1. Topic: "How SAP's product strategy
will help our partners in Czech
Republic to succeed"
The Nature of
Strategy,
Business Level
Strategy, SWOT
Analysis for ERP
and SAP
SAP Strategy
And Directions,
SAP Products,
Roadmap, SAP
NetWeaver
strategy + eSOA
Five Things
About SAP‘s
Strategy That
You Need to
Know in general
SAP Ecosystem
and Partner
Services,
PartnerEdge
Program and
benefits
My
presentation
has 4
modules –
white, blue,
gray and
green. You
can jump on
the green
slides that
start on the
page 51.

2. The nature of strategy
• The topic of strategy cannot be explained as a
set of straightforward definitions and rules to
be memorized and applied
• It is a bad news for those who prefer simplicity
and certainty

3. Identifying the strategy issues
• MASLOW‘S HAMMER-AND-NAIL ANALOGY:
• To become a good carpenter, who wisely uses
a variety of tools depending on what is being
crafted, an apprentice carpenter will need to
learn about these different instruments.
• Two ways to achieve that:
1.) tools-driven approach
2.) probleb-driven approach

4. Identifying the strategy issues
1.) tools-driven approach; One way is for the
apprentice to study the characteristics and
functioning of all tools individually, and only then
to apply each where appropriate. So,
understanding each tool comes first, while
combining them to solve real problem comes
later
2.) probleb-driven approach; understanding of
problems comes first, while searching for the
appropriate tools is based on the type of problem

5. Identifying the strategy issues
• Both previous ways can be used for the SAP
product strategist
• 1.) in the tools-driven approach to learn about
strategy, all major theories, to be compared or
combined later when using them in practice
• 2.) I would adopt the problem-driven approach
for this presentation; to identify key strategy
issues at first, then look at them from the
perspective of the most appropriate theories

6. Identifying the strategy issues
• I will focus on the issue 5 a bit and then on the SAP product strategy
1 – Strategy Process – Content – Context
2 – Strategic thinking and issue of strategic reasoning
3 – Strategy formation and issue of realized strategy
4 – Strategic change and issue of strategic renewal
5 – Business level strategy and ISSUE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
6 – Corporate level strategy and issue of corporate configuration
7 – Network level strategy and issue of inter-organizational relationships
8 – Industry context and ISSUE OF INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT
9 – Organizational context and issue of organizational development
10 – International context and issue of international configuration
11 – Organizational purpose and issue of corporate mission
Strategy
Process
Strategy
Content
Strategy
Context

7. Levels of strategy
Strategy issues at the functional level
refer to questions regarding specific
functional aspects of a company
(product management or product
strategy, operations strategy, marketing
strategy, financial strategy)
Starategy at the business level requires
integration of functional level strategies
for a distinct set of products or services
intended for a specific group of
customers.
Here the fundamental debate is
whether firms are, and should be,
primarily market-driven or resource
driven. In other words, whether
companies should think ‘outside-in‘
(adapt the firm to the demands of the
market game) OR ‘inside-out‘ (search
for environments and positions that
best fit with their resource base)

8. Aspects of the strategy context
International
Context
Industry
Context
Organizational
Context
Manager

9. Strategy topics, paradoxes and perspectives

10. BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY
• Whether a firm has a competitive advantage
depends on the business system that it has
developed. A business system is the configuration of
resources (inputs), activities (throughput) and
product/service offerings (output)
1. Competitive advantage can only be achieved if a
business system creates superior ‘value
proposition‘. A product must be more closely fitted
to client needs than rival firms products
2. The ability to develop and supply the superior
product offering. The capability to perform the
necessary value-adding activities (research and
development, production, logistics, marketing and
sales) through a firm‘s activity system (value chain)
3. The third component of a business system consists
of the resource base required to perform the
value-adding activities. Resources such as know-
how, patents, facilities, money, brands and
relationships make up the stock of assets that can
be employed to create the product offering
Resource Base
(Stock of Assets)
Activity System
(Value Chain)
Product Offering
(Value Proposition)
MARKETS

