SAP AG and Sybase, Inc., an SAP company, have announced plans to make the enterprise resource planning (ERP) application SAP ERP the first SAP Business Suite application running on Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE). The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE NOW, in Orlando where pilot customers also showcased how they are using SAP ERP on Sybase ASE. In combining SAP applications with Sybase technology, along with "harmonized" customer services and support, the companies say they will be able to offer organizations a new database option for running SAP applications and accessing critical information, providing efficiency gains and cost reductions.
SAP, which announced a year ago that it planned to acquire Sybase, closed the acquisition in July 2010. After the acquisition was announced last year, the companies said that they would make the SAP Business Suite applications available on ASE, and over the last 9 months they have been working to ensure that the products are very well integrated and work optimally together, says Sumit Kundu, a senior director of product management at Sybase.
The company is taking a phased approach to the roll-out of the Business Suite applications on ASE, Kundu explained. The ERP module on ASE, which is now in a pilot phase and being tested at selected customers, will be followed in Q3 with additional Business Suite modules, and the whole suite generally available on ASE in Q4, he said.
The companies foresee SAP ERP releases being certified out-of-the-box with the latest Sybase ASE in-market releases, and the lifecycle of Sybase ASE being fully synchronized with SAP maintenance policies to simplify release and deployment planning for customers. Additionally, with the tight integration between SAP and Sybase, customers will be able to engage with a single partner focused on efficient business operations and on providing attractive licensing and maintenance terms and conditions.
In addition to announcing additional SAP Business Suite modules on Sybase ASE in Q3, there will also be additional platforms available, said Kundu. "Today, we have Linux and Windows. We will have additional platforms available at that time."
"Clients have clearly articulated their desire to migrate to other database and application platforms," said Martin Fink, senior vice president and general manager, Business Critical Systems, HP. "SAP and HP have reinforced their commitment to customers in support of open solutions with long-term committed roadmaps for SAP business applications and Sybase ASE for the HP-UX operating environment. For clients looking to migrate, we offer a powerful open alternative based on HP, SAP and Sybase solutions that provide better TCO, increased agility and longevity.
"Red Hat has a long-standing partnership with both Sybase and SAP," said Gus Robertson, vice president, Global Business Development at Red Hat, Inc. "With SAP offering enterprise solutions on Sybase ASE, there is greater market choice, and choice drives innovation and lower cost for customers. Red Hat has a well-established reputation for lowering TCO and we look forward to continuing that tradition by offering customers the choice of running SAP with Sybase ASE on Red Hat Enterprise Linux."
With this announcement SAP and Sybase say they will continue to build a foundation for long-term growth of Sybase ASE, investing in technology innovations and certifying Sybase ASE with key SAP Business Suite applications. Further planned development efforts will extend the certification to additional SAP applications, including the most recent releases and enhancement packages of the SAP Customer Relationship Management, SAP Supplier Relationship Management, SAP Product Lifecycle Management and SAP Supply Chain Management applications, as well as the SAP NetWeaver Portal component, the SAP NetWeaver Process Integration offering and the SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse component.