SAP rolls out five offerings for SMBs

In an effort to bolster a stronger level of specificity for its SMB (small to midsize business) clientele, SAP unveiled a quintet of new mySAP All-in-One products this week geared directly toward industry-centric areas.

At the National Manufacturing Week conference in Chicago, SAP announced the availability of mySAP All-in-One offerings for Consumer Packaged Goods and Cosmetics, Computer Resellers, Technical Service Providers, and Semiconductor Industries. The new products will be offered through SAP’s vertical solutions reseller partner network.

Bringing the total amount of mySAP All-in-One software solutions to 20, Gary Fromer, vice president of SMB at Waldorf, Germany-based SAP, said that he expects that amount to double by the end of 2003.

“We have the opportunity to really use this, mostly outside of manufacturing,” said Fromer. “You will see us going into industries SAP maybe never has penetrated before.”

Fromer said smaller-size customers are in need of a best practices helping hand, due to lacking the deep pockets of larger companies and unable to afford the dollars or time to install and create a software system to supplant evolving market needs.

The lessons learned by trying to build and install an in-house implementation without outside assistance to integrate business operations and processes can be harsh.

Jeff Schumacher, vice president and CFO of Schumacher Elevator, in Denver, Iowa, said his organization “failed miserably” in its attempt to make modifications to its legacy manufacturing system to allow it to work-enable a services-based business model as well.

“One of the misconceptions with the SMB segment is the fact that smaller companies don’t have functional requirements of larger companies. That’s not true,” said Schumacher of his freight and passage elevator manufacturer and services business. ”We’re using modules that aren’t standard for retailers.”

Also this week, SAP launched mySAP Industrial Machinery & Components. The new solution meshes vertical integration of the manufacturing environment down to the shop floor.