11. Product Offering
• Some of the most important bases of competitive advantage are the following:
1. Price. The ability to charge a lower price
2. Features. Firms can distinguish their product offerings by having different intrinsic functional
characteristics than competing offerings (change size – gigabytes required, functionality, compatibility,
content, design)
3. Bundling. To sell a package of products and/or services ‘wrapped together‘. E.g. Many customers
prefer to purchase their software from one supplier because this raises the chance of compatibility
4. Quality. Offering better products in terms of usability, reliability and durability on many fronts (people
involved, processes, quality assurance procedures followed, distribution system used). Customers are
willing to pay a premium price for such quality
5. Availability. The method of distribution can in itself be the main competitive edge. Having a product
available at the right place, at the right moment and in the right way, can be much more important
than features
6. Image. Even in business-to-business markets buyers often suffer from a shortage of information about
the available product offerings. Therefore, the image of suppliers, mostly in terms of their standing (‘a
leading global player‘) and reputation can be essential to be shortlisted and be trusted as a business
partner
7. Relations. Customers value the personal contact, the trust and the convenience of having a long-
standing relationship as well. For suppliers this means that they might acquire a competitive edge by
managing their customer relationships well.
• Some authors argue that there are actually three generic competitive advantages:
1. Operational excellence – striving for reliable, low cost product offering
2. Product leadership – to meet buyer‘s need for special features and advanced product performance
3. Finally, firms deciding to focus on – customer intimacy – meet the buyers‘ need for a tailored solution
to their particular problem

12. Activity system
It is important to realize that the activity systems can vary widely from industry to industry.
The activity system of a car manufacturer is quite distinct from that of an advertising
agency. A unique value chain allows a firm to offer customers a unique value proposition,
by doing things better, faster, cheaper, nicer or more tailored than competing firms.
Developing the firm‘s activity system is therefore just as strategically important as
developing new products and services.
The generic
value chain
(Porter, 1985)

13. Resource base
Tangible Resources Intangible Resources
-Land
-Buildings
-Materials
-Money
Relational Resources
-Relationships
-Reputation
Competences
-Knowledge, know-how
-Capabilities, number of skills
-Attitude
SAP possessed no core competencies or distinctive resources. At the time of SAP‘s
founding, SAP did not own computers to use in writing its software. Yet, SAP not only
created its first value innovation, R/2 business application software for the mainframe
environment, but repeatedly launched value innovations, including R/3, client-server
business application software.
As Hasso Plattner, SAP cofounder, put it: ‘The only resource we had was our brains and
the idea of how to build powerful software.‘
Later SAP leveraged the resources and capabilities of others, including Andersen
Consulting (later Accenture), which served as SAP‘s marketing and implementation arm;
Oracle, which supplied the necessary sophisticated database;and IBM, which supplied
hardware. SAP has continuously renewed its customer base by moving aggressively from
mainframe users, to client-server users, and to midsized and small companies.

14. Sustaining competitive advantage
• Sustainability depends on two factors:
- Competitive defendability. Ability to run faster than rivals,
to be able to upgrade SAP resources, activity system and
SAP product offering more rapidly than competitors, to stay
one step ahead of rivals, outpacing them
- Environmental consonance. The sustainability of a firm‘s
competitive advantage is also threatened by developments
in the market. Customer needs and wants are in constant
flux, distribution channels can change, government
regulations can be altered, inovative technologies can be
introduced which requires a firm to continually adapt its
business system

15. Predicting the future of ERP - A SWOT analysis on ERP – THE
PARADOX OF MARKETS AND RESOURCES
Strengths:
• Developments in IT has led to new technology frameworks which has eased Business Intelligence, OLAP and Business
Performance Management
• Many predictive algorithms are available through research works
• High speed computing has eased data-mining
• Lot of data warehouses have been built over the years which can be used for analysis
Weaknesses:
• Predictive analysis mostly relies on building a model for the system based on certain assumptions. It is thus subjected
to Garbage in garbage out principle
• Performance of the ERP software goes down as predictive require extra computation and resources in the form of data
tables
• Analytics and predictives are developed using latest technology which is still not quite stable. Hence it results in some
unwanted code bugs
Opportunities:
• In this situation of cut throat competition companies give utmost attention to strategy and decision making. Predictives
help the management in making sound decisions based on estimates. There is thus a huge market for such ERP
products
• Introducing analytics and predictives make the user interface more user friendly and intuitive
Threats:
• There are many competitors in the industry like Oracle, SAP, Microsoft; who are fighting for the market share of such
products
• Using latest technology for adding predictives to ERP leads to increase in the cost of product thus it might deter small
enterprises from investing in such products
• Having a look at the SWOT analysis it feels like investing in predictives for ERP is a decent option for IT companies.

