SAP and Dell Join Forces on Cloud and In-Memory Computing

Charmer Sunbelt and University of Kentucky See Value, Agility and Cost Savings by Using Dell Platforms to Run SAP® Solutions and Real-Time Applications

ORLANDO, Fla. - - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) and Dell today announced an expansion of their long-standing relationship that will deliver new cloud and in-memory computing offerings to help organizations transform their businesses. SAP® applications will now be available for deployment via Dell’s VIS Next Generation Datacenter Platform, opening up new ways for customers to increase IT responsiveness and business efficiency. In addition, with Dell’s PowerEdge R910 now among the hardware platforms certified by SAP for running SAP® In-Memory Computing technology, Dell customers can dramatically increase the availability and speed of business information, leading to faster and more insightful decision-making. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE® NOW, being held in Orlando, Florida, May 15-18, 2011.

Cloud delivery models are becoming a top priority for many corporate IT departments due to their quick deployments, cost-effectiveness and overall flexibility. For Dell customers, deployment of SAP applications using Dell’s cloud solutions makes moving to the cloud an easy and secure transition. Both Dell and SAP offer open, affordable solutions and choice, allowing customers to build on their prior investments in software from diverse vendors.

Dell is also now an SAP-certified provider of cloud services, as well as an SAP-certified provider of hosting services, providing high-quality standards for cloud-based delivery of SAP applications. As part of the certification, Dell’s cloud delivery offerings have passed SAP’s criteria for delivering SAP applications on its platform.

Customers Benefit from Use of SAP Applications in Dell’s Cloud
Dell is a major provider of cloud solutions. The ability to run SAP applications on Dell cloud solutions can help customers increase resiliency, performance and efficiencies of scale without the overhead of traditional IT environments. The University of Kentucky, currently testing a proof-of-concept roll out of SAP applications on a Dell cloud solution, highlights the value of these complementary offerings.

“Cloud computing is not only coming of age, it represents a significant opportunity in enterprise computing,” said Vince Kellen, CIO, University of Kentucky. “With our enhanced collaboration with Dell and SAP, here at the University of Kentucky we are planning right now how we can improve the agility and cost-effectiveness of our infrastructure. ”The initial tests have shown some impressive results. Over the short and long term we expect to take advantage of the scale, openness and flexibility that Dell’s cloud solutions will provide"

Delivering Real-Time Applications by Optimizing Software and Hardware
SAP® In-Memory Appliance software (SAP HANA™) lets customers analyze massive amounts of data in real time, allowing for faster decision-making and better business insights that can be acted upon immediately. Dell’s PowerEdge R910 platform has been certified for SAP HANA, meeting SAP’s rigorous testing requirements. The combination of Dell’s PowerEdge R910 platform and SAP HANA allows users to conduct analytics, performance management and operations in a single system. Together, the solutions help enable a business to react faster to events impacting operations today. Through this, an organization can quickly identify and analyze trends and patterns to improve planning, forecasting and price optimization.

The Charmer Sunbelt Group has recently committed to work with Dell to deploy SAP HANA. “SAP and Dell offer a breadth of solutions to meet the needs of our suppliers and customers, while enabling future growth that fully leverages our existing investments,” said Paul Fipps, CIO and vice president, Business Services, The Charmer Sunbelt Group. “Real-time analytics and new applications advanced by in-memory computing technology will allow us to analyze massive quantities of data in local memory, quickly and easily. We expect that business decisions can be executed without delay in mission-critical processes and reports such as profitability analysis and customer segmentation on complex and detailed data.”

In addition, Dell Services provides capabilities in support of SAP HANA, helping customers deploy SAP In-Memory Computing technology alongside the enterprise resource planning (ERP) application SAP® ERP and SAP® BusinessObjects™ analytic applications. Through certification and support, SAP and Dell offer customers an avenue to simplify their analytics environment, providing real-time insight into operations. Additionally, with the combination of SAP HANA and Dell hardware, enterprise customers can standardize on a cost-effective, optimized in-memory computing platform, which can further reduce risks and costs.

Through Increased Cooperation, Dell-SAP Deliver End-to-End Solutions to Customers
An SAP global technology partner, Dell offers customers a portfolio of end-to-end solutions in support of SAP applications including hardware, software and services that help reduce IT costs while increasing operating effectiveness.

“The expansion of our current collaboration with SAP demonstrates our mutual resolve to help customers solve real business problems,” said Steve Schuckenbrock, president, Dell Services. “We are proud to align with SAP to bring organizations new offerings utilizing cloud and in-memory computing technologies that increase efficiencies and boost performance.”

“SAP is committed to delivering its solutions in open and flexible ways that best support customer success,” said Sanjay Poonen, president, Global Solutions, SAP. “This announcement underscores our commitment to delivering enterprise applications via the cloud in cooperation with our leading partner ecosystem. Through this expanded cooperation with Dell, customers will benefit from our complementary cloud and in-memory solutions, enabling them to transform their businesses, flexibly and affordably.”

For announcements, blog posts, videos and other coverage during SAPPHIRE NOW, visit the SAPPHIRE NOW newsroom.

SAPPHIRE® NOW
With SAPPHIRE® NOW, SAP offers its customers, partners and prospects even more opportunities to engage in dialogue with peers, participants and thought leaders around the globe. Being held in Orlando, Florida, May 15-18, 2011, this enhanced, real-time event connects attendees on site with global participants through state-of-the-art broadcast studios and an online experience that incorporates the latest social media and community functionality. Whether on site or online, participants can gain insight as to how SAP is delivering on its product strategy and helping organizations around the world to run better For more information, visit www.sapphirenow.com. Follow SAPPHIRE NOW on Twitter at @SAPPHIRENOW and visit the event newsroom at www.sapphirenow.news-sap.com.

About DELL
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. Dell Services develops and delivers a comprehensive suite of services and solutions in applications, business process, consulting, infrastructure and support to help customers succeed. Learn more at www.dell.com.

About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 170,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of Sybase) to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.