SAP and RIM usher in a new era for enterprise mobility

The two say they will be enabling “anytime, anywhere mobile access to SAP enterprise applications through the widely adopted BlackBerry platform.” Meaning what? Bill McDermott, president and CEO, SAP Americas and Asia Pacific Japan, explains that, just as the BlackBerry has transformed the way people use e-mail, SAP and RIM will now bring the power of SAP business applications to the BlackBerry. Mobile users will soon be able to work freely on SAP, he says, no longer tethered to desktops or offices. “By tearing down the walls between enterprise computing and mobile connectivity, SAP and RIM are enhancing employee productivity,” he says. First product availability will be a native BlackBerry smartphone client that will merge SAP CRM (customer relationship management) application with core BlackBerry smartphone applications, including email, address book and calendar applications. McDermott says that the new mobile SAP CRM application will harness the inherent security, management capabilities, efficiency and intuitive user experience of BlackBerry smartphones. Manufacturers that already have the SAP CRM and BlackBerry solutions will need only basic user training and minimal incremental IT infrastructure investments, he adds. Key to the development is Automated Data Synchronisation, which builds on the push-based architecture of BlackBerry Enterprise Server to automate data synchronisation between business systems and mobile applications. That enables BlackBerry smartphone users to use the mobile enterprise application even in the absence of network coverage. Once back in coverage, all updates queued on the handset and back-end servers are automatically transferred without user action, similar to how e-mail on BlackBerry smartphones works today. “SAP is thrilled to bolster its long-standing relationship with RIM through the co-development of this breakthrough offering,” says McDermott. “By combining RIM’s expertise for empowering the mobile worker and SAP’s strength in business computing, we are embarking on an exciting future to make it easier and more convenient for today’s business users to perform their jobs. “Our extended partnership with RIM will open many new doors for mobile workers around the world who require real-time mobile access to enterprise applications in a secure setting.”