16. Location of Factor TYPE OF FACTOR
Favorable Unfavorable
Internal Strengths
•Focus on research and development
•Diversified geographical spread
•Strong position in business software
• robust, tailored to different industries
•History and customer trust/loyalty
•Excellent inventory management
capabilities
Weaknesses
•Lack of diversification
•Declining margins
•Expensive
•Complicated to implement
External Opportunities
•Strategic partnerships
•Growing business intelligence
platform market
•Growing SaaS market, move into the
web based SaaS model
Threats
•The economy, global economic slowdown
•Foreign currency risks Regulations
•Undetected product errors and security
shortcomings
•Targeted or niche solutions often provide
better capabilities and are much less expensive
•Newer entrants can leverage web 2.0
technologies to integrate with other solutions,
making a huge ERP system less of a necessity.
SWOT analysis for SAP

17. Business strategy versus product
strategy
• http://www.svpg.com/business-strategy-vs-
product-strategy/
• ”Product strategy is like a roadmap, and like a
roadmap it’s useful only when you know
where you are and where you want to go.”

18. SAP STRATEGY AND
DIRECTIONS

19. SAP PRODUCTS – ROADMAP – mySAP SOLUTIONS

20. SAP software characteristics
The well known SAP products started with SAP R/2. Over the years the new releases came out
as SAP R/3 and mySAP solutions. Most recently, the NetWeaver product set was released
with the eSOA architecture. This standard software is very customizable so that customers can
configure it to meet specific business needs. The base product delivered a high reuse factor
and a very fast learning curve for the SAP users. These benefits moved SAP to an informal
standard in business software and the footprint in the marketplace has grown very quickly.
The founders of SAP invented their own programming language – called ABAP – to develop
their product.

21. Strategic technology change within SAP
• This slide illustrates the different product generations. The R/2 was built on a mainframe architecture.
The move to R/3 on a 3-tier architecture was a complete replacement of the old product. In R/3 the
different components for ERP, HR, CRM, and others were created. The move to an Enterprise Service
Architecture was different. It was not a replacement, it was an extension. The complete R/3 components
run further on, but were extended to support new technologies and features.
• NEXT STEP = > extension instead of replacement

22. Strategic technology change within SAP
• SAP Basis = is the technological platform (virtual machine) that supports the entire range of SAP
applications that is implemented in the framework of SAP Web Application Server
• R/3 = consisting of various application that were built on top of the SAP Web Application Server, 1993
• mySAP ERP = bundled previously separate products SAP R/3, SAP SEM Strategic Enterprise Management
plus extension sets, 2003
• SAP NetWeaver = new release with eSOA architecture. The SAP Web Application Server was wrapped
into NetWeaver

23. SAP R/3 Modular architecture
• The modular architecture that was introduced with
SAP R/3 focused on special solutions for dedicated
market segments. These components had the same
foundation - the SAP R/3 core server - and enhanced
the functionality in different ways.

24. Industry solutions
• More and more industries needed special applications tailored for their needs
• more than 26 industry solutions which reused common components from
standard SAP R/3
• Business Maps – provide intuitive visualization of business processes and
solutions; including solution maps to help organizations understand how SAP
solutions support key business processes and scenario maps to convey graphical
representation of industry-specific processes

25. Ready to use industry solutions
• Here you see a list of ready to use industry solutions.
But keep in mind that they are prepackaged – but they
need a lot of customization and often a lot of extension
to fit the current customer situation. They are a
buyable starting point for the different industries.

26. Industry solutions example: Automotive
• Here is an example of an industry solution map. SAP covers
the whole product life cycle with different components.

27. mySAP Business Suite – Service oriented
architecture
• The mySAP business suite was based again on a core SAP
system – the mySAP ERP. In the product bundle four of the
most used enhancements were shipped as explained in
the next slide – PLM, SRM, SCM and CRM.

28. mySAP Business Suite
• Here you have more details on the single products for your
reference.

29. Technology transition
This slide reflects the Market trends for the SAP solution. Customers are still in this
transformation stage; many customers still have old SAP installations that just run, and there
is no “product” need to enhance their license. It is just the maintenance issue that forces
customers to upgrade.

30. SAP NetWeaver and SAP Enterprise
Service Architecture
In the NetWeaver product there are many
more components than in the older product
versions, but the general architecture is
similar. There is a core component based on
SAP Web Application server, and there are
other components based on this core.

31. SAP ERP Release Strategy
• The strategy for the SAP ERP is that one after another
additional Enhancement packages are developed until
in 2010 a new ERP release will get bundled.

32. Quick ESA – move from monolithic to
component architecture
• Also the movement from monolithic systems to component based
applications is on-going. The different components offer services
that can be leveraged by different applications.

