SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced it has successfully established an expansion to its solution partner program that connects small businesses and midsize companies with best-fit, industry-specific solutions from partners that can be rapidly implemented at an affordable cost. The designation and brand, "Enabled By SAP(R) Business One," allow SAP to certify and label partner solutions that offer simple, proven and affordable industry-specific functionality that is based on rigorous quality standards and tightly integrated into the SAP Business One application. The designation helps customers to identify solutions that are designed for rapid, reliable implementations and, as a consequence, allow for greater control over costs, increased efficiencies and improved visibility into business-critical information. The announcement was made at the SYSTEMS 2008 conference, being held in Munich, Germany, October 21-24.
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The designation is leveraging the strengths of SAP Business One software solution partners, who develop and market hundreds of solutions providing industry-specific and functional add-ons. Twenty-two solutions have completed SAP's industry solutions process as a first step in the "Enabled By" process - they are available for 18 industries in 20 countries including Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Among the industries covered are food & beverage manufacturing, IT services, graphical arts, industrial machinery, residential construction, and oil & gas field service. The following three solutions have passed the rigorous additional steps and have been awarded the brand "Enabled by SAP Business One": ProjectManagement developed by Maringo Computers in Germany; Variatec BX for Industrial Machinery developed by Variatec in Germany; FourthShift Edition for the food & beverage manufacturing industry developed by SoftBrands in the United States.
Customers See Early Benefits of "Enabled by SAP Business One" Designation
SAP Business One channel partners are able to sell and implement solutions that are "Enabled by SAP Business One" quickly and effectively due to enablement tools, pre-defined implementation methodologies and industry best practices. Orval Kent Foods, a refrigerated prepared foods supplier for retail and food service customers, implemented the "Enabled by SAP Business One" solution FourthShift Edition.
"The solution was implemented in just 12 weeks and we started to work with it immediately," said Jim Johann, director of Enterprise Support, Orval Kent Foods. "We are now able to organize and streamline our entire workflow, from the sales order and the manufacturing process to the delivery of our refrigerated prepared foods to the customer, as our entire staff is working with this easy-to-use solution. It supports all food-safety regulations including HACCP, which helps us maintain compliance. It also allows for real-time transparency into all processes, which has helped us to significantly improve planning."
debk GmbH, an engineering company that develops factory automation solutions for the automotive industry, used the industry- and country-specific "Enabled by SAP Business One" solutions to ensure maximum integrity for its business needs.
"When we charge for the services provided by our engineers, our invoicing needs to be compliant with the German fee structure regulations for architects and engineers," said Dirk Niggemann-Sonnenberg, CEO, debk GmbH. "The 'Enabled by SAP Business One' solution ProjectManagement provided by Maringo Computers automatically takes these regulations into account, which significantly speeds the billing process and makes projects more transparent. Furthermore, we have been able to considerably improve the quality and accuracy of our quotations."
Partner Offerings Achieve "Enabled by SAP Business One" Designation
The designation "Enabled by SAP Business One" will be granted by SAP to each solution on a per country basis to ensure compliance with local legal and best practices requirements. To achieve the designation, the integration with SAP Business One must first have been technically certified by the SAP Integration and Certification Center. Partners need to meet additional strict criteria defined by SAP to receive the "Enabled by SAP Business One" designation, which will distinguish their solution as a premium industry offering. The solutions must also pass a thorough testing process in SAP's testing lab alongside SAP Business One versions and patches, ensuring integration and interoperability.
"SAP Business One is an international, comprehensive business application platform that provides a stable basis for regional and the increasingly important vertical and micro-vertical offerings from our software solution partners, who now offer more than 500 solutions," said Niels Stenfeldt, senior vice president, SAP Business One, SAP AG. "Since we piloted the industry solution program in early 2008, building on SAP's long experience in providing its customers with solutions that fit their specific needs, we have seen a tremendous demand for such solutions around the world not only from our solution partners, but our resellers and customers alike."
For more information on SAP Business One, please visit: http://www.sap.com/...
About SAP Business One
SAP Business One is a business management solution that is best fit for small businesses that have outgrown their accounting-only systems and are looking for a single integrated solution to manage their entire business including financials, sales, customer relationships and operations. Designed specifically for businesses with up to 100 employees, with SAP Business One, small businesses can streamline end-to-end operations, get instant and complete information, and accelerate profitable growth. Built upon SAP's decades of proven experience, SAP Business One can be flexibly tailored to meet the fast-changing and industry-specific needs of small businesses as they grow. With more than 450 add-on solutions and available in 40 country-specific versions, SAP Business One is delivered and supported locally by more than 1,100 experienced resellers and is trusted by over 20,000 customers worldwide. Additional information available at http://www.sap.com/...
