SAP builds on NetWeaver strategy with new release

Business software vendor SAP has taken the wraps off what it calls "the next wave of enterprise computing" with the launch of NetWeaver 2004, an integrated platform that saves customers money by allowing them to simplify their IT infrastructures and use their existing investments for longer.

NetWeaver was introduced in 2003 as an open and neutral platform for SAP solutions, supporting open industry standards and interoperability and allowing for ease of integration with SAP and non-SAP systems.

The importance of NetWeaver lies in its ability to save organisations money by using their existing IT infrastructures as a base for new business processes. Customers will benefit from a platform that avoids the integration costs of heterogeneous (mixed) technology strategies.

"What we are bringing to market is a pre-integrated platform, where the integration is done in the box rather than on-site, as it were. The major benefit is that companies can simplify their environment, which lowers costs of maintenance and ownership," says SAP Africa's Alvin Paules.

A key element of NetWeaver is its linkages with ubiquitous systems like Exchange servers and application servers. Both IBM and Microsoft attended the original announcement with support for the framework, which is largely directed at enterprises that have standardised on SAP as their main application environment. SAP's installed base includes about 26 000 customers.

The new-look NetWeaver includes product upgrades and pre-built integration for existing SAP products and other existing infrastructure. It sees product releases being synchronised, integration connecting the various components that make up NetWeaver, and wizards and tools for loading and installing the product as a set in much the way SAP's products have always worked.

"The 2004 version of SAP NetWeaver includes a lot of innovation, but above all, we are the first company to deliver a platform of this scope as a unified product, and not just a collection of engines. With a simpler product offering, we are changing customer expectations as to what an enterprise integration and application platform looks like, and how such a platform can be purchased and implemented," says Paules.

The launch underlines SAP's commitment to provide a Web service architecture, reflecting the importance of not only internal heterogeneous environments, but the need to connect with customer/partner/carrier systems.

"Regardless of how carefully companies plan and how controlled their IT purchases are, they often still end up with departmental purchases and siloed purchases," says Paules. "People are focused on a set of tools to connect their SAP system to the other things they own and NetWeaver is designed to do that."

Future iterations of NetWeaver will be the foundation for the mySAP Business Suite solutions. The company has kicked off a 50-city tour to promote NetWeaver 2004, and over the next year, will focus its company efforts on delivering more products on the SAP NetWeaver platform.

"With current products of mySAP Business Suite, including mySAP ERP and mySAP CRM, already delivering important components of SAP NetWeaver, we will continue with mySAP SRM and an entire set of SAP xApps," said Paules.

"We will train more consultants, both from SAP and from our partners, on the capabilities and concept behind SAP NetWeaver, and will drive enterprise services from a blueprint into a reality."