33. Define enterprise services oriented
architecture
• Here is the SAP SOA definition. SAP eSOA is a methodology for building reliable services-oriented applications.
It offers an enterprise-wide blueprint for comprehensive business process evolution while protecting
investments through the reuse of existing IT systems. SAP eSOA builds on Web services to aggregate existing
systems functionality into easy to use, high level enterprise services. The Enterprise Services Architecture is
relevant for all SAP solutions, mySAP Business Suite, SAP for Industries and SAP xApps. The Enterprise Services
Architecture is based on the incorporation of open standards for easy extensibility, and covers the design of
newly built applications and the extension of a given customer IT landscape.

34. SAP STRATEGY
• This presentation has provided a picture of
the company and the products. But what is
the vision behind the products? What is the
strategy?

35. Initial situation
Here the initial situation of many customers is shown: many different
systems connected with each other.

36. Step 1: Visualise manufacturing data
• The first step is the installation and setup of an SAP
NetWeaver EP and XI. These can be connected to the existing
infrastructure.

37. Step 2: Employee self service
• As a next step, an SAP ERP gets transformed in the new stack
– in this example the HCM solution was used in the ERP.

38. Step 3: Use of RFID solutions
• After that the NetWeaver platform is enhanced by the Auto ID
infrastructure.

39. Step 4: Use of SAP NetWeaver
• Now all the platform components get transformed in the new
NetWeaver portfolio.

40. Step 5: Upgrade to mySAP ERP
• After that, the second SAP ERP can get included in the
NetWeaver stack.

41. Step 6: Use of my SAP Business Suite
• After the CRM was also included here, all applications of the
SAP Business suite are used.

42. Step 7: Final situation
• Now, on top of this, new business processes can be placed to
meet new business goals.

43. Reasons for NetWeaver and eSOA
• So you have seen the product strategies and there are several
reasons to move to NetWeaver. Also it is possible to cover the
complete solution within the portfolio.

44. Five Things About SAP‘s Strategy That
You Need to Know
1. Product Release Strategy
• SAP has traditionally released products and made major changes to underlying functionality
on a five-year schedule. So twice a decade, SAP's customer base faced a tough decision.
They could either ignore the product improvements that their maintenance fees had helped
to fund, or they could invest a significant amount of time and money in an upgrade project
that is often disruptive, expensive and deeply unpopular. It became quite common for
companies to delay or defer releases. However, that approach carries enough risk and cost
that most organizations didn't dare go longer than eight to 10 years between upgrades.
• In October 2005, SAP finally started to fix this release gap with the shipment of its ERP 6.0
product. Instead of bundling five years of product enhancements and technology
improvements into one massive upgrade, SAP has now moved to what it calls a
continuous innovation strategy. The major applications in SAP ERP and the SAP
Business Suite will now be upgraded through enhancement packages issued every six to 12
months. These enhancement packages are shipped at no cost to customers on maintenance,
and deployment is optional. Each enhancement package includes new and improved
functionality across a variety of product areas and vertical industry applications.
• most SAP customers can upgrade their systems gradually without the kind of massively
expensive and disruptive projects that have traditionally characterized SAP releases.
• companies with global deployments, multi-terabyte databases, and tens of thousands of
users simply cannot afford to do monolithic upgrades anymore – see the slide 32, move
from monolithic to component architecture

45. Five Things About SAP‘s Strategy That
You Need to Know
2. Growth Strategy
• SAP has realized that the company has needed to both expand its product offerings to its
customers as well as move into new markets. This market expansion can be seen in getting new
customers, expanding the product scope, moving into new geographies and industries, and going
after not just the large enterprises but the SMBs as well.
• To penetrate SMB market. It's big, growing fast and it's relatively untapped. Most companies are
still using Excel spreadsheets to manage their businesses which is almost archaic system
compared to what you can do with SAP.
• In April 2008, SAP announced a new referral and incentive program for its partners and
nonpartners to drive SMB customers SAP's way. The move, paying for new software business.
• Those who can receive the referral fees consist of nearly every conceivable company in the
software sales channel and SAP ecosystem: value-added resellers (VARs), solution resellers and
independent software vendors (ISVs) who may or may not currently be authorized SAP partners.
In addition, the referral program applies to alliance partners, technology and business
consultants, accountancy practices and other companies already working with SAP.
• Like other software vendor referral programs, such as Oracle's SMB plan called Accelerate, the
reward is cash for those who generate leads eventually closed by SAP. The "closing reward," as
SAP terms it, is usually 5 percent of the deal's net software license value with a maximum amount
of $50,000.
• SAP derives most of its revenue from its installed customer base. Its objective is to ensure that
customers never stop buying licences, maintenance, and services.