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The designation is leveraging the strengths of SAP Business One software solution partners, who develop and market hundreds of solutions providing industry-specific and functional add-ons. Twenty-two solutions have completed SAP's industry solutions process as a first step in the "Enabled By" process - they are available for 18 industries in 20 countries including Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Among the industries covered are food & beverage manufacturing, IT services, graphical arts, industrial machinery, residential construction, and oil & gas field service. The following three solutions have passed the rigorous additional steps and have been awarded the brand "Enabled by SAP Business One": ProjectManagement developed by Maringo Computers in Germany; Variatec BX for Industrial Machinery developed by Variatec in Germany; FourthShift Edition for the food & beverage manufacturing industry developed by SoftBrands in the United States.
Customers See Early Benefits of "Enabled by SAP Business One" Designation
SAP Business One channel partners are able to sell and implement solutions that are "Enabled by SAP Business One" quickly and effectively due to enablement tools, pre-defined implementation methodologies and industry best practices. Orval Kent Foods, a refrigerated prepared foods supplier for retail and food service customers, implemented the "Enabled by SAP Business One" solution FourthShift Edition.
"The solution was implemented in just 12 weeks and we started to work with it immediately," said Jim Johann, director of Enterprise Support, Orval Kent Foods. "We are now able to organize and streamline our entire workflow, from the sales order and the manufacturing process to the delivery of our refrigerated prepared foods to the customer, as our entire staff is working with this easy-to-use solution. It supports all food-safety regulations including HACCP, which helps us maintain compliance. It also allows for real-time transparency into all processes, which has helped us to significantly improve planning."
debk GmbH, an engineering company that develops factory automation solutions for the automotive industry, used the industry- and country-specific "Enabled by SAP Business One" solutions to ensure maximum integrity for its business needs.
"When we charge for the services provided by our engineers, our invoicing needs to be compliant with the German fee structure regulations for architects and engineers," said Dirk Niggemann-Sonnenberg, CEO, debk GmbH. "The 'Enabled by SAP Business One' solution ProjectManagement provided by Maringo Computers automatically takes these regulations into account, which significantly speeds the billing process and makes projects more transparent. Furthermore, we have been able to considerably improve the quality and accuracy of our quotations."
Partner Offerings Achieve "Enabled by SAP Business One" Designation
The designation "Enabled by SAP Business One" will be granted by SAP to each solution on a per country basis to ensure compliance with local legal and best practices requirements. To achieve the designation, the integration with SAP Business One must first have been technically certified by the SAP Integration and Certification Center. Partners need to meet additional strict criteria defined by SAP to receive the "Enabled by SAP Business One" designation, which will distinguish their solution as a premium industry offering. The solutions must also pass a thorough testing process in SAP's testing lab alongside SAP Business One versions and patches, ensuring integration and interoperability.
"SAP Business One is an international, comprehensive business application platform that provides a stable basis for regional and the increasingly important vertical and micro-vertical offerings from our software solution partners, who now offer more than 500 solutions," said Niels Stenfeldt, senior vice president, SAP Business One, SAP AG. "Since we piloted the industry solution program in early 2008, building on SAP's long experience in providing its customers with solutions that fit their specific needs, we have seen a tremendous demand for such solutions around the world not only from our solution partners, but our resellers and customers alike."
For more information on SAP Business One, please visit: http://www.sap.com/...
About SAP Business One
SAP Business One is a business management solution that is best fit for small businesses that have outgrown their accounting-only systems and are looking for a single integrated solution to manage their entire business including financials, sales, customer relationships and operations. Designed specifically for businesses with up to 100 employees, with SAP Business One, small businesses can streamline end-to-end operations, get instant and complete information, and accelerate profitable growth. Built upon SAP's decades of proven experience, SAP Business One can be flexibly tailored to meet the fast-changing and industry-specific needs of small businesses as they grow. With more than 450 add-on solutions and available in 40 country-specific versions, SAP Business One is delivered and supported locally by more than 1,100 experienced resellers and is trusted by over 20,000 customers worldwide. Additional information available at http://www.sap.com/...
