PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 30, 2007: HP today announced an expanded portfolio of offerings that help enterprise customers modernize and manage their SAP® application environments.

The latest services from HP help customers consolidate, migrate and optimize their SAP application infrastructure; upgrade to the latest version of SAP ERP (enterprise resource planning); and, establish a roadmap that leverages enterprise SOA (service-oriented architecture) to innovate future business processes.

HP also announced new Integrity Reference Configurations for SAP Applications, which help simplify and speed the transition from the customer’s existing environment to the new environment.

“HP and SAP have created a remarkable legacy providing world-class business technology solutions to customers worldwide,” said Deb Nelson, senior vice president, Marketing and Alliances, Technology Solutions Group, HP. “Today, we see SAP customers are faced with a tough balancing act: the pressure to modernize while managing their IT environments. Together, we’re helping customers gain agility and greater return on their SAP application investments while reducing the cost of their SAP environments.”

In a related move, SAP named HP a strategic Global Technology Partner for SAP ERP 6.0 Upgrades. HP and SAP share a nearly two decade-long collaboration and HP is a global leader in SAP application installations.

“With HP as a strategic Global Technology Partner for SAP ERP 6.0 Upgrades, SAP and HP Services are working closely to accelerate the upgrades of our joint installed base customers,” said Martin Riedel, head of Global Upgrade Office, senior vice president, SAP AG. “Based on HP’s commitment, SAP will provide HP with access to SAP upgrade-related tools, access to key SAP experts in the SAP Upgrade Competency Centers, and will also invest in joint marketing programs with HP.”

New solutions from HP Services

New and enhanced HP Services offerings include:

• HP Upgrade Services for SAP ERP 6.0 – A comprehensive suite of technical, functional and strategic upgrade services that accelerates the transition to an enterprise services-enabled environment based on SAP ERP and SAP NetWeaver® technologies. These services enable customers to reduce maintenance costs, enhance efficiency of processes, increase flexibility and gain new functionality. Additional eSOA services from HP are available to accelerate business process and industry innovation through the use of SAP NetWeaver, Enterprise and Web Services, and Composite Applications.
• HP Upgrade Factory for SAP Applications – A new globally consistent delivery model for “industrialized” technical upgrades, a collection of standardized processes, best practices, methodologies, tools and templates in combination with a balance of onshore/near shore/offshore experts. This model results in high-quality, faster, low-risk and cost-effective upgrades to the latest SAP technologies.
• HP Application Outsourcing for SAP Applications – With these services, customers can choose to off-load SAP application management to HP. Based on structured service-level agreements, HP takes over SAP application management so customers can focus on their core business. For clients in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, this suite also includes the HP ERP Outsourcing Factory for SAP Applications, which offers operation of SAP applications using simple, pre-defined service blocks, hosted in an HP facility.

As an HP Application Services customer, Shanghai General Motors is leveraging HP’s rich experience in upgrading and managing SAP for global companies. “Shanghai GM partnered with HP as a trusted advisor due to the deep knowledge and understanding HP has of our business processes and requirements,” said SHI Yunxiang, IT senior manager, Shanghai GM. “HP’s best practices and expertise in SAP have already resulted in a successful IS-Auto project implementation, and we are expecting the same great results from HP with our new migration and upgrade projects.”

New Integrity Reference Configurations for SAP Applications

The new Integrity Reference Configurations for SAP Applications are based on HP’s years of sizing and implementation experience. They incorporate HP Software capabilities such as HP Serviceguard Extensions for SAP applications, which provides increased security, availability and virtualization of a business’s SAP application infrastructure. The configurations are appropriate for implementations ranging from 300 to 2,400 users and are designed to meet mission-critical ERP requirements.

More information about the services and solutions announced above, as well as the HP and SAP collaboration, is available at www.hp.com/go/sap.