46. Five Things About SAP‘s Strategy That
You Need to Know
2. Growth Strategy
• For the next several years, both Tier 1 ERP
software vendors (Oracle, SAP, Microsoft
Dynamics) and Tier 2 ERP vendors (Intuit,
Infor, Sage, Epicor) will continue to battle
for the small and medium business (SMB)
customers. ERP software applications were
historically developed for large, global,
Fortune 100 manufacturing companies.
However, in the last decade the focus has
shift dramatically to the SMB market. Most
of the ERP innovations and technology
advances over the last ten years such as
SaaS, or software as a service, web-based
application have been developed with the
mass market, or the tens of thousands SMB
in mind.

47. Five Things About SAP‘s Strategy That
You Need to Know
2. Growth Strategy
• Microsoft Dynamics AX and SAP have been
positioned in the Leaders quadrant of the Gartner
Inc. Magic Quadrant for Midmarket and Tier-2
Oriented ERP for Product-Centric Companies, a
research report that evaluates global ERP
products and that is specifically tailored for
product-centric, midmarket companies with 100-
1,000 employees.
• Although some see this market as large and
mature, Gartner sees this market as undergoing a
"changing of the guard," with older, established
systems with deep functionality being displaced
by more modern and agile systems. The key
trends driving changes in this market are:
• The packaging of industry-specific functionality.
• Technology modernization using service-oriented
architecture (SOA).
• The need for global deployments

48. Five Things About SAP‘s Strategy That
You Need to Know
3. Platform Strategy
• in 2003, when SAP packaged up its technology components and
unveiled the NetWeaver product set
• The idea was that this technology and architecture would no longer
simply be the invisible engine that powered the application
products, but that SAP could expose it as a platform and allow
customers and partners to use it to extend SAP applications or even
build brand-new applications. SAP had to build the platform anyway
in order to develop its service-oriented architecture (SOA)-based
product line. Management believed that making it publicly available
would enhance SAP's reputation as a technology leader, and it
could potentially become an additional source of product revenue.
• SAP continues to refine and market the idea of a "business process
platform," which is made up of SAP's Business Suite applications, a
repository of enterprise services, and the NetWeaver technology
platform

49. Five Things About SAP‘s Strategy That
You Need to Know
4. Industry Strategy
• Using a combination of internal and customer sponsored
development, partners and clever packaging, SAP now has 25
separate industry solutions across a range of industries from
mining and manufacturing to higher education and financial
services.
• Many of these are supported by industry value networks (IVNs) of
customers and partners that collaborate with SAP on defining
requirements and building extensions.
• Now, SAP is aiming to use the same "blueprint" in going after non-
manufacturing industries, such as retail, insurance, education,
banking and public sector. Companies in these industries that are
willing to be highly visible lighthouse accounts will have lots of
negotiating leverage if they are willing to tolerate applications that
are still rather immature.

50. Five Things About SAP‘s Strategy That
You Need to Know
5. Product Strategy
• One of the reasons for this product proliferation is the software industry consolidation that has
resulted in large ERP vendors like SAP competing in many other adjacent software categories,
such as CRM, supply chain management, and product lifecycle management. SAP has also
brought to market other complementary products not named ERP and aimed at the business
users in areas like performance management, regulatory compliance and analytics.
• Application strategy – knowing what happens after 2013. The SAP Business Suite looks stable
until then, and customers like the idea of regular enhancement package releases rather than
major upgrades. That said, they live in fear that after 2013 they may be faced with another
product transition like the one from R/3 to mySAP.“
• the current Business Suite will remain SAP's flagship product line well beyond the 2013
maintenance window. While the mySAP.com product was officially launched in 1999, development
just recently completed on a fully SOA-based suite, and there are still a significant percentage of
customers that haven't upgraded from R/3. Launching another new product would unduly
jeopardize that very important base. Furthermore, SAP is under no pressure from its customers
or its competitors to move to a new technology and it is unlikely to be in the next few years.
• As to SAP's Business ByDesign on-demand software offering targeted at SMBs, SAP has many
large customers that need a smaller and simpler application that can be easily integrated to the
Business Suite. CIOs regularly face the question of what to do about autonomous divisions,
smaller sites in remote locations, new acquisitions, and joint ventures. Incorporating them into
the global, single instance of SAP is often an unpopular option that may be financially or
technically impractical. Business ByDesign in either a hosted or on-premise form, should be much
more attractive to the users than the corporate system and yet much easier to integrate than a
third ERP.

