SAP Provides New Solutions for Integrating Business Processes and for Open Development

MADRID, Nov. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced two new solutions for business process integration and new ways to consume SAP software. SAP NetWeaver® Process Orchestration software combines the benefits of today's business process management, business rules management, process integration and business-to-business (B2B) integration products. Additionally, SAP NetWeaver® Gateway technology is now generally available, providing developers open access to SAP software for development of solutions on any environment or device. With these releases, SAP is making its orchestration vision — integrated alignment across the entire IT landscape — a reality in the market. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE® NOW + SAP® TechEd, being held as a co-located event in Madrid from November 8-10.

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Previewed earlier this year at SAPPHIRE NOW from Orlando and SAP TechEd Las Vegas, SAP NetWeaver Process Orchestration and SAP NetWeaver Gateway demonstrate SAP's vision to enable customers' substantial innovations without disruption. The offerings significantly broaden the scope of what customers and partners will be able to do with SAP software. Whether deployed on premise, on demand or on device, SAP solutions work in harmony to meet the unique needs of small, midsize and large businesses and business networks, helping ensure seamless process and information orchestration.

Deployment and Integration Options Widen With SAP NetWeaver Process Orchestration

A complete, integrated solution, SAP NetWeaver Process Orchestration manages the entire business process life cycle, from modeling all the way to implementation, across a heterogeneous IT environment. It enables reduction of integration costs and improved coordination between systems, freeing people to collaborate more openly than ever before.

Unique to the offering, new functionalities are bundled together for the first time. The SAP NetWeaver® Business Process Management and SAP NetWeaver® Process Integration components and the SAP NetWeaver® Business Rules Management offering are available in one integrated package. The bundle falls under a single license so that customers are able to deploy the offering of their choice depending on their business needs. An upcoming SAP enhancement pack 1 for SAP NetWeaver 7.3 will focus on SAP NetWeaver Process Orchestration.

Significantly enhanced B2B integration capabilities are also planned with this release. A new set of B2B adaptors for integrating with business partners aims to work in conjunction with Crossgate technology, a B2B electronic data exchange service that allows partners, clients and suppliers to securely transmit critical business information. Taken together, SAP intends to provide the full range of options for customers to build and run their business networks – on premise and on demand.

Early customers for SAP NetWeaver Process Orchestration that have already achieved business process efficiencies include TOTO, the world's largest plumbing manufacturer, and AOK, Germany's largest health insurance provider.

Application Development Unleashed With SAP NetWeaver Gateway

SAP NetWeaver Gateway technology, which provides open access to SAP applications from any environment or device, is now generally available. Developers can use the development platform of their choice to create applications directly integrating with their SAP environment. Simplifying application development will spark more innovative solutions for new types of users and environments within shorter cycles. SAP NetWeaver Gateway is designed to support a broad range of user and developer requirements from social, Web, on demand and on device. Putting SAP NetWeaver Gateway in the hands of developers will make business application data accessible by millions of people.

Live customers that have already deployed applications via SAP NetWeaver Gateway include Asian Paints, India's largest paint manufacturer. The company is using SAP NetWeaver Gateway to connect its social media campaigns with the SAP® Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) application. To hear how SAP technology has created new leads and business opportunities for the company, see "Asian Paints: SAP NetWeaver Gateway Pilot Customer Testimonial Video."

"We have 7,000 sales people out in the field who need easy access to information," said Martin Schroeder, head of Process Competence Center Sales, Service & Supply, Hilti Corporation, a provider of leading-edge technology to the global construction industry. "With SAP NetWeaver Gateway, we were able to deliver customer-specific product pricing information to our salesforce in real time. We see many additional scenarios to enable us to easily deliver our application data using this technology in the future."

Extending the support for open development and enablement of its developer community, SAP introduces a pre-packaged trial version of SAP NetWeaver Gateway, now available for free download via SAP® Community Network. In addition, Adobe has released a public technology preview of Adobe Flash Builder Plugin for SAP NetWeaver Gateway Services that enables developers to easily build rich client applications for SAP applications.

"With SAP NetWeaver Gateway, we are bringing a new level of connectivity and access to SAP applications in any environment and on any device — while at the same time keeping the coherence," said Bjoern Goerke, senior vice president, Technology & Innovation Platform Core, SAP. "In all aspects of the SAP NetWeaver technology platform, we are bringing interoperability and coherence to how things work together, even as we deliver breakthrough innovations across the platform. This is in support of our 'Timeless Software' principles and a commitment to bringing innovation non-disruptively to our customers."

To learn more about Gartner's assessment of SAP's technology strategy, see: "SAP Throws Down the Next-Generation Architecture Gauntlet With [SAP] HANA."

For announcements, blog posts, videos and other coverage during SAPPHIRE NOW + SAP TechEd Madrid, visit the Events newsroom.

SAPPHIRE® NOW + SAP® TechEd Madrid

In 2011, SAP brings together its largest ecosystem education event series with its premier customer conference for a co-located event being held in Madrid, Spain, from November 8-10. With SAPPHIRE® NOW, SAP offers its customers, partners and prospects even more opportunities to engage in dialogue with peers, participants and thought leaders around the globe, and can gain insight as to how SAP is delivering on its product strategy and helping organizations around the world to run better. SAP® TechEd brings IT managers, software developers, administrators, and business process experts together for a look under the hood of today's business motors: the latest advances in in-memory and mobile technologies, and in on-premise, on-demand, and on-device applications from SAP and more. Follow on Twitter at @SAPTechEd and @SAPPHIRENOW, and join the conversation at #SAPTechEd and #SAPPHIRENOW.

About SAP

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 176,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of Sybase) to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

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