IBM and SAP Ink Agreement to Develop Their First Joint Software Product

Today, before 7,000 customers and partners at the annual Lotusphere conference, IBM (NYSE: IBM) and SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) announced plans to deliver their first joint software product codenamed “Atlantic” that will integrate IBM Lotus Notes software with SAP Business Suite. The combined efforts to create “Atlantic” will result in a new style of applications that present information and data in the context of users familiar with the Lotus Notes desktop. This will make it easier for users to do their jobs and greatly enhance the return on investment that companies have made in their SAP applications.

Providing workers with access to critical business information in this intuitive, easy-to-use interface will enable timely, more informed business decisions. All types of employees can benefit from increased business analysis, information capabilities and the power to run their business operations directly from their Lotus Notes desktop.

“We’re creating a richer collaboration environment,” said Michael Rhodin, general manager, IBM Lotus Software. “Businesses are looking to find better ways to collaborate and manage their business processes. This IBM-SAP solution addresses both challenges in one seamless package for millions of users.”

IBM Lotus and SAP have thousands of mutual customers who have been asking for the functionality that “Atlantic” software will provide. The majority of IBM’s top 100 customers also use SAP solutions.

“SAP and IBM Lotus are strategic partners to The Coca-Cola Company,” said Jean Michel-Ares, CIO, Coca-Cola Company. “Our IT goal is to help our people to be more responsive, productive and effective, and SAP and IBM Lotus have helped us get closer to that goal. The partnership between IBM Lotus, SAP and The Coca-Cola Company promises to deliver additional value to our associates and improve the tools they use every day.”

“Lotus has been an innovator in collaboration for 20 years. This agreement is a great example of how SAP enables our customers to empower their users by providing easy access to SAP business processes and data through productivity tools and user interfaces of their choice,” said Vishal Sikka, CTO, SAP. “Furthermore, it reaffirms the strong commitment we have to our partnership with IBM.”

For more than 35 years, IBM and SAP have collaborated to bring joint customers cutting-edge solutions to improve business efficiency at more than 13,000 client sites for their millions of users. Currently planned for inclusion in the first release of project “Atlantic” is support for SAP workflows, reporting and analytics, and the use of roles from within the Lotus Notes client. In addition, tools are planned to be included to provide the ability to extend and adapt these roles and capabilities, as well as leverage additional collaborative and offline capabilities inherent in Lotus Notes and Domino products. The initial release is planned to ship in the fourth quarter of 2008 and will be sold by both companies.

If customization of the product is required, IBM Global Business Services will be available to provide consulting and perform services. SAP practitioners, other global and regional systems integrators will also be enabled to customize “Atlantic” software to meet demand.

SAP Business Suite is a comprehensive family of adaptive business applications, providing best-in-class functionality built for complete integration, industry-specific capability, unlimited scalability, and easy collaboration over the Internet. Individually, SAP Business Suite applications customers manage their most critical business processes. Collectively, they form a tightly integrated suite that adds value to every facet of large and small organizations, including banks, hospitals, retail establishments, government agencies and a variety of other businesses, and their external value chains.

IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8 enterprise collaboration software was developed with input from more than 25,000 customers. Lotus Notes 8 software transforms the inbox into an integrated workspace. It brings together email, calendar, instant messaging, productivity tools like Lotus Symphony, collaborative applications, and the ability to build and deploy customer business or third-party applications, including help desk, customer relationship management, sales force, discussion forms and blogs.

Lotus Notes and Domino products have had approximately 135 million licensed users worldwide. Companies of all sizes, industries and technology lineages are embracing the latest version as the most comprehensive and versatile open collaboration platform they’ve used.

For more information on “Atlantic,” visit www.ibm.com/software/lotus/notes/atlantic. For more information on Lotus Notes and Domino products, visit www.ibm.com/lotus/nd8.

For more information on SAP Business Suite, please visit: http://www.sap.com/usa/solutions/business-suite/index.epx

For more information on Lotusphere, please visit: www.lotusphere.com/press

About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software*. Today, more than 43,400 customers in more than 120 countries run SAP® applications—from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small businesses and midsize companies to suite offerings for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver® technology platform to drive innovation and enable business change, SAP software helps enterprises of all sizes around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP solution portfolios support the unique business processes of more than 25 industries, including high tech, retail, financial services, healthcare and the public sector. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.” (Additional information at http://www.sap.com)

(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and related applications such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

IBM, Lotus, Notes, and Domino, are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries or both. SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Note to editors:
For free video content about SAP, please log onto www.thenewsmarket.com/sap to preview and request video. You can receive broadcast-standard video digitally or by tape from this site. Registration and video is free to the media.

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products: Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)

SAP Media Contact Information:
Jason Loesche, +1 484 437 0015, j.loesche@sap.com, EST
Michael Baxter, Burson-Marsteller, +49 69 23809 43, michael.baxter@bm.com, CET
Hilmar Schepp, SAP, +49 6227 7-46799, hilmar.schepp@sap.com, CET

Contacts
Michael Azzi, IBM Software Group, azzi@us.ibm.com, 203-515-6324
Lindsey Held, SAP, lindsey.held@sap.com, +1 650 823-7030