain Additional Features, Functions and Services

FRANKFURT, Germany and ORLANDO, Fla. - May 17, 2010 - Applying a proven partner strategy that has long benefited its customers of all sizes and industries, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced its plans to accelerate the creation of a partner ecosystem around SAP® Business ByDesign™, the comprehensive, fully integrated on-demand suite dedicated to companies in the small and midsize enterprise (SME) market. As it gears up for volume business, the company aims to establish the on-demand software as a foundation for solution and services partners to offer additional features and industry expertise that address the specific needs of a broader group of customers. The plans also foresee new opportunities for reselling partners to better position, sell and deploy SAP Business ByDesign. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE® NOW, being held simultaneously in Frankfurt, Germany, and Orlando, Florida, May 17-19, 2010.

For its established portfolio of SME solutions, SAP already has a strong existing partner ecosystem of about 9,700 companies with proven expertise in delivering, enhancing and deploying solutions. Partners represent a core element of both the go-to-market strategy and the plans with SAP Business ByDesign. SAP has already been working with a group of approximately 80 partners that have closely followed customer projects or enhanced the solution with additional features, functions and services (see "Partners Further Enrich SME On-Demand Solution SAP Business ByDesign With Next Round of Complementary Solutions").
New Business Model Opens New Opportunities for Partners
The on-demand market represents an entirely new business model as well as new opportunities for solution providers, solution resellers and technology partners. With the on-demand solution, partners can focus resources on creating innovation and enabling customers rather than maintaining infrastructure. They also benefit from shortened innovation cycles, accelerated time-to-market and immediate access to constantly updated technology.
For SAP Business ByDesign, SAP aims to offer a variety of engagement opportunities for solution resellers or solution partners. Partners may play one or multiple roles depending on which option is best suited and most sustainable for their specific business model.
The company's plans also foresee enabling solution partners to develop business extensions such as forms and reports, or even comprehensive industry-specific functionality, to further maximize customers' successes. SAP and select partners are currently testing early versions of a development environment for partners to create and deploy such extensions.
In addition to developing solution extensions for SAP Business ByDesign, partners can also enhance the SAP on-demand offering by integrating mash-up technology such as Google, Hoover's and MapQuest.com (see "NAVTEQ Map24, MapQuest And Others Enhance User Experience for SAP Business ByDesign Customers"), or services such as payroll. These solutions are connected and pre-integrated into SAP Business ByDesign and can be easily configured by customers. Furthermore, co-innovation with technology partners such as Intel and Microsoft contribute to SAP's expanded reach and continued success and innovation of SAP Business ByDesign.
SAP plans to offer future reselling partners a unique opportunity in the on-demand space: a defined value proposition and economic model that allows them to own the relationships and contracts directly with customers. The business model is designed so that such partners not only sell and deploy SAP Business ByDesign but also offer their own additional services, such as back-office services, consulting, change management or data migration, to supplement the service offering.
SAP will focus its on-demand ecosystem efforts on key countries including the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, and will later extend the program to China and India. SAP will also explore the possibility of additional partnering opportunities including referral partners who refer leads to SAP.
"Partners have always played a key role in the success of SAP's mainstay business, and we're taking a page from our own playbook as we expand into the on-demand market," said Doug Merritt, executive vice president, On-Demand Solutions, SAP. "A diverse, thriving ecosystem is critical to ensuring fast time-to-value for customers in an on-demand world, with partners serving as trusted advisors, providing industry expertise and developing additional services. As we take this significant first step in the on-demand market, we are committed to empowering our partners with the opportunities and tools they need to ensure customer success."
SAPPHIRE® NOW
With SAPPHIRE® NOW, SAP marks the next evolution of its SAPPHIRE customer conference and networking events, offering SAP customers, partners and prospects even more opportunities to engage in dialogue with peers, participants and thought leaders around the globe. Being held simultaneously in Orlando, Florida, and Frankfurt, Germany, May 17-19, 2010, this enhanced, real-time event connects attendees on site with global participants through state-of-the-art broadcast studios and a newly designed online experience that incorporates the latest social media and community functionality. Whether onsite or online, participants can gain insight on how innovative business solutions from SAP are enabling long-term, profitable business growth. For more information about the Orlando show, visit www.sapandasug.com; for the Frankfurt event, visit www.sap.com/sapphire/emea. Join the conversation via Twitter at @SAPPHIRENOW and visit the SAPPHIRE NOW Social Newsroom at sapphirenow.blogs-sap.com.
SAP and the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) are co-locating their premier events in Orlando, where the 2010 ASUG Annual Conference takes place May 16-20.

[koko]

Thanks for your comments Astedeheets !!

Regards!