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SAP SE announced plans to make the SAP Anywhere solution initially available in China. It is planned to be the first front-office suite for small and midsize enerprises (SMEs) that seamlessly manages sales, marketing, e-commerce and inventory activities in one complete system.

It is designed to enable companies starting with 10 employees up to 500 to offer a ubiquitous buying experience to their customers. SAP Anywhere is intended to be provided as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) run by SAP in a public cloud and can be accessed via mobile devices or desktops once available. With this entirely new solution, SAP aims to deliver constant innovation to SMBs as part of its vision to help companies run simply.

In leveraging its global partner network, SAP worked closely with China Telecom to develop and customize SAP Anywhere for the Chinese market. China Telecom is among the top three telecommunication operators in mainland China. Being an integrated information service provider, China Telecom provides customers with integrated information service solutions, which cover broad-band Internet access, mobile communications, information technology applications and fixed-line telephone services. “We are delighted to have worked closely with SAP in evolving SAP Anywhere from a local mobile solution in 2013 to a level, where it is expected to ease daily business operations across different demands for smaller companies, which represent two thirds of the market in Greater China,” said Han Zhuo, President of China Telecom Americas.

Built from the ground up as a mobile solution in the cloud and can integrate to back-office for real-time analytics, SAP Anywhere is intended to give end users active decision support based on data from both internal and external sources. The solution is planned to include features that allow the creation of online stores within minutes. Users are also expected to benefit from the unified order-management system, leveraging inventory insights in real time, with other companies and/or with customers.

“SAP Anywhere is a potential game-changer for SMBs in three ways,” said Ray Boggs, vice president, Small and Medium Business Research, IDC. “It meets a number of unmet needs in helping smaller firms engage more efficiently with customers; it aims to help firms connect internal and external processes; and most importantly, it is designed with mobility in mind, operating the way a growing number of SMBs want to work.”

Business Management from Anywhere

SAP Anywhere is expected to deliver a consistent customer experience, beginning with online and offline marketing campaigns and extending to shopping, sales and service functions. It is planned to provide a business experience in which SMBs can manage their business from anywhere – at the office or on the go – using their mobile devices. Users might centrally manage product listings, display real-time inventory and pricing information, and execute promotion strategies. SAP envisions that customer information is captured on the fly, and after-sales service is supported. Guest checkout is also intended to be supported for a smooth buying experience.

“In today’s global networked economy, businesses are looking for new ways to create value for their own business and for their customers,” said Rodolpho Cardenuto, president, Global Partner Operations, SAP SE. “SAP Anywhere is intended to help smaller companies grow their business by simplifying and streamlining their day-to-day transactions, so they could spend more time innovating and creating value for their customers. And the best thing is it will be only one click away.”

For companies running their business on the SAP Business One application, there are plans in place to explore options to evolve and complement their business model by SAP Anywhere. An open application programming interface (API) can be provided to partners for inte­gration with the SAP Business ByDesign solution.

For more information, visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews, @SAPSmallBiz and @SAPMidsize, and see videos on the SAP4SME YouTube channel.

For more information, press only

Angelika Merz, +41 (58) 871-7216, angelika.merz@sap.com, CET
Cindy McKendry, +1 (503) 231-7274, cindy.mckendry@sap.com, PT

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