.
- Solution Extension Offerings Help Customers Address Targeted Business Needs To Drive Additional Value and Returns from IT Investments
- SAP(R) EcoHub Enables Customers to Easily Identify, Research and Acquire Solution Extensions and Other Solutions
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) has added two new solution extensions to its robust ecosystem offerings, providing additional opportunities for customers to derive more value from their IT investments. Building on established relationships with SmartOps and Vistex, SAP will offer selected products as official solution extension offerings addressing inventory management and data maintenance. Third-party solution extensions sold by SAP are a dependable and trusted method for customers to make incremental IT investments that extend the core value of SAP application functionality. Customers such as ConAgra Foods and Charmer Sunbelt Group have already experienced benefits from solution extensions from SAP to complement their IT investments with solutions that are easy to implement and address today's business issues. Making it easier for customers to discover, evaluate and buy these and other SAP solutions extensions, SAP® EcoHub provides an online marketplace. SAP will showcase the new offerings at SAPPHIRE® 2009, being held in Orlando, Florida, May 11-14.
Leading analysts agree that in all economic environments, customers must rely on their IT partners to help them use their solutions more efficiently. Smart businesses are accessing the SAP ecosystem for this exact purpose.
"IDC believes that SAP will double-down on its ecosystem strategy as it brings clear benefits to the company, its partners and its customers," said IDC analyst David Bradshaw. "It represents something that is truly unique and in many markets brings benefits to customers and suppliers that we have not seen in other strategies."
With solution extensions, companies can address today's business challenges with offerings developed by independent partners that integrate with SAP software - offering cross-solution and cross-industry functionalities that complement SAP solution capabilities. SAP tests, validates and supports solution extensions to provide quality, commitment and support.
"A thriving ecosystem is an integral part of SAP's mission to provide quality care and competitive edge to our customers," said Zia Yusuf, executive vice president, Global Ecosystem and Partner Group, SAP AG. "Ecosystem solutions like SmartOps and Vistex give our customers the much-needed transparency and accountability to succeed in today's environment. As the elements of our ecosystem continue to grow and evolve, our customers are enabled to reach beyond their boundaries where their competitors may be stalled. The mutual benefits to SAP, its customers and partners are more evident each day, and we look forward to fostering this steady pattern of evolution."
SAP and SmartOps Enable Inventory Optimization and Reduce Operational Costs
The SAP® Enterprise Inventory Optimization application by SmartOps has a proven track record of success as an SAP-endorsed business solution and, as a result, SAP is pleased to announce that the offering is now part of the SAP solution extension program.
Manufacturers are under tremendous pressure today to meet rising customer expectations for product availability as well as reduce their own supply chain costs. To address the inventory management challenges that many companies face, SAP Enterprise Inventory Optimization helps companies improve the accuracy of customer orders, lower inventory levels and reduce operations costs. Providing a clear and complete view across the supply chain allows customers to further manage supply and demand uncertainty, maximize profit and minimize assets. SAP Enterprise Inventory Optimization will be preconfigured with core SAP® Business Suite applications to provide customers with even more advanced demand, production and supply analytics, and more efficient workflows.
ConAgra Foods is a well-known branded foods company and is the trusted name behind many leading brands, including Healthy Choice, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM and Banquet, among others. As a consumer products manufacturer, ConAgra needed a solution to manage its increasing supply chain uncertainty and complexity while being able to quickly sense and respond to changes.
"The inventory optimization solution from SmartOps fits well in our SAP environment and supports our strategy to drive supply chain efficiencies during the next three years," said Glenn Seymour, vice president, Supply Planning, ConAgra Foods. "This will allow us to continue to enhance our supply chain planning and improve our ability to meet customer needs."
SAP and Vistex Address Customer Demand for Simplified SAP® ERP Data Maintenance
Building upon a strong multi-year track record of outstanding results, SAP and Vistex will expand their existing partnership agreement to include a new cross-industry offering in the area of data maintenance. The SAP® Data Maintenance application for ERP by Vistex eases the management and maintenance of customer, vendor, material and pricing data in SAP® ERP by eliminating the need for custom programs or spreadsheet-based tools to automate the mass maintenance of data. The Vistex solution resides within SAP Business Suite applications, so it can be implemented more quickly and easily into a customer's existing SAP landscape. The offering can be deployed with the SAP NetWeaver® Master Data Management (SAP NetWeaver MDM) component to create further efficiencies supporting a customer's master data management strategy.
SAP and Vistex have achieved remarkable success with the SAP® Paybacks and Chargebacks application by Vistex and the SAP® Incentive Administration application by Vistex for managing business-to-business contracts, rebates and incentives (see "SAP and Vistex Extend Reseller Agreement to Serve Distributors and Manufacturers Worldwide"). The new offering is a natural progression and adds significant value for new customers, as well as those that have already adopted the Vistex platform.
