Industry-Leading R/3 to Be Brought to Small-Enterprise Companies; SAP Announces New Certified Business Solutions Program at SAPPHIRE '96; Making R/3 Easier to Buy, Implement and Use

Business Wire, August 26, 1996

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 1996--SAP America Inc. today announced its Certified Business Solutions program, which will bring the industry-leading R/3 business enterprise software solution to companies with up to $200 million (U.S.) in annual revenues in the United States, Canada and Australia.

For small enterprises, SAP has made R/3 easier to evaluate, purchase, implement and use, allowing these companies to take full and cost-effective advantage of R/3. The new Certified Business Solutions program includes the unveiling of SAP's first-ever North American indirect channel; these resellers are certified business solutions providers, offering customers one-stop shopping that includes new service and support structures.

In addition, this program introduces a market-focused implementation methodology and several new tools for software configuration, system administration and data conversion.

"As technology continues to develop and overall software and implementation costs decline, smaller companies are clamoring for the same business solutions already enjoyed by larger companies," said Bryan Plug, executive vice president of SAP America Inc., who is leading the new program.

"We've come up with an entirely new way to sell and support R/3 that will address the unique needs of the small enterprise." SAP already has more than 2,000 companies worldwide in the small-enterprise market that currently use R/3.

"Our configure-to-order business model demands a sales and order entry system like that of a much larger business," said Bert Forbes, president of Ziatech Corp., a San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based OEM that manufactures microcomputers optimized for rugged conditions in industrial and commercial applications; Ziatech is one of the first Certified Business Solutions program customers.

"We have about 32 users currently, but we found no other solution scalable to our needs yet robust enough to handle our complex product-configuration matrix. With R/3 we have confidence in the accuracy of our customer quotes and delivery dates and realize better production economies through the integration of sales, materials management, purchasing and other functions."

In addition to R/3's integrated business processes, small-enterprise customers will benefit from SAP's new Business Framework architecture, also announced today at SAPPHIRE '96.

The Business Framework is an open "building block" architecture that provides accelerated, cost-effective installation and maintainability; scalability to meet any level of current needs and to grow along with the customer's organization; flexibility that allows customers to choose components from SAP and compatible third-party suppliers; and unprecedented time-to-market of new functionality.

Iona Appliances Inc. is a Certified Business Solutions program customer with revenues of $70.1 million (U.S.). "R/3 will allow us to run the company more efficiently," said Richard Zulik, Iona's project manager on the R/3 implementation. "We will be able to do more with less, reduce inventory, and spend more time analyzing data instead of preparing it. R/3 gives us a way to run the company more efficiently and a better way to optimize operations."

Easier to Buy - SAP's First-Ever North American Indirect Channel

SAP has partnered with a network of independent providers focused on and organized around small-enterprise customers. SAP certified business solutions providers will work with technology aggregators, third-party consultants and other service providers and will be the single point of customer contact from presales to post-sales for a specified geographic region.

Several certified business solutions providers across the United States, Canada and Australia have already joined the new indirect channel and completed the necessary certification training. SAP will continue to recruit additional certified business solutions providers and expects to have up to 15 in the new indirect channel by year-end.

Participating companies include Australian Solutions and People Pty. Ltd., CAI-Advanced Solutions, Enterprise Solutions Partner Pty. Ltd., Global Core Strategies, Missana & Associates Inc., Optimum Software Solutions Inc. and SAPient Software Inc.

To ensure the success of the certified business solutions providers and their customers, SAP is creating a new support organization dedicated to the needs of the indirect channel.

A team of SAP "channel coaches" will work directly with the certified business solutions providers to conduct nationwide marketing campaigns, facilitate national and regional sales events, support customer service, conduct product and best-practices training, support quality implementations, and monitor the overall success of the channel.

Customers will receive all service and support from their certified business solutions providers, and SAP will assist with a new toll-free support hot line, staffing it with engineers focused exclusively on channel support.

A new team of SAP solution experts will work with the providers, giving them and their customers a voice into the development organization for new SAP business components and technology. The certified business solutions providers, in turn, must complete an extensive training program to achieve SAP certification.