51. About the SAP Ecosystem
• Partners in the SAP Ecosystem
• No single company can do it all. Our ecosystem of partners,
communities and customers provides a strong foundation of
support and collaboration, delivering exceptional value and tailored
solutions to help meet the specific needs of your business
• Our customers need solutions that fit their specific requirements –
now. The SAP ecosystem addresses the persistent need for business
agility by helping companies tap into a trusted network of partners,
customers and individuals – so you can react quickly and get the job
done. Through the SAP ecosystem, we connect you with a diverse
set of solution providers and resources that are essential to helping
your company succeed and become a best-run business.

52. SAP ECOSYSTEM AND PARTNERS
• Our partners share SAP's passion for customer value. Together we create a thriving
ecosystem in which our valued partners can be successful – a win-win situation for
all. SAP is committed to supporting our partners through our award-winning,
recognized partner programs, like the SAP PartnerEdge program – the framework
built and designed to ensure success for SAP channel partners, now in the process
of expanding its coverage to software and services partners. These partner
programs focus on:
• Greater market exposure and expanded business opportunities
• Rewards for sales success, solution development, and the ability to satisfy our
mutual customers
• Joint sales and marketing initiatives
• Access to a broad and growing customer base
• Market development funding
• Technical expertise on SAP platforms and solutions
• Co-innovation and co-development
• Collaborative planning and execution

53. Partnership Categories
• Partnership Categories
• SAP offers global and local partnership categories for every
strategic business area and customer need in all market
segments. So no matter your area of expertise, you can
have an opportunity to grow your business by aligning with
SAP.
• As an SAP partner, you can participate at varying levels of
commitment – from far-reaching global alliances to local,
industry-specific collaborations. At every level, you can rely
on SAP for intensive, back-office marketing support, sales
support, technical services, training, and certification
opportunities.
• After joining one of SAP's partner categories, you'll interact
with many professionals globally in our ecosystem.

54. SAP Partner Categories
• SAP-based outsourcing and cloud services providers
• SAP Crystal solutions providers
• SAP channel partners
• SAP education partners
• SAP language service partners
• SAP OEM partners
• SAP services partners
• SAP software solution partners
• SAP support partners
• SAP technology partners

55. SAP Partner Category Description
• SAP-based outsourcing and cloud services providers – Provide certified outsourcing or cloud
services as an SAP partner of software-as-a-service (SaaS), business process outsourcing (BPO),
hosting, or application management services (AMS) – and gain benefits for you and your customers
• SAP Crystal solutions providers – Help monitor performance, identify opportunities for growth, and
transform how you run your business with SAP Crystal solutions
• SAP channel partners – Capitalize on the expanding small and midsize enterprise (SME) market by
utilizing our broad portfolio of SME partnering opportunities
• SAP education partners – Work with SAP to deliver high-quality, professional training for SAP
solutions and technology
• SAP language service partners – Enable a partner solution for customer-specific translation
requirements
• SAP OEM partners – Create new revenue opportunities by including best-in-class, embedded
reporting, high-value analytics and dashboard functionality with your software solutions to speed
your product to market
• SAP services partners – Help SAP customers design, implement, and integrate SAP solutions;
optimize business processes; and provide strategic business consultation
• SAP software solution partners – Develop certified applications that extend and add value to SAP
solutions across industries and business processes
• SAP support partners – Ensure that customers receive the best possible support throughout the life
cycle of SAP solutions
• SAP technology partners – Provide infrastructure for SAP solutions, including hardware platforms,
databases, storage systems, networks, and mobile devices

56. Benefits of SAP Partnership
Benefits of becoming an SAP partner include:
• Access and exposure to SAP's customer base
• Entry into a collaborative environment where partners support one another and work
toward greater customer success
• Access to our partner-only portals for product, marketing, sales, and competitive
information, One example is the SAP EcoHub – an online solution marketplace where
customers can discover, evaluate and buy proven solutions from SAP and our partners.
• Sales and marketing assistance
• Technical support
• Participation in SAP events (SAPPHIRE NOW, SAP TechEd conference, SAP Forum and
SAP Summit, Special Expertise Events)
• SAP Referral Program– Many kinds of partners and organizations, even those who do
not have a direct relationship with SAP, can earn substantial referral fees through our
SAP Referral Program. Register, submit leads, track their status – earn big returns on those
leads that convert to wins. SAP solutions geared to small businesses and midsize companies
based on any of the following applications or solutions qualify: SAP Business One, SAP
Business ByDesign, SAP Business All-in-One, Business Objects Edge Series: BI, Planning and
Consolidation, Strategy Management, Rapid Marts package

