IBM and SAP Expand Partnership to Reach Midsize Companies in India

Companies Build on Successful Reseller Relationship

India — SAP and IBM today announced the expansion of their partnership to serve midsize companies through reseller agreements in India. Under these agreements, IBM and SAP are also teaming up with local technology companies in India to capture a larger piece of the rapidly growing market opportunity in serving midsize companies. According to Gartner, there are 80 million small and midsize businesses worldwide spending an estimated $450 billion this year. (Midsize Enterprise Summit, 2006, “Trends and Strategies in the SMB Market,” Joslyn Faust).

SAP and the local IBM Business Partners will focus on capturing this opportunity by bringing innovative packaged solutions to numerous industries including wholesale distribution, life sciences, retail, industrial machinery, and construction and engineering. These comprehensive, end-to-end solutions include IBM hardware, software and services, and address customers’ specific business problems with micro vertical industry-specific functionality and best practices All-in-One solutions.

“This partnership allows us to combine IBM and SAP’s industry expertise with our sales teams and business partners’ ability to serve their local customers, with an enhanced portfolio of world-class business applications built on reliable infrastructures,” said Steve Solazzo, general manager, global mid-market business, IBM. “We’ll accomplish this by implementing these solutions along with an expanded network of highly qualified IBM Business Partners who have a strong local presence in India and long-term client relationships.”

Today’s announcement builds on the continued success of the partnership between IBM and SAP to reach the growing mid-market customer base in India. SAP and IBM have leveraged their joint strengths to provide compelling solutions to over 10,000 customers worldwide across many industries. In India, SAP and IBM have worked together to provide SAP solutions to over 400 customers in India.

Partners Deliver World-Class Technology customized for India

Both SAP and IBM work with channel partners to create new customer opportunities and deliver services capabilities to customers in the midmarket in India. IBM Business Partners may also be eligible to earn a fee for referring opportunities for industry solutions to SAP and its other SAP All-in-One partners, allowing them to drive incremental revenue based on their role in the sales cycle.

SAP All-in-One vertical solutions incorporate industry best practices developed by SAP and its partners, such as IBM, and gained from more than 30 years of experience in serving businesses of all sizes. This best practices approach enables SAP and IBM to deliver superior functionality in affordable and easy-to-implement packages tailored to the specific business processes of vertical industries. Customers can benefit from expertise built into the software that lets them manage core processes such as project order management in wholesale distribution, direct store delivery in food and beverage, and regulatory reporting in life sciences. This built-in expertise facilitates implementation and “time to value,” and allows customers to focus resources on the unique attributes of their businesses that can help them gain competitive advantage in the marketplace.

SAP and its Indian partners offer a growing portfolio of nearly 25 qualified SAP All-in-One solutions through a network of over 20 partners. More than 9,870 midsize companies worldwide and 600 midsized Indian companies run their businesses with SAP All-in-One solutions.

“Together, SAP & IBM present customers in India with an unparalleled combination of technology, in-depth micro vertical industry expertise and solutions designed and delivered specifically to meet the resource requirements of midsize companies,” said Ranjan Das President & CEO, SAP Indian Subcontinent. “We are building our partnership with IBM in India to meet the increasing demand among midsize companies for solutions offering best-practice business management and rapid, predictable deployment.”

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