Charmer Sunbelt Group, one of the leading distributors of fine wines, spirits, beer and various non-alcoholic products in the United States, needed a fully integrated solution to provide visibility into customer-focused order to cash, automated chargeback claims, earned income rebates and real-time gross profit. By integrating SAP Incentive Administration and SAP Chargebacks and Paybacks, embedded with the SAP® Wholesale Distribution solution portfolio, Charmer Sunbelt realized increased productivity, reduced labor costs, decreased inventory and increased revenues at a time when profitability is critically important.
"We quickly realized that IT could be an important differentiator for us in the difficult economic climate, but like others we hesitated about making any new large investments," said Paul Fipps, vice president, Business Services Division, and director of Program, Charmer Sunbelt. "We rely on a strong sales force, and incentives are crucial to improving sales during a time of economic slowdown. By examining weak spots in our incentive process and identifying the SAP Incentive Administration application by Vistex as a good fit, we were able to make large improvements to our commissions process without making a huge dent in our budget."
SAP EcoHub Helps Customers Find the Right Solutions at the Right Time
SAP EcoHub provides a 360-degree view to make it easier for customers to evaluate and acquire software based on their most pressing needs under the most ideal terms (see "SAP Launches SAP® EcoHub - A Community-Powered Solution Marketplace"). SAP EcoHub also features other certified partner offerings, including SAP endorsed-business solutions, and Powered by SAP NetWeaver®, Certified by SAP NetWeaver and SAP BusinessObjects-certified solutions.
SAPPHIRE® 2009 Orlando
More than 10,000 customers, partners and technical experts are convening at SAPPHIRE® 2009 to discover how SAP and its thriving partner ecosystem are delivering IT solutions that help today's best-run businesses achieve clarity in every area of their operations. SAP's premier educational and networking event, SAPPHIRE is the one occasion where senior executives, business managers, and decision-makers can come together every year to explore how innovative business solutions foster long-term, profitable growth. SAPPHIRE 2009 is being held in Orlando, Florida, May 11-14. For more information, please visit www.sap.com/sapphire. Join the conversation via Twitter at #sapphire09.
Based on the success of last year's events, SAP and the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) are co-locating their premier events in Orlando, where the 2009 ASUG Annual Conference takes place May 11-14.
In addition to SAPPHIRE 2009, SAP is also hosting SAP® World Tour 2009, a series of local events in more than 70 cities through Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. For more information, visit the SAP World Tour event page on sap.com.
- Solution Extension Offerings Help Customers Address Targeted Business Needs To Drive Additional Value and Returns from IT Investments
- SAP(R) EcoHub Enables Customers to Easily Identify, Research and Acquire Solution Extensions and Other Solutions
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) has added two new solution extensions to its robust ecosystem offerings, providing additional opportunities for customers to derive more value from their IT investments. Building on established relationships with SmartOps and Vistex, SAP will offer selected products as official solution extension offerings addressing inventory management and data maintenance. Third-party solution extensions sold by SAP are a dependable and trusted method for customers to make incremental IT investments that extend the core value of SAP application functionality. Customers such as ConAgra Foods and Charmer Sunbelt Group have already experienced benefits from solution extensions from SAP to complement their IT investments with solutions that are easy to implement and address today's business issues. Making it easier for customers to discover, evaluate and buy these and other SAP solutions extensions, SAP® EcoHub provides an online marketplace. SAP will showcase the new offerings at SAPPHIRE® 2009, being held in Orlando, Florida, May 11-14.
Leading analysts agree that in all economic environments, customers must rely on their IT partners to help them use their solutions more efficiently. Smart businesses are accessing the SAP ecosystem for this exact purpose.
"IDC believes that SAP will double-down on its ecosystem strategy as it brings clear benefits to the company, its partners and its customers," said IDC analyst David Bradshaw. "It represents something that is truly unique and in many markets brings benefits to customers and suppliers that we have not seen in other strategies."
With solution extensions, companies can address today's business challenges with offerings developed by independent partners that integrate with SAP software - offering cross-solution and cross-industry functionalities that complement SAP solution capabilities. SAP tests, validates and supports solution extensions to provide quality, commitment and support.
"A thriving ecosystem is an integral part of SAP's mission to provide quality care and competitive edge to our customers," said Zia Yusuf, executive vice president, Global Ecosystem and Partner Group, SAP AG. "Ecosystem solutions like SmartOps and Vistex give our customers the much-needed transparency and accountability to succeed in today's environment. As the elements of our ecosystem continue to grow and evolve, our customers are enabled to reach beyond their boundaries where their competitors may be stalled. The mutual benefits to SAP, its customers and partners are more evident each day, and we look forward to fostering this steady pattern of evolution."
SAP and SmartOps Enable Inventory Optimization and Reduce Operational Costs
The SAP® Enterprise Inventory Optimization application by SmartOps has a proven track record of success as an SAP-endorsed business solution and, as a result, SAP is pleased to announce that the offering is now part of the SAP solution extension program.