57. SAP PartnerEdge Program for Channel
Partners
As a partner in our highly selective, industry-leading program, you'll have access to benefits that will help you
grow your business, including:
• Access to the SAP Channel Partner Portal – Our online resource provides immediate access to world-class
education, sales, marketing, support, and informational resources.
• Dedicated sales and marketing support – SAP representatives and powerful online resources assist you
throughout the entire sales cycle.
• Business opportunities and leads – Convert highly qualified leads from SAP into live customers.
• Generous market development funding and lead generation programs – These resources help jump-start your
business and sustain ongoing growth.
• Access to the SAP PartnerEdge P2P Network – This secure online sales and marketing collaboration tool
enables you to collaborate and share with partners, and expand your market reach.
• Systems, education, and ongoing support – These resources help you proactively manage your SAP
relationship, build competency and expertise, and achieve successful sales and implementations.
SAP channel partners sell solutions specifically designed for the SME market – fast-to-implement, affordable,
and flexible – in order to meet the many needs of small businesses and midsize companies:
• SAP Business One application
• Qualified SAP Business All-in-One partner solutions
• SAP BusinessObjects Edge solutions
SAP PartnerEdge for channel partners requires value-added resellers (VARs) to maintain full-time SAP qualified
sales and technical personnel, along with ongoing sales transactions, achievement of business plans, and
annual program fees

58. Partnering with SAP
SAP PartnerEdge Program
A robust set of program benefits, services, and resources designed to accelerate
your business. SAP PartnerEdge rests on a foundation of four enablement pillars:
partnership, technical, marketing, and sales.
• Partnership – SAP PartnerEdge provides a common infrastructure for partner
engagement, regardless of location or partner type. The overarching framework
and key aims of the program are the same for all partners. However, to meet
specific requirements, each partner track has its own entry requirements, contract,
and contacts at SAP. Tools and resources have also been developed to meet the
unique needs of each partner type
• Technical – SAP currently offers a variety of training classes, consulting packages,
and development tools to help you navigate the technical requirements of
developing solutions that seamlessly integrate with SAP solutions
• Marketing – SAP provides a variety of marketing tools, services, and activities
designed to accelerate the go-to-market cycle and help you reach SAP customers
and prospects
• Sales – SAP provides sales tools, services, and activities designed to accelerate the
sales cycle. Some of the tools may require additional registrations, terms, and fees

59. SAP PartnerEdge

60. SAP PartnerEdge Spectrum

61. 1. Partnership Enablement Pillar
Partner Services Advisor – Your partner service advisor serves as a single
point of contact for the SAP PartnerEdge program and helps you identify
and leverage the right services and resources.
Access to the SAP PartnerEdge Partner Portal and the Manage My
Partnership Application – You will receive access to an exclusive Web site
for updating and managing profile information and for important sales and
marketing resources. In addition, the Manage My Partnership application
allows partners to manage the business relationship with SAP through a
simple and streamlined user interface.
Newsletters and Communications – Partner newsletters are designed to
keep you up to speed with the latest SAP products and developments.
They also communicate issues and news relating to partner programs and
provide tips on how to make the most of your partnership.
Partner Enablement Center (PEC) – The center serves as your primary
resource tool. You can access a variety of workshops for sales, marketing,
technical, and partnership enablement sessions. The sessions are offered
live or on demand.

62. 2. Technical Enablement Pillar
Development software license – Development licenses are made available to Software Solution and
Technology Partners subject to current terms and separate agreements. In addition, all SAP Software
Solution and Technology Partners are entitled to one SAP NetWeaver Development software license free
of charge.
Test and Demonstration Software – Test and demonstration software is made available to Software
Solution and Technology Partners subject to the current terms and separate agreements.
SAP Remote Access and Connectivity Service (SAP RAC) – Convenient access to hosted SAP solution
landscapes ready to use for integration testing, internal training, or demos. Partners need not invest in
additional hardware or spend time on installation or system administration and can still have an SAP
software system at their fingertips.
Recertification – To allow Software Solution and Technology Partners to keep their integration
certifications current and renew them at least every three years
Product Briefings and Product Ramp-Up Opportunities – As a Software Solution and Technology
Partner, you will have access to apply for ramp-up software. Ramp-up is a win-win engagement for both
SAP and partners. You can choose to obtain the ramp-up software either for your company’s own
training and testing purposes or to implement at a customer site.
SAP Co-Innovation Lab – Select benefits of SAP Co-Innovation Labs are extended to pre-members and
members in good standing in the Software Solution and Technology Partner track.

