CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
23 April 2007
Company News
IBM and SAP Expand Partnership to Reach Midsize Companies in Europe and Asia-Pacific
SAP AG and IBM announced the expansion of their partnership to serve midsize companies in a total of 12 countries through reseller agreements for SAP®
Under these agreements, IBM and SAP are also teaming up with local technology companies in Europe and Asia-Pacific to capture a larger piece of the growing market opportunity in serving midsize companies. SAP and the local IBM Business Partners will focus on capturing this opportunity to serve midsize companies by bringing innovative packaged solutions to numerous industries including wholesale distribution, life sciences, retail, industrial machinery, and construction and engineering. These comprehensive, end-to-end solutions include IBM hardware, software and services, and address customers' specific business problems with microvertical industry-specific functionality and best practices.
"This partnership allows us to combine IBM and SAP's industry expertise with our sales teams and business partners' ability to serve their local customers, with an enhanced portfolio of world-class business applications built on reliable infrastructures," said Steve Solazzo, general manager, global mid-market business, IBM. "We'll accomplish this by implementing these solutions along with an expanded network of highly qualified IBM Business Partners who have strong local presence and long-term client relationships."
Today's announcement builds on the continued success of the partnership between IBM and SAP to reach the growing mid-market customer base. SAP and IBM have leveraged their joint strengths to provide solutions to over 10,000 customers worldwide across many industries.
Peavey Electronics Amps Up with SAP and IBM
One of the recent successes of the U.S. agreement between IBM and SAP is a new relationship serving Peavey Electronics, a leading global supplier of musical instruments and professional sound equipment. VSS, an IBM Business Partner located in Mississippi, brought together a collaborative team of experts to develop a comprehensive, industry-specific business management solution for Peavey Electronics. With the help of VSS, SAP and IBM, Peavey Electronics will implement the SAP All-in-One solution with IBM's DB2 database and IBM Lotus Notes running on IBM hardware and software including IBM's System p, AIX and BladeCenter. In addition, IBM Global Services and VSS will provide consulting expertise to help implement the integrated solution.
Using the new system, Peavey Electronics will streamline its global operations by linking the company with its partners, suppliers and customers in 136 countries in real-time, and will enhance the automation of their business processes. Based on SAP Best Practices, the solution will help Peavey Electronics to manage microvertical industry processes specific to electronics companies in the consumer products industry.
Partners Deliver World-Class Technology with Local Touch
Both SAP and IBM work with channel partners to create new customer opportunities and deliver services capabilities to customers in the midmarket. IBM Business Partners may also be eligible to earn a fee for referring opportunities for industry solutions to SAP and its other SAP All-in-One partners, allowing them to drive incremental revenue based on their role in the sales cycle.
SAP All-in-One vertical solutions incorporate industry best practices developed by SAP and its partners, such as IBM, and gained from more than 30 years of experience in serving businesses of all sizes. This best practices approach enables SAP and IBM to deliver superior functionality in affordable and easy-to-implement packages tailored to the specific business processes of vertical industries. Customers can benefit from expertise built into the software that lets them manage core processes such as project order management in wholesale distribution, direct store delivery in food and beverage, and regulatory reporting in life sciences. This built-in expertise facilitates implementation and "time to value," and allows customers to focus resources on the unique attributes of their businesses that can help them gain competitive advantage in the marketplace.
SAP and its partners offer a growing portfolio of nearly 650 SAP All-in-One solutions from a network of approximately 1,000 partners worldwide. More than 9,870 midsize companies worldwide run their businesses with SAP All-in-One solutions, members of an ever-increasing customer base that grew by more than 28 percent in 2005.
"Together, SAP , IBM and our reseller partners present customers with an unparalleled combination of technology, in-depth microvertical industry expertise and solutions designed and delivered specifically to meet the resource requirements of midsize companies," said Hans-Peter Klaey, corporate officer and member of the Executive Council and president, SME, SAP AG. "We are building our partnership with IBM in key markets to meet the increasing demand among midsize companies for solutions offering best-practice business management and rapid, predictable deployment."
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