Manufacturers are under tremendous pressure today to meet rising customer expectations for product availability as well as reduce their own supply chain costs. To address the inventory management challenges that many companies face, SAP Enterprise Inventory Optimization helps companies improve the accuracy of customer orders, lower inventory levels and reduce operations costs. Providing a clear and complete view across the supply chain allows customers to further manage supply and demand uncertainty, maximize profit and minimize assets. SAP Enterprise Inventory Optimization will be preconfigured with core SAP® Business Suite applications to provide customers with even more advanced demand, production and supply analytics, and more efficient workflows.
ConAgra Foods is a well-known branded foods company and is the trusted name behind many leading brands, including Healthy Choice, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM and Banquet, among others. As a consumer products manufacturer, ConAgra needed a solution to manage its increasing supply chain uncertainty and complexity while being able to quickly sense and respond to changes.
"The inventory optimization solution from SmartOps fits well in our SAP environment and supports our strategy to drive supply chain efficiencies during the next three years," said Glenn Seymour, vice president, Supply Planning, ConAgra Foods. "This will allow us to continue to enhance our supply chain planning and improve our ability to meet customer needs."
SAP and Vistex Address Customer Demand for Simplified SAP® ERP Data Maintenance
Building upon a strong multi-year track record of outstanding results, SAP and Vistex will expand their existing partnership agreement to include a new cross-industry offering in the area of data maintenance. The SAP® Data Maintenance application for ERP by Vistex eases the management and maintenance of customer, vendor, material and pricing data in SAP® ERP by eliminating the need for custom programs or spreadsheet-based tools to automate the mass maintenance of data. The Vistex solution resides within SAP Business Suite applications, so it can be implemented more quickly and easily into a customer's existing SAP landscape. The offering can be deployed with the SAP NetWeaver® Master Data Management (SAP NetWeaver MDM) component to create further efficiencies supporting a customer's master data management strategy.
SAP and Vistex have achieved remarkable success with the SAP® Paybacks and Chargebacks application by Vistex and the SAP® Incentive Administration application by Vistex for managing business-to-business contracts, rebates and incentives (see "SAP and Vistex Extend Reseller Agreement to Serve Distributors and Manufacturers Worldwide"). The new offering is a natural progression and adds significant value for new customers, as well as those that have already adopted the Vistex platform.
Charmer Sunbelt Group, one of the leading distributors of fine wines, spirits, beer and various non-alcoholic products in the United States, needed a fully integrated solution to provide visibility into customer-focused order to cash, automated chargeback claims, earned income rebates and real-time gross profit. By integrating SAP Incentive Administration and SAP Chargebacks and Paybacks, embedded with the SAP® Wholesale Distribution solution portfolio, Charmer Sunbelt realized increased productivity, reduced labor costs, decreased inventory and increased revenues at a time when profitability is critically important.
"We quickly realized that IT could be an important differentiator for us in the difficult economic climate, but like others we hesitated about making any new large investments," said Paul Fipps, vice president, Business Services Division, and director of Program, Charmer Sunbelt. "We rely on a strong sales force, and incentives are crucial to improving sales during a time of economic slowdown. By examining weak spots in our incentive process and identifying the SAP Incentive Administration application by Vistex as a good fit, we were able to make large improvements to our commissions process without making a huge dent in our budget."
SAP EcoHub Helps Customers Find the Right Solutions at the Right Time
SAP EcoHub provides a 360-degree view to make it easier for customers to evaluate and acquire software based on their most pressing needs under the most ideal terms (see "SAP Launches SAP® EcoHub - A Community-Powered Solution Marketplace"). SAP EcoHub also features other certified partner offerings, including SAP endorsed-business solutions, and Powered by SAP NetWeaver®, Certified by SAP NetWeaver and SAP BusinessObjects-certified solutions.
SAPPHIRE® 2009 Orlando
More than 10,000 customers, partners and technical experts are convening at SAPPHIRE® 2009 to discover how SAP and its thriving partner ecosystem are delivering IT solutions that help today's best-run businesses achieve clarity in every area of their operations. SAP's premier educational and networking event, SAPPHIRE is the one occasion where senior executives, business managers, and decision-makers can come together every year to explore how innovative business solutions foster long-term, profitable growth. SAPPHIRE 2009 is being held in Orlando, Florida, May 11-14. For more information, please visit www.sap.com/sapphire. Join the conversation via Twitter at #sapphire09.
Based on the success of last year's events, SAP and the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) are co-locating their premier events in Orlando, where the 2009 ASUG Annual Conference takes place May 11-14.
In addition to SAPPHIRE 2009, SAP is also hosting SAP® World Tour 2009, a series of local events in more than 70 cities through Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. For more information, visit the SAP World Tour event page on sap.com.
