SAP Launches SAP® Rapid Deployment Solutions to Deliver Value to Customers as Fast as Within 12 Weeks

CHICAGO Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), the world's leading provider of business software, today launched SAP® Rapid Deployment solutions, business software targeting specific line-of-business needs that can be deployed as fast as within 12 weeks. In the first wave — covering processes for sales, marketing, procurement, customer service and call-center operations — the solutions comprise fixed-price, predefined software for companies to address business priorities and gain time-to-value quickly while also paving a flexible path toward future growth. The announcement was made at the SAP World Tour event being held in Chicago, with early customers including Altra Industrial Motion, Inc., Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft (bbw-Gruppe), FirstEnergy, VCNA Prairie, Inc., Springer SBM and VEKA.

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SAP Rapid Deployment solutions are a ready-to-use combination of software, predefined services and pre-configured content at a predefined price. They are available "out of the box" by traditional, hosting and subscription licensing models, via partners or from SAP. To meet the increasing need to find the fastest time to value for customers, SAP Consulting and a growing ecosystem of partners offer predefined, fixed-price services to implement the packages.

The first SAP Rapid Deployment solutions are based on SAP® Business Suite applications for customer relationship management (CRM), supplier relationship management (SRM) and business communications management (BCM). Further solutions spanning the SAP portfolio are planned for release at multiple stages over the next year across diverse industries and in areas such as analytics, manufacturing, mobility, recruiting, supply chain, sustainability and treasury.

Customers Seek Speed

Companies are looking for future-proof investments that solve today's challenges with the flexibility to extend their IT landscape as business priorities change. For example, Altra Industrial Motion, Inc., a leading multinational designer, producer and marketer of a wide range of mechanical power transmission products, needed a 360-degree view of its customers. Its legacy IT system could not keep pace with its growth and was expensive to maintain. With numerous brands offering more than 40 product lines with production facilities in eight countries and sales coverage in over 70 countries, Altra required a customer management solution that could easily integrate with its enterprise resource planning (ERP) application SAP® ERP and address manufacturing-specific business issues. Altra chose a rapid-deployment solution from SAP for customer service to replace its existing system.  

"Altra has a long-term vision for CRM, and SAP Rapid Deployment solutions will support our immediate and future path by allowing us to replace our existing solution, generate immediate value and implement additional functionality quickly," said David Brooksbank, director of Marketing, Altra Industrial Motion.  "The solution-specific software, services and content out of the box made for a quick and easy implementation. Native integration with our SAP ERP application and reduced service-to-software costs helps us holistically address our CRM needs and takes us a big step forward in attaining our customer service vision."

"Customers today want choices in how they scope, configure and deploy business software," said Peter Russo, managing director of Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC), Inc. "SAP Rapid Deployment solutions offer customers a new model for their on-premise software, with an emphasis on time to value and low cost, while still retaining the flexibility to expand the solution in the future."

Scope of Available Solutions

The offerings, initially available in North America and German-language countries, support existing and new customers with solutions for the following business requirements facing many companies today:

• The SAP CRM rapid-deployment solution for sales helps companies accelerate new business and improve sales productivity with better visibility into the sales pipeline. The solution gives managers the intelligence needed to assign sales representatives with the right opportunities, track their progress and  prepare for customer meetings, which helps sales teams close deals faster, collect revenue quickly and ultimately provide better customer service.  
• The SAP CRM rapid-deployment solution for service helps companies to increase agent productivity, first-contact resolution rates and customer satisfaction, all while reducing cost of service.
• The SAP CRM rapid-deployment solution for marketing empowers marketing professionals with the tools to create and drive effective marketing campaigns, coordinate sales activities, generate and manage high-quality leads, and track leads through conversion.
• The SAP BCM rapid-deployment solution provides a fast track to the IP-telephony capabilities of the SAP® Business Communications Management software for inbound contact center management. The deployed solution enables real-time visibility, flexibility and control for contact center operations, which helps resolve customer inquiries quickly.
• The SAP SRM rapid-deployment solution helps accelerate, simplify and optimize procurement and sourcing processes by enabling end-to-end self-service procurement, direct and indirect sourcing, and supplier relationship management.

"With SAP Rapid Deployment solutions, we understand our customers' need to quickly turn their requirements into a portfolio of tangible offerings that drive continuous value," said Robert Viehmann, senior vice president of Solution Assembly and Packaging, SAP AG. "Customers now have a tried-and-tested, low-cost way to quickly address their most pressing business demands without making compromises in terms of adding new features as needs evolve."

SAP World Tour in Chicago and Santa Clara, California

The SAP World Tour series offers customers and partners throughout the world local events in more than 80 cities in over 50 countries similar to SAPPHIRE® NOW, the annual international SAP customer conference. Attendees can share with and hear from peers how SAP® business software is helping companies run better. Further information on event dates and locations can found at the SAP World Tour event page on sap.com. The SAP World Tour stops in Chicago on September 22, 2010; register for the upcoming SAP World Tour event in Santa Clara, October 19, 2010.

Next Major Events: SAP® TechEd 2010 in Berlin, Las Vegas, Bangalore, and Shanghai

More than 14,000 SAP customers, partners and technical experts are expected to convene at SAP® TechEd 2010, the company's largest ecosystem education event series. The conference brings IT managers, software developers, administrators, and business process experts together to see, hear and share how they and their peers can stay one step ahead of business change. Choosing from hundreds of hours of expert-led sessions and hands-on training, attendees can gain the inspiration and skills they need to maximize impact on their organizations. In its 14th year, SAP TechEd 2010 is being held in Berlin, Germany, October 12-14; Las Vegas, Nevada, October 18-22; Bangalore, India, December 1-3; and Shanghai, China, December 1-2. Follow SAP TechEd on Twitter at @sapteched

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software(*), offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With more than 102,500 customers in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol "SAP." For more information, visit www.sap.com.

(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, and related applications.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Copyright © 2010 SAP AG. All rights reserved.

SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.

SOURCE SAP AG

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