Systemax Computes With SAP for Operational Consolidation

Computer Hardware Retailer Looks to the Flexibility of SAP® Solutions – Announced at National Retail Federation Convention

NEW YORK and NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. - Demonstrating ongoing leadership in providing innovative solutions to retailers worldwide, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Systemax, a leading consumer electronics and industrial products retailer with such brands as Tiger Direct, CompUSA, Misco and Global Industrial, has selected SAP’s flagship enterprise resource planning (ERP) application, SAP® ERP, to help consolidate its global operations, and to reduce financial closing times and streamline approval processes. The announcement was made at the National Retail Federation Convention, being held Jan. 11-14 in New York, NY.

Offering hundreds of thousands of products to millions of customers globally, Systemax is a direct marketer of brand name and private label products, including personal desktop computers (PCs), notebook computers, computer-related products and industrial products. As a retailer with global subsidiaries that manages thousands of products for distribution across North America and Europe, Systemax needed a financial system to leverage its existing IT systems with the functionality to support its industry-specific requirements. In addition, Systemax needed to create an IT environment within which it could continually improve core business processes to adapt to its changing business needs.

“SAP’s products were the best fit for our company,” said Larry Reinhold, CFO, Systemax. “To support our growth, we needed a flexible financial system that would allow us to keep the processes we already have in place. SAP provided the integrated platform and financial applications to help us achieve the ideal IT environment for Systemax.”

With the latest release of SAP ERP, Systemax’s core operations will be optimized to provide additional value for creating a competitive advantage. Through the application’s model of incremental upgrades via enhancement packages, Systemax will have a stable core system with the ability to add only the new functionalities and capabilities required, without traditional comprehensive system upgrades that disrupt operations. SAP enhancement packages for SAP ERP will offer Systemax the ability to lower its total cost of ownership. Together with the SAP NetWeaver® technology platform, Systemax will have a solid business process platform that provides insight, operational excellence and innovation. The flexible platform combines application functionality and rich integration technologies on a single platform.

“Systemax is a great example of a retailer who is innovative in the way that it leverages IT to support its business needs,” said Bob McFarland, senior vice president and general manager, SAP Retail, SAP North America. “In today’s current market, retailers need a flexible IT environment to reduce operational redundancies and quickly adapt to changes.”