SAP has signed a deal with Chelford and Computacenter that looks set to allow mid size manufacturers to implement SAP Business All-in-One without hiring IT staff.
Chelford managing director Justin Brading indicates that in the current market, the new hosted offering will free manufacturers' time and resources from planning and implementing the systems.
Instead, in the UK, Chelford and Computacenter will take on the responsibility for application hosting and management, infrastructure maintenance and software upgrades.
"We have had a successful relationship with SAP for several years and continue to work closely to explore the best opportunities to create value for our customers," says Brading.
"The new offering means we can provide our customers with more flexible solutions that can be implemented quickly and at a fixed, predictable cost."
Fixed and predictable, because we're talking about software as a service, right up to the ERP level. Not only will manufacturers be able to minimise capital investments in acquiring the IT infrastructure; they will also be able to reduce ongoing operating costs.