The Leader in Enterprise Software and the Leader in Mobile Connectivity
for the Enterprise Partner to Change the Way People Work
New
York - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP AG) and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq:
RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced a co-innovation partnership to usher in
a new era in enterprise mobility. SAP, the leader in enterprise
software, and RIM, the leader in mobile connectivity for the
enterprise, have joined forces to change the way people work, by
enabling anytime, anywhere mobile access to SAP enterprise applications
through the widely adopted
BlackBerry® platform.
Just
as the BlackBerry wireless platform has transformed the way people use
e-mail, SAP and RIM will bring the power and productivity of SAP
enterprise applications to the BlackBerry platform in a similarly
robust and user-friendly manner. Mobile users will soon be able to work
freely on SAP, no longer tethered to their desktops or offices in order
to perform their jobs. By tearing down the walls between enterprise
computing and mobile connectivity, SAP and RIM are enhancing employee
productivity.
The first output expected from this new
partnership is a native BlackBerry smartphone client that will merge
the power of the SAP® Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM)
application with core BlackBerry smartphone applications, including the
BlackBerry Email, Address Book and Calendar applications, to deliver an
indispensable tool for sales people. The new mobile SAP CRM application
will leverage the inherent security, management capabilities and
efficiency of the BlackBerry platform and the intuitive user experience
of BlackBerry smartphones. Organizations that already have the SAP CRM
and the BlackBerry solutions deployed will require only basic user
training and minimal incremental IT infrastructure investments.
According
to research firm IDC, the mobile user population is set to increase
from about 800 million in 2007, accounting for 25.7 percent of the
worldwide workforce, to one billion in 2011, accounting for 30.4
percent of the workforce.1
“Providing access to and securing
broad adoption of enterprise applications with mobile workers has been
a pervasive challenge over the years,” said Mary Wardley, vice
president, CRM Applications, IDC. “Most existing solutions require
users to learn yet another application and navigation paradigm on their
devices, and for IT to manage a complex infrastructure to deploy and
support. By having a native application on a BlackBerry smartphone that
easily extends functionality but retains the native ease of use, users
will find it non-intrusive to adopt applications such as CRM. This is
an exciting partnership and definitely has the potential to change the
game.”
This groundbreaking partnership between two leaders in
their respective markets leverages best-in-class business applications
and mobile technology to deliver:
Expanded Reach of SAP®
Business Suite Applications – Users rely on their BlackBerry
smartphones for access to people and information on the go, so it
becomes easier to introduce new enterprise applications with a far
greater adoption rate.
Automated Data Synchronization – The
new solution leverages the push-based architecture of BlackBerry®
Enterprise Server to automate data synchronization between business
systems and mobile applications. BlackBerry smartphone users have the
flexibility to use the mobile enterprise application even in the
absence of network coverage. Once back in coverage, all updates queued
on the handset and back-end servers are automatically transferred
without user action, similar to how e-mail on BlackBerry smartphones
works today.
Easy Deployment – The mobile device management
capabilities of BlackBerry Enterprise Server allow IT groups to
centrally manage and wirelessly deploy mobile applications to
BlackBerry smartphones.
Market-Leading Enterprise-Class
Security – The proven capability and demonstrated track record from SAP
in enterprise applications security, combined with the renowned
wireless security of the BlackBerry platform, helps ensure
enterprise-class security for the end-to-end solution.
Low
Incremental Cost of Ownership – Businesses that have already deployed
BlackBerry Enterprise Server and SAP applications can leverage their
existing investments and keep deployment and maintenance costs at a
minimum.
“SAP is thrilled to bolster its long-standing
relationship with RIM through the co-development of this breakthrough
offering,” said Bill McDermott, president and CEO, SAP Americas and
Asia Pacific Japan. “By combining RIM’s expertise for empowering the
mobile worker and SAP’s strength in business computing, we are
embarking on an exciting future to make it easier and more convenient
for today’s business users to perform their jobs. Our extended
partnership with RIM will open many new doors for mobile workers around
the world who require real-time mobile access to enterprise
applications in a secure setting.”
“In
concert with SAP, we are bringing the unique benefits of the BlackBerry
platform to SAP applications, providing organizations with the
security, manageability, efficiency and ‘push’ capabilities of the
BlackBerry platform with a dedicated client application that also
integrates with core BlackBerry applications,” said Jim Balsillie,
co-CEO, Research In Motion. “Our partnership with SAP will allow us to
deliver an unparalleled solution to our mutual customers who demand the
very best in enterprise mobility. With this new partnership, we have an
excellent opportunity to further entrench BlackBerry as the leading
mobile connectivity platform for enterprise information access. The
vision that users can have access to SAP’s enterprise computing
applications from virtually anywhere, anytime, represents a new era of
opportunity.”
As part of the work delivered through the
partnership, RIM will enhance its framework for building intuitive,
workflow-enabled mobile applications for the BlackBerry platform. The
framework will serve as the basis for developing mobile applications
for other solutions in the SAP Business Suite.
SAP and RIM
will be previewing the mobile CRM application at the annual SAPPHIRE®
conferences in Orlando, May 4 to 7, and Berlin, May 19 to 21, as well
as at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES) 2008, May 13 to 15 in
Orlando.
For more information, please visit
http://www.blackberry.com/go/sap. For more information about SAP CRM,
please visit http://www.sap.com/solutions/business-suite/crm/index.epx
1IDC, Worldwide Mobile Worker Population 2007–2011 Forecast, December 2007 - Doc # 209813
About Research In Motion (RIM)
Research
In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of
innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications
market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and
services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides
platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive
information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and
intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array
of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products
and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM’s portfolio of
award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by
thousands of organizations around wireless platform, the RIM
WirelessÒthe world and include the BlackBerry Handheld™ product line,
software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware
licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario,
RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is
listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or
www.blackberry.com.
About SAP CRM
SAP® Customer
Relationship Management (SAP CRM) is an important component of the SAP®
Business Suite. With an eye toward empowering the growing business user
market, this breakthrough product has been co-innovated with leading
customers and partners, and is designed to be simple and powerful to
solve real business problems. SAP CRM offers capabilities such as trade
promotions management, business communications management and pipeline
performance management. SAP CRM features a dynamic user interface (UI)
that gives business users the power to easily access all relevant
information to best serve customers.
About 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 47,800
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) 
