Frankfurt, Germany and Orlando, Florida — SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), a pioneer in business software innovation, will drive the next significant wave in computing with its latest in-memory offerings. Today SAP outlined its plans for a new combined hardware appliance and software solution that will dramatically increase the availability and speed of business information, enabling companies to make better decisions faster. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE NOW, being held simultaneously in Frankfurt, Germany, and Orlando, Florida, 17-19 May.
One of the highest priorities for organisations of any size and across any industry is managing and analysing the soaring quantity of data, and harnessing that information to improve their business.
SAP has always understood this and has addressed this challenge by developing in-memory solutions such as SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, accelerated edition, which allows customers to explore business data faster.
To power the next generation of business intelligence, business planning and business analytic applications, SAP is now working with leading hardware partners to deliver an in-memory software and hardware appliance optimised for real-time analytics using data from operational systems, data warehouses, real-time events and the Web.
New high-performance analytic appliance with software from SAP enables business users to model business scenarios and analyse data in real-time without disruption
Today, customers are dealing with an information explosion that includes data in both transactional and analytic applications, as well as new kinds of data from social networks and the Web. New software being developed at SAP, the SAP Business Analytic Engine, will use in-memory technology with a powerful calculation engine, combined with easy-to-use, business-centric data modelling tools and data management tools. The software will enable business users to instantaneously access, explore, model and analyse transactional, analytical and Web-based data in real-time in a single environment, without impacting the data warehouse or other systems.
Frank Naude, Presales Manager SAP Business User Solutions in South Africa, says: “Our ex-SAP CEO and now SAP chairman of the SAP Advisory Board, Prof Hasso Platner, recently pointed out that our in-memory technology is to the current database storage and retrieval technology what the database was to tape only a couple of decades ago.
“There is a revolution under way because our in-memory technology can dramatically reduce the storage space required using our compression techniques while vastly improving the speed at which we can access data.
“We are talking about getting down to human response times. This will allow us to ask a question during a business process, get a sub-second response, and immediately ask another question.”
Adds Naude: “Add this technology to our wider strategy to deliver solutions and information in an orchestration of on-device, on-demand and on-premise using our flexible SOA platform and the value proposition for our customers is enormous. This is not just a vision. The technology exists and we have customers using this already, even in South Africa in the area of business intelligence with our accelerated SAP BusinessObjects Explorer solution.”
To further enhance performance, SAP will offer a new high-performance analytic appliance comprising the SAP Business Analytic Engine delivered on optimised hardware from strategic vendors across the SAP ecosystem. As part of its commitment to deliver innovation without disruption, SAP is designing the appliance to connect to customers’ IT systems, automatically find the right data and prepare it for use so that customers can run real-time analytics and conduct complex analytic queries in real-time.
For example, a utility company employee could look at usage data to identify patterns over a particular region or time period, and then analyse that data comparatively, enabling real-time planning based on immediate access to usage data. Employees at a manufacturing company could analyse asset utilisation in real-time on transactional data, while a financial services firm could perform real-time risk management and measure market exposure by combining structured credit scoring data with unstructured data, including information from the Internet.
With this technology, SAP aims to further deliver on the promise of “real” real-time. Business people will be able to analyse data quickly and iteratively, answering important business questions almost instantaneously. The new appliance will make existing applications faster and support mixed workloads – meaning analytic, performance management and transactional applications will be able to run in a single environment. This new foundation will both accelerate the SAP Business Objects portfolio and SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse customers will also be able to use this technology to develop and deploy powerful new types of applications.
Building on SAP and HP’s strategic alliance and joint go-to-market initiative for the SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse Accelerator software and SAP BusinessObjects software, SAP has selected HP as one of the first strategic alliance partners to provide converged infrastructure technology for the new high-performance analytic appliance.
“Customers need to be able to turn data into information, information into insight and insight into advantage,” said Tom Hogan, executive vice-president, Enterprise Sales, Marketing and Strategy, HP. “The combination of SAP Business Analytic Engine with HP’s server portfolio helps customers harness the power of information to create business insight and drive better decision-making for their organisation.”
“The future of computing is here and we are on the threshold of an era that will radically change how people interact with data and make decisions,” said Vishal Sikka, chief technology officer and member of the SAP Executive Board leading technology and innovation. “Imagine sitting at your desk or using your mobile device and being able to pull and analyse data instantly — and how that would improve every aspect of your work life. Moving forward, our customers will be able to develop better business simulations and plans, do real-time inventory and price optimisations, or quickly evaluate the effect of currency changes in financial systems. Using the new in-memory offerings from SAP will give customers real-time transparency into their business and help ensure they are executing their corporate strategies as planned. The speed and agility provided by in-memory computing will change the game for our customers, allowing them to become the best-run companies in their industries.”
SAPPHIRE® NOW
With SAPPHIRE® NOW, SAP marks the next evolution of its SAPPHIRE customer conference and networking events, offering SAP customers, partners and prospects even more opportunities to engage in dialogue with peers, participants and thought leaders around the globe. Being held simultaneously in Orlando, Florida, and Frankfurt, Germany, 17-19 May 2010, this enhanced, real-time event connects attendees on site with global participants through state-of-the-art broadcast studios and a newly designed online experience that incorporates the latest social media and community functionality. Whether onsite or online, participants can gain insight on how innovative business solutions from SAP are enabling long-term, profitable business growth. For more information about the Orlando show, visit www.sapandasug.com; for the Frankfurt event, visit www.sap.com/sapphire/emea. Join the conversation via Twitter at @SAPPHIRENOW and visit the SAPPHIRE NOW Social Newsroom at sapphirenow.blogs-sap.com.
SAP and the Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG) are co-locating their premier events in Orlando, where the 2010 ASUG Annual Conference takes place 16-20 May.
Note to editors:
Webcasts, announcements, media roundtables, keynote presentations and podcasts from SAPPHIRE NOW will be available in the event’s newsroom at: http://sapphirenow.blogs-sap.com/. To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit www.sap.com/photos. On this platform, you can find high-resolution material for your media channels. To view video stories on diverse topics, visit www.sap-tv.com. From this site, you can embed videos into your own Web pages, share video via e-mail links and subscribe to RSS feeds from SAP TV. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.
SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software(*), offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With more than 97 000 customers in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol “SAP”. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, and related applications.
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
During SAPPHIRE NOW (from 17 to 19 May), to speak with press contacts on site, please dial the SAP press room: Orlando: +1 (610) 661-0469; Frankfurt: +49 (6227) 7-74065.
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