ERP+ Initiative to Maximize ROI from SAP Installations

ERP+, a strategic initiative from Microsoft and Capgemini, is designed to maximize return on investment for customers of both companies with existing SAP installations. According to the software giant, companies will be able to leverage ERP+ in order to bridge SAP and a variety of Microsoft technologies, including Office and SharePoint, Windows phone and Microsoft Application Platform. Via ERP+ employees will benefit from streamlined access to SAP data not just from the desktop, but also from mobile devices. Touting reduced costs and increased employee productivity, Microsoft indicated that ERP+ was capable of reducing data re-entry and delivering automation to unstructured business processes, as well as permit companies to reuse existing Microsoft software licenses.

“SAP customers are already using Windows and Microsoft SQL Server to maximize reliability and minimize total cost of ownership (TCO) on over 50 percent of new installations. We are extremely excited to partner with Capgemini to help as many of these customers maximize employee productivity, extend SAP utilization, and further reduce TCO via SharePoint and Microsoft’s mobility solutions,” noted Simon Witts, corporate vice president of the Enterprise and Partner Group at Microsoft.

Microsoft and Capgemini are prepared to deliver the investments necessary to fuel not just the marketing push behind ERP+, but also demand generation and asset development. It will fall on Capgemini alone to build a Microsoft and SAP interoperability Center of Excellence, as well as train over 1,000 of its own architects on interoperability of the Microsoft and SAP environments.

“Many customers, especially those in large enterprises, have selected SAP to automate their structured processes and Microsoft to support their unstructured workloads. As a global strategic partner to both SAP and Microsoft, Capgemini is uniquely positioned to add client value through integration,” explained Olivier Picard, chief sales officer, Capgemini. “This alliance addresses our customers’ need for integration beyond Microsoft .NET and NetWeaver™ and enables seamless integration that really drives role-based productivity and cost reduction.”