SAP to build focused SME industry solutions at regional Solution Centres

They will be the first fruits of its regional solution centres, currently being set up around the world to better harness SAP partners’ expertise. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE ’06, SAP’s international customer conference, currently running in Paris. The objective, it says, is packaged systems that are fast and predictable to deploy, adaptable to changing business needs and fully covering specific industry requirements. The centres will be building on SAP Best Practices – its existing methodology, documentation and preconfigured end-to-end business solutions – as well as mySAP Business Suite applications and the ASAP rapid implementation methodology. They will also provide training, sales tools and a framework through which SAP partners can localise software offerings. Teams are being set up in Barcelona, London, Pennsylvania, Prague, Singapore and Walldorf, Germany. SAP’s point is that although mid size companies face many of the same challenges as larger competitors, many still lack solutions that adequately match their industry processes and can scale. By combining the resources of SAP and its partners in a systematic and global approach, it hopes to increase the number of companies that get what they really need from SAP and its partners. Eventually, SAP aims to create more than 650 qualified solutions focused on industries including automotive, chemicals, consumer products, fabricated metal, food and beverage, high tech, industrial machinery and components and pharmaceuticals. “We are building the global capabilities to support both our growing base of customers and our partner network with more solutions and focused resources,” says Nils Herzberg, COO, Product and Technology Group, SAP. “The new SME Solution Centre will unite the expertise of SAP and our partners to help more midsize enterprises leverage best practices to compete with agility and become best-run businesses.”