Last week I was at the SAP TechEd Berlin and in all the press conferences/presentations there was no mention of Business By Design. During the press conference with Leo Apotheker the Co-CEO of SAP when a reporter asked about BBD he referred back to their announcements in June.
As I walked the exhibition hall however, I came across a pod demonstrating an enhancement developed on SAP along with partner Autodesk to integrate changes in the BOM of an engineering design with the data in Business ByDesign.
Given this background I started looking around the web for announcements related to BBD. Below are a few I came across:
Partners Enrich the solution (Oct 21st 2008)
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), Roseland, New Jersey, provides integration between its payroll services and the human resources functions within SAP Business ByDesign. Customers using integrated payroll services with ADP retain control over and visibility into its employee-driven business processes while enjoying all the benefits of outsourced payroll. ADP was the first company to commit to SAP Business ByDesign as a complementary content provider
CB.Net, London, United Kingdom, provides SAP Business ByDesign customers with a continuously updated payment reference data service in order to give accurate and critical data necessary for validation and verification of payment information. By using this service, businesses will be able to more easily and accurately check payment co-ordinates, as well as reduce risks and costs in the payment initiation processes.
Crossgate AG, Starnberg, Germany, offers a B2B collaboration service via its global business-ready network that enables customers to electronically exchange business data, such as purchase orders or invoices, with partners independently from document standards, channels or protocols used in the process.
Vertex, Inc., Berwyn, Pennsylvania, delivers automated U.S. sales and use tax processing, aiding customers in their business tax management and compliance. Customers using Vertex® Tax Service will automatically be updated with sales and use tax rates and regulations across all taxing jurisdiction in the United States.
Another Client (June 18th 2008)
Performance management software solutions provider OutPerformance, formerly Maxager, chose SAP® Business ByDesign™, the leading integrated on-demand solution for rapidly growing midsize companies, to support its escalating growth.
After expanding beyond the company’s existing systems capabilities – including solutions from QuickBooks, salesforce.com and additional niche applications – OutPerformance chose to implement SAP Business ByDesign with the goal of installing an end-to-end, integrated system to ensure scalability and complete visibility into all lines of the business. OutPerformance selected SAP Business ByDesign because it is cost effective, easy to use and highly intuitive.
Early Partner (March 2008) – Rest of the World
SAP Business ByDesign “early partners” across the initial geographic rollout regions include:
China – 5 Partners
France – 5 Partners
Germany – 8 Partners
United Kingdom – 3 Partners
(Strangely none mentioned for India , which is the 6th country in which it is to be launched)
United States -12 Partners
With all this growing buzz about cloud computing / SaaS, it’s really strange that SAP is being so quiet about their offering. Of course there are a lot of conspiracy theories like:
- SAP’s concerns about it cannibalizing their existing business
- Concerns on the performance of application
- Concerns on the profitability/viability of their business
- Challenges in the GTM to focus on SME segment
- Application being incomplete
Whatever the reason it will be interesting to see how SAP will take this forward.
(Guest post by Prashanth Rai)
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SAP Business ByDesign, No News?
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