63. 3. Marketing Enablement Pillar
SAP Partner Logo and Guidelines – Members of the SAP Software Solution and Technology Partner track are
permitted to use the SAP partner relationship logo and SAP trademarks in marketing and sales efforts. As a
member, you can also use the appropriate integration certification marks administered by SAP.
SAP Virtual Agency – SAP virtual agency is a self-service, online, campaign execution platform that allows
partners to plan, build, and execute campaigns in minutes. It helps partners maximize revenue through
increased demand generation and greater market penetration.
SAP Communications Toolkit – The communications toolkit provides a communications guide for partners and
highlights two key compelling business issues that will drive top priority customer purchasing decisions such as
operational efficiencies and innovation.
Partner Playbooks – developed by industry, platform, application, or technology – are informative guides that
provide 360-degree enablement across technology, marketing, and sales dimensions.
Customer and Partner Events – SAP partner conferences and events such as SAPPHIRE and SAP TechEd offer an
opportunity to learn about the latest products and program developments and to meet SAP executives and
other colleagues.
Marketing Content Blocks – Another benefit available to Software Solution and Technology Partners is a
standard offering of copy blocks that can be used in partner marketing efforts. These content offerings help you
to better message and position SAP, SAP solutions, and technologies in a consistent and SAP-aligned manner.
Public Relations and Analyst Relations Guidelines – The SAP press guidelines for SAP Software Solution and
Technology Partners apply to all SAP partners and serve as a valuable resource on how best to prepare
efficiently for public relations and press opportunities.
SAP Image Library – SAP offers a library of brand-approved images for partner use. The image library offers a
wide selection of four-color marketing images for use in advertising, collateral, presentations, demonstrations,
and more.
Google Search and Association Capabilities – All member level partners will be given the opportunity to
associate their company name with SAP on Google Search.

64. 4. Sales Enablement Pillar
SAP EcoHub – The SAP EcoHub solution marketplace provides a trusted buying
experience for customers and allows them to discover, evaluate, and buy relevant,
SAP-certified solutions from SAP partners. SAP EcoHub helps you generate
awareness, receive leads, follow up on sales opportunities, and provide collateral
material to assist customers in the decision making process.
SAP Partnership Reference Letter – At member level, partners will have access to
an automatically generated letter that is downloadable from the SAP EcoHub
partner work center and that validates the partner’s relationship with SAP.
SAP Sales Fact Book – provides a wealth of valuable information on how to position
your partnership with SAP and its solutions. This tool is designed to help safeguard
consistency between our companies in the market.
Customer Spotlight – SAP Software Solution and Technology Partners can
participate in the customer spotlight initiative and leverage the power of the SAP
brand by creating jointly branded customer success stories. For a nominal cost,
partners receive a finished collateral piece based on a customer and partner
interview that you can use in your marketing and sales activities.
SAP Financing Service – The SAP Financing service is designed for partner
customers and can be used to finance all the software, hardware, and services
costs of an SAP solution for a period of up to seven years.

65. Membership Levels
• Organizations may belong to different tracks within the SAP PartnerEdge program.
Each track maintains its own separate requirements and fees that you must meet
to remain in good standing and receive that track‘s specific benefits.
• To join and remain in good standing in SAP PartnerEdge, all SAP software solution
partners are required to maintain minimum track requirements.
• Each level entitles you to a robust set of program benefits that increase as you
advance to a higher level. All new partners enter the program at the bronze level

66. Resources
• Strategy – Process, Content, Context - De Wit & Meyer
• System Analysis and Design in a Changing World -
Satzinger, Jackson, Burd
• An AMR Research report details SAP's strategies - AMR
senior vice president of research Jim Shepherd:
http://www.cio.com/article/359113/Five_Things_About_SAP_s_Strategy_That_You_Need_t
o_Know
• www.sap.com/partners
• SAP Strategy and Directions – IBM, IBM Education
Assistant - SAP Integration Workshop, 2007:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/ieduasst/v1r1m0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.iea.wsapiw/wsapiw/5.0
/IBMandSAP_Intro2SAP_tech/P02_SAP_strategy_and_directions/player.html